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Eugene Weekly : 12.18.03 Page 1 of 8 <br /> ® EUGENE <br /> UMeNtAlk Ait, 150+ film reviews <br /> �� � [of movies that don't all suck] <br /> News Views letters Calendar Film Music Culture Classifieds Personals Archive <br /> A STREAM-DITCH RUNS <br /> THROUGH IT <br /> Eugene's Amazon Creek flows on,for better <br /> or worse. <br /> By Kera Abraham <br /> A capricious creek runs through this town. In the <br /> summer it moves timidly, shrinking beneath blooms <br /> of algae that spread across its surface. In the winter <br /> it's bolder, surging against concrete walls that keep it <br /> from flooding the streets of Eugene. _, ` " "." , <br /> '_ <br /> Still, it's easy to think of Amazon Creek as a ditch. A t` r` `t <br /> far cry from the historic stream that wove curly braids <br /> of water across the land,today's creek is symmetrical <br /> and confined. More than 21 square miles of the city <br /> drain into it. As it flows northwest across the Willamette Valley, it carries insects, <br /> sediment, fish,oil,ducks,tires and pesticides with it. <br /> The city of Eugene treats Amazon Creek like a paradox. From an engineering perspective, <br /> the waterway is for flood control. From a natural resources perspective, it has habitat and <br /> aesthetic value. Whether it's seen as a dirty ditch or as a beneficial local stream, Amazon <br /> Creek's evolving form signals changes of season and social values in the Willamette <br /> Valley. <br /> Andy Gilmore took his first critical look at Amazon Creek on the first Earth Day in 1970 <br /> when he was a senior at Churchill High School. Back then,the creek was more overgrown, <br /> and roads like City View dead-ended rather than bridging over the creek to West 11th. <br /> Gilmore remembers that businesses dumped their waste on one side of the creek and <br /> households dumped their waste on the other. <br /> "You'd find sofas, and washing machines,and just about everything," says Gilmore. <br /> "There were certain sections where, against a willow tree,you might find 10 tires. It was <br /> just unbelievable,the stuff." <br /> Although he was born and raised in Eugene, Gilmore doesn't recall exploring the creek <br /> with his friends as a child. "I didn't really come down here and play that often," he said. "It <br /> was so dirty that we would dare each other to go into it." <br /> A lot has changed since the 1970s,both for Gilmore and for the creek. Gilmore,now fifty- <br /> two years old, is willing to spend more time by the waterway. And the creek,though still <br /> polluted, is cleaner now than it was 30 years ago. <br /> http://www.eugeneweekly.com/archive/12_18_03/coverstory.html 1/6/04 <br />