Updates And News

The Annual Lee County Water Festival was held May 9-10 at the Opelika Sportsplex. It returned after a two-year break due to Covid 19. Over 1,450 fourth grades attended the festival, with around 60 volunteers assisting.

Sponsors include various business from around Lee County, Auburn, and Opelika, including .

The organization sponsors are as follows: ALOAS, this group consists of Auburn University, Lee County, Opelika, Auburn and Smith Station. Others also include Opelika Parks and Recreation Sportsplex, the Lee County Cooperative Extension Service, Lee County Commission, ADEM (grant), Bubba Medicine Shop, Loachapoka Water, USDA-NRCS and the Lee County Soil and Water Conservation District.

This year we recruited Graves Lovell of the Alabama Department of Natural Resources to bring some 14 live fish to show and describe their habitat preference. The event had three teaching stations where students received hands-on experience and learned about the water cycle, building an edible aquifer, and how pollutants impact our health and environment. The big fish, an 8-pound largemouth bass made quite a impression on the kids.

Saturday, November 5, over 30 Creekline volunteers collected 27 bags of polluting trash, along with 12 tires and other debris. Partners included: Keep Opelika Beautiful, Auburn University Water Resources Center, Chamber of Commerce 20 Under 40, the Conservation Corps, Girl scouts, the Reprieve, and others. Beautiful weather and lots of fellowship along Pepperell Creek. For information contact Laura Bell at [email protected].

August 2022

If You Smell Something, Say Something! To report any issues or ask questions, call Opelika's Stormwater Coordinator at 334-705-5454. We will investigate stormwater complaints.

Pictured: Stream Team Member Joel Landers takes water samples looking for harmful stream bacteria.

July 2022

As you visit restaurants or fast-food establishments in Opelika and you see spilled grease/fat or other pollutants, please contact the Opelika Stormwater Coordinator at 334-705-5454.

Clean water is everyone’s responsibility!

Grease Spill

June 2022

Over 52 area contractors attended the Annual Field Installation Workshop at the Auburn University NCAT test track for construction site erosion control. Contact John Harris at 334-705-5454 to sign up for next year’s lunch and learn.

May 2022

If you see a problem with flooding, street water, stormwater, sewer overflows or a polluting event, We NEED TO KNOW.

Please call 334-705-5450 to report a problem. Describe your problem and give the location or street address. All reports will be confidential. Your name will NOT be used.

See Something, Say Something for Opelika. Love the City You Live In.

April 2022

My Water Video created by Engineering Department.

January 2022

December 2021

Opelika Stormwater Staff and Stream Team Volunteer Tipi Miller walk Granberry Creek looking for water quality issues. This 1-mile section had 23 tires washed into this section of streams.

September 2021

We are ALL responsible for our environment and our local streams. Just last week a sewer line was found clogged with face masks. Wash your mask weekly or discard soiled masks in solid waste trash, but DO NOT FLUSH your old mask into the sewer system. We hope you join us in the effort to keep Opelika beautiful!

March 2021

The City of Opelika is excited to announce a new anti-litter campaign and event. In April, the city will launch the Don’t Be An Ope-loser! campaign in an effort to encourage visitors and citizens to keep the community clean. The campaign leads up to a new Spring community clean-up event called Slam Dunk The Junk. Locals will begin seeing brightly painted trash cans throughout the city with bold, educational messages about anti-littering.

“Litter continues to be a huge issue in Opelika. It’s sad to look around our city and see trash along the roadways, in parking lots and in our creeks. Litter is harmful to human health, safety, welfare, the environment and it has a negative effect on economic development,” said Mayor Gary Fuller.

The Slam Dunk The Junk event will be on April 24, 2021 and will begin at Covington Recreation Center at 9 a.m. Participants will pick up their supplies, provided by Keep Opelika Beautiful, at the recreation center and will be given a list of locations to pick up litter. This is a great opportunity for friends and family to give back to the community.

After the clean-up, participants are encouraged to come back to Covington by 11:30 a.m. for a friendly free throw and slam dunk competition, food, fun and prizes! Register on the city website (www.opelika-al.gov) to secure your spot in the competition and see rules.

“As a part of the campaign, we are asking that if you see trash on the ground, pick it up. It is a matter of civic pride to keep Opelika clean and beautiful. We need our community to be part of the solution, not the problem,” said Leigh Krehling, Community Relations Officer, City of Opelika.

For more information, please contact Leigh Krehling, Community Relations Officer at [email protected] or visit https://www.opelika-al.gov/854/Dunk-The-Junk