About the Mill Creek Watershed
Mill Creek is a 27.9 mile long tributary of the Cumberland River that stretches from from southeast Williamson County to the Cumberland River in eastern Davidson County. It begins south of Nolensville and continues into Metropolitan Nashville, winding through the Cane Ridge, Antioch, South Nashville and Donelson communities before emptying into the Cumberland River about 2 miles upstream from downtown Nashville and directly upstream from the city's primary drinking water treatment plant. The Mill Creek Watershed is especially important to the Middle Tennessee region because it is the only watershed containing the endangered Nashville crayfish, Faxonious shoupi.
The Watershed encompasses agricultural lands, suburban communities, urban neighborhoods, congested commercial areas, industrial areas and the Nashville airport. The watershed covers 108 square miles and is home to a vibrant blend of culturally diverse human communities that share the region with a beautiful biologically diverse community of plants and animals native to Middle Tennessee.
Meet
Faxonious shoupi, the Nashville Crayfish
Faxonious shoupi is a federal and state endangered crayfish (due to threat of urban development) that resides on Mill Creek in Davidson and Williamson counties in Tennessee. Horton Hobbs, Jr., discovered this rare crayfish in the 1940s along with C. S. Shoup, a Vanderbilt University professor and colleague. The Nashville Crayfish can grow up to 7” & can be distinguished by its elongated pincers with orange and black coloration on the tips and a light-colored “saddle” on its mid-back that extends down the sides toward the head.