SHARONVILLE — The city's mayor and his assistant took a canoe trip Saturday along the two-mile stretch of the Mill Creek that runs through the city to check on the condition of the creek and its riparian zone before a project gets underway to help control flooding.

        The city has allocated about $700,000 on a project for flood mitigation along the Mill Creek. The work involves restoring retention basins and using heavy equipment to scoop out logjams and debris — both natural and man-made — from the creek.

        “It was a good trip, but it didn't have enough flow that makes for great canoeing,” said Mayor Virgil Lovitt, as he and his assistant, Christine Thompson, pulled their canoe from the creek at Sharon Road. “A lot of paddling and pushing.”

        Here in Sharonville the Mill Creek, one of the most polluted streams in the country, is a green vein running through a sea of asphalt and commerce, a thin corridor of decent habitat pinched between railroad tracks and business and industry. Even here, near the corner of Sharon and Mosteller roads, kingfishers flit among the treetops, cabbage whites and dragonflies dance over the water and a great blue heron follows the creek south overhead.

        Mr. Lovitt has canoed the Mill Creek before — walked along it as well — but on Saturday morning he was invited by some of the stream's advocates to canoe this two-mile section again for a look at the habitat before the project gets under way.

        Last July, flooding caused millions of dollars in damage to businesses in Sharonville and Evendale. Over the years, flooding has been a persistent problem, but has worsened as development has boomed in northern Hamilton and southern Butler counties.

        The mayor and Ms. Thompson, the city's flood plain manager, were two of eight canoeists in four canoes who made the two-mile trip from Crescentville Road to Sharon Road. Bruce Koehler, a Mill Creek advocate who believes there is hope for the stream and has canoed most of it, issued the invitation.

        “It was an opportunity to help the mayor see what's here so he can make sure the contractor does the job right,” said Mr. Koehler.

        “We wanted to see and document the condition of the Mill Creek before the work gets started.”

        Ms. Thompson said the work should begin in a month or so.

        “The most expensive part is making sure you don't damage the environment while you're doing the work,” said Ms. Thompson.

        Mr. Lovitt added:

        “We are very concerned about the natural aspects of the creek. But we have to take care of some flooding issues. It's our goal not to hurt the natural setting of the creek.”

        Michael Miller, a biology professor at the University of Cincinnati, said the problem originates upstream on the 28-mile creek, in Butler County where development is sending more runoff into the creek and flowing downstream.

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