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robert0720 · 08-14-2001, 02:29 PM

Hoosier boaters provide $1.1 million to protect water quality, reduce soil erosion ------------------------------------------------------- The state is awarding 30 grants that will improve lakes and rivers in 33 counties and the money is being provided by Hoosier boaters. The grants, which supplement local budgets for local projects, will help fund lake and watershed diagnostic studies, lake and watershed management plans, post-construction monitoring, engineering feasibility studies, design and construction, and land treatment projects. The grant monies come from annual fees for boat registration. Five dollars from each registration is reserved for the DNR grant program. The grants are approved by the State Soil Conservation Board and administered by the DNR Division of Soil Conservation. "This is a great example of Hoosiers working together to improve our environment," said Larry D. Macklin, director of the DNR. "These projects are funded by boaters and they will certainly be beneficiaries of the enhancements. "But the projects do more. They will restore not only natural beauty but also ecosystems," he said. "They'll result in more varieties of fish -- better fishing, boating, and other recreation. In the end, all Hoosiers benefit." The grants continue a 13-year program that provides technical and financial assistance to local units of government and organizations. The projects address soil erosion- and nutrient-related problems affecting public-access lakes and streams. The counties with projects receiving grants are: Allen, Brown, Cass, Clinton, Decatur, Fulton, Greene, Howard, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jennings, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Lawrence, Marshall, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery, Newton, Noble, Orange, Parke, Posey, Pulaski, Randolph, Ripley, Scott, Steuben, Sullivan, Wayne, White and Whitley. (Complete list of grants follows.) The projects improve water quality through the installation of grass cover, filter strips and projects such as wetlands, to reduce sedimentation and nutrient runoff. The grants will also fund studies to document water-related problems and solutions. The 2001 grants bring to 230 the number of projects that have received state boating-funded monies since 1988. Those projects have enhanced 133 rivers, lakes and streams and 65 watersheds in 51 counties. "This time of year it is important to remember that the projects funded by these grants will also add to Indiana's attractiveness to thousands of visitors from out of state," Macklin said. "Further, these grants will expand work already completed and further protect Indiana's lakes and rivers for years to come." The grant recipients, grouped by type of project, are: Lake diagnostic studies ---------------------------------- Steuben County (Lake Gage and Lime Lake): $13,500 to help the Lake Gage and Lime Lake Association investigate turbidity levels and Eurasian watermilfoil colonization of the two lakes. Post-construction monitoring -------------------------------------- Kosciusko County (Lake Tippecanoe): $48,000 to the Tippecanoe Environmental Lake and Watershed Foundation to conduct performance appraisals for four grant-funded pollutant control projects, including the Kuhn Ditch sediment trap/wetland, Henwood Creek stabilization structures, Indian Creek nutrient/stormwater control basins, and Hanna B. Walker Drain sediment trap. Watershed diagnostic studies ----------------------------------------- Cass, Fulton, Pulaski, and White counties (Indian Creek): $42,000 to the soil and water conservation district to identify environmentally sensitive areas and determine conservation needs of the 71,211-acre watershed. Jackson County (White Creek): $33,300 to the soil and water conservation district to evaluate the 28,500-acre downstream portion of White Creek watershed. Jasper and Newton counties (Curtis Creek): $36,000 to the soil and water conservation district to develop a database of watershed characteristics and priorities for future watershed land treatment actions. Engineering feasibility studies ---------------------------------------- Kosciusko County (Little Barbee Lake): $16,200 to the Barbee Lakes Property Owners Association to investigate the feasibility of a wetland restoration adjacent to Putney Ditch. Kosciusko County (Webster Lake): $5,400 to the Webster Lake Conservation Association, Inc., to explore the feasibility of retrofitting eleven storm water drains in the town of North Webster