Rudee Inlet Foundation is actively working to preserve Rudee Inlet and the Owl’s Creek Watershed with these Initiatives.

1- Clean The Creek: Semi-annual Cleanups of the watershed

Rudee Inlet Foundation does several successful clean-ups of the Owl Creek Watershed each year. With the support of 90+ volunteers we typically are able to remove over 1000+ pounds of trash and debris from the shoreline in less than three hours.

Our efforts are noticeable, returning volunteers have said that they have had to venture farther down the canals and into the woods of the shoreline to collect the trash. Those areas previously cleaned need onlyhave basic touch-up attention.

This is a testament to the efforts of all involved since there is limited access to most of the shoreline. As a result of this limited access our volunteers ferry people and the collected trash across Owl Creek using personalboats, canoes, kayaks and paddleboards. The clean-ups have become an event where volunteers come out for a couple of hours and mix cleaning up our waterway and enjoying the water, sun and oneanother’s company.

A big “Thank You” to all that have helped and to those who help in the future.

2- Water Drain Signage Improvement

The storm water drain marker program is a City of Virginia Beach initiative. Rudee Inlet Foundation has been working on attaching the markers on storm drains, curbs and roadsides since 2012. The goal is to complete this project by early 2015. The markers greatly aid community education efforts, and the program creates a tighter connection between residents in the watershed.

3- Sanctuary Oyster Reef

One of the most effective ways to raise our water quality is to raise the local oyster population. Oysters are simply amazing filter feeders, working day and night to remove pollutants from the water. Did you know that each adult oyster filters and cleans up to 50 gallons of water per day. Amazing!

One of RIF’s primary initiatives is to facilitate and fund the construction of sanctuary oyster reefs throughout the inlet, thereby helping to improve water quality. Oysters are an indicator species, meaning that their presence in the water can be used to gather information on the overall health of the watershed.

In addition to water quality benefits, the desired outcome our organization hopes to achieve would be oyster reefs that produce a fully functioning, three dimensional bed systems which provide associated ecosystem services and biological functions, such as marine biodiversity, shoreline protection, sediment trapping, water quality improvement, and recreational fishing opportunities.

4- Creation of Neighborhood Best Practices Called “Neighborhood Natives”

If you have ever wondered which landscape plants work best in our region, you are not alone. Fortunately, there are many helpful resources to identify desirable native species as well as undesirable ones. Listed below is a link to some of these resources. Rudee Inlet Foundation goal is to hold specific events in the future around our neighborhood natives.

info: http://www.nps.gov/plants/pubs/chesapeake