Claremore property owners living near creeks may think ground maintenance near the creeks is the city’s responsibility, but mailings to be issued this week will inform them otherwise.

Claremore City Ordinances regarding the regulation of pollutants into the city’s storm sewer system require the clearing of drainage easements, including those near creeks and similar water drainage systems, to be the responsibility of the property owners.

“With the heavy rainfalls this season, we’ve been ‘walking’ through neighborhoods, doing visual checks of the drainage easements,” said Charlene Lawrence, City of Claremore stormwater pre-treatment coordinator/manager. “What we found was several residents unaware of their responsibility to keep the drainage easement areas clear. Many of them thought the easements were under the city’s charge to keep clean, but that’s never been the case. Since many fall on private property, it falls to the property owners to keep them clear.”

Lawrence said she and her workers informed some persons of the Ordinance while making her visual checks, but a mailer to be sent this week will inform persons of their obligation to keep the water easements clean.

“We don’t want people to misunderstand that the letters are any means of strong-arming people into keeping the portions of their land (near drainage easements) clean — they are just a means to inform the public about property owner’s responsibility concerning keeping the (drainage) easements clean,” she said. “Anyone owning or leasing property through which a watercourse, such as a creek, passes is responsible for keeping and maintaining that part of the watercourse within the property free of trash, debris, excessive vegetation and other obstacles that would pollute, contaminate or significantly retard the flow of water.”

Additionally, Lawrence said the owner or lessee is required to maintain existing privately owned structures within or adjacent to a watercourse, so such restrictions would not become a hazard to the use, function or “physical integrity” of the watercourse.

“Not only is this a City Ordinance, it’s also federally mandated by the Oklahoma EPA and the DEQ, so it’s a requirement of federal, state and local bodies,” she said.

City of Claremore Marketing Director Cassie Sowers added that keeping areas near drainage easements maintained would alleviate insect and rodent infestation, common around areas dense with grass and debris.

“Keeping these (easements) cleared isn’t just a one-time deal, unfortunately,” Sowers said. “The property owners should be aware that keeping them cleaned must be maintained, and done so consistently.”

As with other Ordinances, prolonged offenses can result in citations and even abatement, meaning added costs for the property owners — something which Lawrence and Sowers said they would prefer to avoid.

“The work’s got to be done, whether it’s done by the property owner or the city, but if we have to take care of it, the cost is passed on to the property owner,” she said. “We understand that this is something many people are unaware of, and it will be a lot of work in some cases,” Sowers said, “so the property owners will be given reasonable time to clear the land near the drainage easements — and in the end, everyone in the city benefits from a better-operating natural drainage system.”