with some type of pollutant removal filters and to prepare design specifications and plans for the structures. Kosciusko County (Webster/Backwaters Lake and Tippecanoe River): $21,600 to Webster Lake Conservation Association, Inc., to determine the feasibility of constructing a storm water filter or wetland area at the northwest corner of Webster Lake. Marshall County (Myers Lake): $15,000 to the Myers Lake Property Owners Association to explore the engineering feasibility of pollutant management from sites in the 858-acre Myers/Lawrence Lake watershed. Design studies ---------------------- Kosciusko County (Lake Wawasee): $54,000 to the Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation to carry out design work for an enhanced wetland along Dillon Creek, a sediment trap in the Bayshore Channel, check dams along Dillon Creek, and check dams along Martin Ditch. Design/construction projects ------------------------------------- Brown and Monroe counties (Lake Lemon): $59,488 to the Lake Lemon Conservancy District to continue ongoing design/construction work related to shoreline erosion control. Kosciusko County (Lake Tippecanoe): $63,750 to the Tippecanoe Environmental Lake and Watershed Foundation to transform a highly erodible 10-acre crop field into an approximately five-acre wetland on Smith Drain with five areas of adjacent grassed prairie buffer. Aquatic vegetation management plans ----------------------------------------------- Kosciusko County (Webster Lake Chain): $27,495 to Aquatic Control, Inc., to develop a GIS-based comprehensive aquatic vegetation management plan that would be applied to the seven lakes within the 50-square mile watershed terminating at the Webster Lake dam. Continuing watershed land treatment projects (by county): Allen -- St. Joseph and Maumee Rivers -- $65,000 Cass, Miami -- Twelve Mile Creek -- $50,000 Clinton -- Wildcat Creek -- $38,000 Decatur, Jennings, Ripley -- North Fork of Vernon Fork of the Muscatatuck River -- $50,000 Howard -- Kokomo Creek -- $30,000 LaGrange, Noble -- Witmer Lake -- $15,000 LaGrange, Steuben -- Big and Little Turkey Lakes -- $70,000 Montgomery, Parke -- Lake Waveland -- $30,000 Noble, Whitley -- Goose and Loon Lakes -- $40,000 Randolph, Wayne -- Middle Fork of East Fork of Whitewater River -- $30,000 Sullivan -- Middle Fork of Busseron Creek -- $30,000 New watershed land treatment projects ------------------------------------------------- Greene, Lawrence, Monroe counties (Indian Creek): $20,000 to the soil and water conservation districts to implement conservation practices including fencing livestock out of the stream and providing alternative water sources, installing grassed waterway and grade stabilization structures, stabilizing stream banks, pasture and hayland planting, and rotational grazing to prevent nutrient loading. Jefferson and Scott counties (Quick Creek): $20,000 to the soil and water conservation district to apply conservation practices to the 6,707-acre watershed flowing into Hardy Lake. Jennings and Ripley counties (Brush Creek Reservoir): $18,000 to the soil and water conservation districts to control erosion and introduction of nutrients into the reservoir from the 9,315-acre watershed. Orange County (Lost River Karst Region): $25,000 to the Orange, Washington, and Lawrence work team to stabilize sinkholes, reduce massive sediment loads through management of residue and nutrient/pests, and establishment of cover crops and filter strips. Posey County (McFadden Creek): $30,000 to the soil and water conservation district to work with adjacent landowners to install buffers and filter strips to prevent gully erosion. More information about the DNR Division of Soil Conservation is available at: http://www.IN.gov/dnr/soilcons/index.htm ------------------------------------------------ Media contacts: Deborah Messenger, 317-233-3872 or Jim Ray, 317-233-3871 ------------------------------------------------ ================================================ PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE Wild Bulletin provides information about Indiana's natural resources and recreation. To subscribe to Wild Bulletin go to: http://www.IN.gov/dnr/fishwild/listsrv.htm Visit the DNR Division of Fish and Wildlife website at: http://wildlife.IN.gov If you ever want to remove yourself from this mailing list, you can send mail to <majordomo@ai.org> with the following command in the body of your email message: unsubscribe wildbulletin or from another email account: unsubscribe wildbulletin <your e-mail address>

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