 Crabtree
Creek is Raleigh’s most prominent creek. Beginning
from the confluence of western Wake County streams and
joining the Neuse River at Anderson Point, Crabtree
flows through a variety of natural and human communities.
From Lake Crabtree, the creek winds into Umstead State
Park, where visitors gaze at its rapids atop a suspension
bridge on the Company Mill Trail. A formation of boulders
on the same trail give the adventurous a sixty-foot
high vista of the creek. Reedy, Richland, and Sycamore
Creeks join with Crabtree. Once outside of the park,
Crabtree meanders along the banks of Crabtree Valley
Mall and through neighborhoods until it reaches the
Neuse. A significant portion of the City of Raleigh
Greenway System follows the creek.
Protecting the Richland Natural Area is not confined
to its borders. Crabtree Creek carries with it the results
of positive and negative upstream activities. The creek
either brings with it clean water from undeveloped areas
or the sediments and pollutants from irresponsible developments.
According to the Division of Water Quality’s 2002
Neuse River Basinwide Water Quality Plan, Crabtree Creek
was designated as “good-fair” in 1995 and
2000 for its macroinvertebrate community. The plan states
that undeveloped land was the reason for  this
positive designation. Its use is considered “aquatic
life and secondary recreation.”
In 1998 and 2002, its status was “impaired.”
The plan points to upstream development and urbanized
environments for the cause of habitat destruction and
elevated turbidity and iron. If undeveloped land is
responsible for a good-fair aquatic community and development
is to blame for the creek’s impaired status, then
limiting future development is a sound approach for
improving the conditions of Crabtree Creek.
Recently,
PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) have been found in
Lake Crabtree and the surrounding portions of Crabtree
Creek. Ward Transformer, an electrical transformer plant
located near the Raleigh-Durham International Airport,
has been found to be the source of the PCBs. There is
currently a fish advisory for Crabtree Creek, Lake Crabtree,
and other surrounding creeks. In 2005 the Environmental
Protection Agency and the Potentially Responsible Parties
(PRPs) agreed to a cleanup plan.
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