Rush Run

Rush Run enters the Olentangy River at RM 8.75. It is 1.5 miles in length and drains approximately 2 square miles in Franklin County. The Ohio EPA monitored this tributary in 1999 adjacent to Walnut Grove Cemetery (RM 0.4 and 0.3) The results are listed in the table below. Flow was substantial in this stream even during the drought. As classified by the Palmer Drought Severity Index, severe to extreme drought conditions were indicated for the period between July and October 1999 (Ohio DNR 1999).

According to a report issued by the Ohio EPA in 2001:

Rush Run is designated WWH, AWS, and IWS in the Ohio Water Quality Standards. This stream is 1.5 miles in length with approximately 2 square miles of drainage area and flows into the Olentangy River at RM 8.75. Water quality samples were collected at RM 0.30 (adjacent to Walnut Grove Cemetery) a total of 6 times during the summer. Flow was substantial in Rush Run even during the height of the drought. Ohio WQS criteria violations in Rush Run were limited to a single SCR exceedence for E. coli. bacteria (Table 11). Nutrients were not found at elevated concentrations in Rush Run (Table 13) although the stream exhibited large blooms of algae and supersaturated dissolved oxygen conditions (Table 14) which are both indicative of nutrient enrichment (algae and other organisms were using dissolved nutrients immediately).

Restoration Efforts

In 2006 the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation awarded FLOW a grant to restore a section of the streamside along Rush Run. A major volunteer restoration effort focused on the removal of invasive honeysuckle and garlic mustard which have crowded out the native wildflower population.