The following was shared with the Bloomingtonian:
Hello Fish Creek stakeholders and partners!
The Owen County Soil & Water Conservation District recently acquired a 319 grant for a 2-year Planning project in the Fish Creek Watershed. There will be a Public Kick-Off Meeting to give an overview of the project, answer questions, solicit Advisory Committee interest, and collect stakeholder input regarding local water quality and resource concerns. This meeting will be on Wednesday, April 19th at the Owen County Public Library (10 S Montgomery St. Spencer, IN 47460) at 6:00 pm ET. We invite any who live, work, farm, govern, recreate, or volunteer in this area and have an interest in improving water quality to join us!
This exciting new initiative will focus on assessing water quality in the Fish Creek watershed, which drains a very large area (172,729 acres total), encompassing most of Owen County as well as portions of Greene and Monroe counties. Baseline water monitoring will be conducted on 11 sites throughout the watershed and these results, along with local input, data from past studies in this region (2007 IDEM TMDL E.coli study, 2009 Watershed Management Plan for 3 subwatersheds within the larger Fish Creek project area – see links below), and other sources will be incorporated into a comprehensive Fish Creek Watershed Management Plan. Once this WMP is approved, it can be used as a guideline for the future implementation of conservation practices in critical areas. This 319 grant brings $114,950 into the region, with a local match/in-kind commitment of $76,633.33 making the total value = $191,583.33. We hope this is only the first installment of several as the Owen County SWCD plans to apply for additional funding in the future to assist eligible landowners with the installation of best management practices that will improve water quality.
CLICK HERE for a map of the Fish Creek watershed project area
CLICK HERE to view the Fish Creek 319 project webpage
CLICK HERE for more information about the 2007 IDEM TMDL study in the Fish Creek watershed (West Fork White River-Owen County Watershed)
CLICK HERE for more information on the 2009 Watershed Management Plan for Little Mill-Mill Creek, Limestone Creek, and Fall Creek watersheds
CLICK HERE to read more about the 319 grant program
Please feel free to spread the word and share the attached flyer with other individuals or organizations who may be interested – we hope to see you there!
