by Kate Shunney
The Morgan County Commission is hosting a Public Scoping Meeting next Wednesday, October 29 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the courthouse as part of the preparation of a Sleepy Creek Watershed Protection Plan for the future.
Organizers of the meeting say its purpose is to find out what landowners in the Sleepy Creek watershed pinpoint as flooding and erosion trouble spots, and to gather up their concerns and suggestions for how to meet those challenges.
Sleepy Creek flows north along the base of Sleepy Creek Mountain on Morgan County’s eastern boundary, and includes tributaries from the surrounding area.
The Sleepy Creek Watershed includes 93,000 acres of land and 42 miles of creek flow. Most of it – 69,000 acres — is in Morgan County. Another 13,000 acres are in Federick County, Va. and 10,600 acres are in Berkeley County, W.Va. 
Sleepy Creek begins near Bloomery, Va. and flows north, emptying into the Potomac River at Sleepy Creek, W.Va. The creek is made up of four main branches – the main branch, the middle fork, the south fork and the Meadow Branch.
According to the Sleepy Creek Watershed Association, 194 small and wet-weather streams add to the main branches to create a network of 320 miles of streambed.
The watershed group notes that roughly half of the watershed is forested, a third is in farm use and the remaining watershed area is used for homes and small businesses.
Environmental engineering group ECS, with an office in Frederick, Md., has been hired under a federal grant to study the watershed’s challenges and create an environmental assessment and watershed protection plan to guide conservation and restoration efforts in the future.
Sleepy Creek watershed advocates already know that the creek is subject to periodic flooding and streambank erosion from sudden storm events that bring high water to the narrow waterway.
photo courtesy of the Sleepy creek Watershed Association
Watershed association president Chuck Marsh said he hopes landowners will speak up about the condition of the area.
“We’d like them to identify what they think are environmental issues that threaten the health of the land and water around them,” he said.
That could include sharing information about any pollution sources along the creek, potential flood areas or streambank deterioration sites.
“We want to hear about any area where we can improve the watershed or properties,” Marsh said. “There’s not a lot of public access to the stream, so it’s primarily private property owners.”
A future protection plan could include tips for private landowners, and larger projects like designing larger erosion-control or streambank stabilization efforts along the creek.
The plan can capture “actionable items” that could be the basis of future state and federal grant-funded projects.
Marsh said the document will also provide information to the Morgan County Commission and the Morgan County Planning Commission to use in future policy and planning.
“Without the participation of private landowners, the watershed will remain as it is,” said ECS Project Manager Justin Laughlin.
The October 29 meeting will be held in the Morgan County Commission meeting room of the courthouse at 6 p.m.
Interested residents can also join the October 29 Scoping Meeting by Zoom using the following sign-in information:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82562437464?pwd=1oDr5i3Mu2aur1IdHjIKa6WZd0Nekw.1
Meeting ID: 825 6243 7464
Passcode: 661493
Or by mobile phone using the following numbers:
+13017158592,,82562437464#,,,,*661493# US (Washington DC)
+13052241968,,82562437464#,,,,*661493# US
Join instructions
https://us06web.zoom.us/meetings/82562437464/invitations?signature=fQgFshcadHm_dTrAekPnKNWuXouZNJsBKVnWvj0_Qfg
Landowners can also email comments, photos and suggestions for the watershed plan to SleepyCreekPlanEA@ecslimited.com anytime until November 29.
