The Muddy Creek Story
The Muddy Creek Watershed is located in North Central Johnson County, in Southeast Iowa. The watershed drains 6,342 acres and encompasses the Eastern 2/3 of the town of North Liberty and the Northern part of Coralville. Land use in the watershed is comprised of:
Muddy Creek starts from a spring, and begins it journey to the Iowa River by flowing for approximately 1.95 air miles through the City of North Liberty. For less than half of this distance the creek has been physically altered by the management practices of the City of North Liberty. The creek is chemically affected by the influence of one tributary, several Storm Water Outfalls, many tiles and land practices. In the second half of this stretch the creek channel is unaltered and meanders back and forth on itself several times. The total volume of the creek is doubled from the influence of two tributaries.
The Creek then turns south-by-southeast and its greatest chemical, biological and discharge impact comes from the North Liberty Wastewater Treatment Plant. The creek continues its path for about 2.59 air miles before reaching the Coralville City limits. Once in the Coralville city limits the creek is left alone as it meanders its way between housing developments. But when the creek is met with Atlanna Creek, the creek shows signs of having been previously altered. The creek then flows alongside a Golf Course and an elementary school before turning east. As the creek flows easterly through the golf course, the latest creek alterations can be observed. The city of Coralville has altered a 1,000-foot section of the creek, using state of the art management practices to stabilize the stream banks. The creek continues her meandering, still flowing east. A US Geological Survey gauge station can be seen where the creek flows under the 1st Avenue Bridge.
The last one-mile section, from 1st Avenue to the Iowa River, has not been assessed or tested because the landowner has not granted permissions to water quality evaluators to enter the property. Aerial photos indicate a heavy canopy and very natural meandering creek.
According to the DNR 2007 land assessment, the use in the watershed was comprised of: