Beautiful Possum Creek is located in the northwest quadrant of the City of Gainesville and its watershed encompasses approximately 8.0 square miles of urban Gainesville. Possum Creek flows from north to south through wetlands, residential neighborhoods, and mixed hardwood hammocks for 6.5 miles before joining Hogtown Creek south of NW 8 th Avenue. Possum Creek is the largest tributary to Hogtown Creek, which discharges to the Floridan Aquifer via Haile Sink.

Want to learn more about Possum Creek?

DESCRIPTION
Possum Creek consists of a series of natural streams, seeps, forested wetlands, and dredged channels. The creek’s baseflow originates from wetlands in the upper portion of the basin and surficial and intermediate springs and seeps. Six named tributaries enter Possum Creek between NW 40 th Avenue and NW 27 th Drive. These tributaries include; Millhopper, Monterey, Pebble, Glen Springs, Three Lakes, and Ridgeview creeks. Residential communities are numerous and make up about 65% of the area of the watershed. These include Rustlewood, Monterey, Hyde Park, Kingswood and Hidden Creek Subdivisions. There is little agriculture or silviculture use in the watershed.

The Devil’s Millhopper State Park encompasses 63 acres and is located 2.5 miles northwest of Gainesville off SR 232 ( Millhopper Road). The main feature of the park, a very large sinkhole referred to as the Devil’s Millhopper, has been a national, natural landmark since the 1880’s. The sinkhole exposes the entire thickness of recent, Plio-Pleistocene, and Hawthorn Group formations along its 120 foot high steep walls. As you descend the many flights of steps leading down to the bottom of the sinkhole, you enter a microclimate that is cool and wet and filled with the sound of waterfalls as Deer Run Creek and numerous small surficial and intermediate aquifer springs discharge water into the sink. Many plant species uncommon to Gainesville are found within the sinkhole due to this microclimate. The water that pours into the sinkhole drains directly into the Floridan aquifer.

Although Possum Creek and its tributaries are located in an urban setting, most of the development is of low density, and the watershed is able to sustain many diverse species of plant life. Along the creek, you may find areas of upland hardwood forest, wetland hardwood forest, non-forested wetland, wetland coniferous forest, and silvicultural forest. Trees in the watershed include spruce, loblolly pine, water oak and swamp chestnut oak. You will also see sugarberry, hickory, and sweetbay magnolia, as well as red maple, blue beech, basswood, and hophornbean. Understory species are comprised of hawthorne, dwarf palmetto, cabbage palm, southern elderberry, and cherry. Some riparian species which grow along the creek banks include switchcane, milk pea, spiderwort, and Carolina willow. The many exotics (non-native) species along Possum Creek include elephant ear, Mexican petunia, scratchthroat, English ivy, wandering jew, air potato, Chinese tallow, clematis, and heavenly bamboo. The creek corridor is home to many urban animal species such as possum, raccoon and armadillo. In the creek you will see many turtles, fish and birds and even the occasional otter. Alligators too are common in some sections of the creek.

WATER QUALITY
The major source of pollution in the Possum Creek Watershed is runoff from its many residential areas. Runoff can contain fertilizers and herbicides from lawn and garden use. This type of runoff contains high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus. In the Possum Creek Watershed, runoff from major roadways causes bank erosion and streambed smothering due to increased velocities and volume of stormwater entering the creek. Runoff from roadways can transport traces of petroleum products, oil and grease from automobiles, as well as sediment from road sides, which increases the turbidity and total suspended solids concentrations in the creek.

MACROINVERTEBRATES
The health of streams can also be evaluated by determining the number of pollution-sensitive benthic macroinvertebrate organisms present. These organisms, such as the larvae of dragonflies and damselflies are susceptible to degradation of water, sediment, or habitat quality and their populations respond to these cumulative factors over time. Macroinvertebrates are also important food sources for adult insects, fish, frogs and birds. Approximately 90% of Possum Creek flows through urban, low density residential and commercial areas of Gainesville. Many segments of the creek have wide, naturally-vegetated riparian buffer zones that shelter and encourage movement of wildlife, while the creek itself contains several areas of quality habitat for macroinvertebrates. Although there are few areas of Possum Creek that are completely natural (e.g. forest or wetland), some of the more urbanized segments have retained high habitat diversity for macroinvertebrates. This creek is one of the healthiest in the Gainesville area.

Possum Creek, Gainesville, Florida

WHERE TO VISIT THIS CREEK
A wonderful way to experience the Possum Creek watershed is by paying a visit to the Devil’s Millhopper State Park.

Do you live near Possum Creek? Here’s what you can do to keep your water clean and the creek healthy:

Remember that all of our creeks, one way or another, make their way to the aquifer from which we get our drinking water. The fact that the creeks eventually make their way into the giant “well” from which we draw our drinking water supply is a good reason, among many, to protect them. Increased impervious area and decreased riparian buffers lead to more runoff going into the creeks during storm events. Runoff from yards and driveways carries pollutants like automobile fluids and wastes, detergents, fertilizers, pesticides, household chemicals, pet wastes, and plain trash down the stormdrains into the creeks. Even organic yard wastes – leaves, cuttings and landscape detritus - can overload the creek system. If you ever wondered where those storm drains actually drain to, the creek is your answer. In Gainesville, the runoff can carry considerable pollution into our treasured waterways, and it does.

You can help - keep pollutants off the streets; change your oil and dispose of it sensibly, keep up the maintenance on your vehicles to prevent leaks, use pesticides and fertilizers minimally if at all, dispose of pet waste hygienically, and put trash where it belongs! If you prevent pollution from entering the aquifer, you will be doing your part to protect the health of your community.

If you are lucky enough to live on a creek, you can maintain a healthy riparian buffer with native landscaping to effectively filter pollutants from the roadways. You can sign up for a creek cleanup with Adopt-A-River, or participate in our Watershed Action Volunteer program teaching kids about watersheds, or learn to landscape a Florida Friendly Yard. All of these efforts will help to protect the creeks from pollution.