Loss of farmland to commercial and residential development is one of the threats to the health of Rock Creek.

A growing population within the Rock Creek region has caused problems within the watershed to escalate. Such problems include both point and non-point source pollution, excessive stormwater discharge, lacking riparian buffers, loss of groundwater flow in certain areas, turbid waters, silted streambeds, riparian tree loss, and significant bank erosion. In areas that benefit from thick riparian buffers, ecological diversity is rich; however, many areas bordering agricultural or residential areas do not have the proper buffer needed to protect this diversity. Many of the tributaries have additional problems that affect in-stream life, such as too warm water, high nutrient concentrations, algae blooms, no base flow in late summer, and streambeds buried in thick layers of silt. Some may not support any in-stream animal life.

The municipal and organizational representatives to the Rock Creek Working Group (RCWG) have identified numerous areas of concern about water resources in the Rock Creek Watershed. In a RCWG meeting on June 18, 2003, participants identified and discussed a number of watershed problems. The list of problems has been reproduced below.

Water quality and quantity:

• Large withdrawals of water from the watershed by Reliant Energy
• Improper herbicide application
• Old farm and household dumps
• Non-migratory geese population
• Groundwater pumping by Valley Quarry
• Presence of unmitigated Superfund sites
• Former Krouse dump

Surface water impacts:

• Erosion and sedimentation best management practices not being implemented
• Streambed sedimentation
• Nutrient runoff
• Livestock in creeks and livestock-caused streambank erosion
• Cloudy, turbid stream water
• Fill in floodplains
• Fill in drainage paths
• Loss of riparian buffer

Groundwater recharge impacts:

• Dry wells and loss of groundwater recharge
• High nitrates in groundwater
• Loss of hedgerows
• Road embankments stripped of vegetation through cutting and overly aggressive
roadside mowing
• Poor stormwater management
• Contour farming not being practiced in large fields