SFLECC hosts Tippecanoe River Watershed Environmental meeting
Comet staff report

Fourteen state and local environmental organizations came together Sept. 17 in Monticello to catalog their concerns and discuss collaboration on ways to conserve, manage, enhance and protect the Tippecanoe River Watershed. The watershed covers 14 Indiana counties and includes tributary streams, and Lakes Shafer and Freeman. The river has been ranked in the top ten rivers in North America for bio-diversity.

The Shafer and Freeman Lakes Environmental Conservation Corporation (SFLECC) hosted the daylong meeting which was facilitated by Linda Schmidt, of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM).

John Shellcrosslee, chair of the SFLECC Watershed Committee and one of the meetings' organizers, said that the reason SFLECC wanted to meet with these other regional and state organizations was "to proceed with far reaching and carefully focused strategies with interested regional and state organizations; and to explore cooperation with them to effectively network various projects, partner in data sharing, and open up more funding sources."

The 25 attendees reviewed a pre-meeting IDEM survey regarding the major concerns of each organization as to the watershed's water quality and each participating organization's current focus related to water quality improvement. Topping the list of concerns were sediment issues, nutrients (phosphates and nitrates), e-coli, and the enhancement of wildlife habitat.

Following further discussion the group added to the list of concerns: storm water overflows from city sewers, impacts on water quality from confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), and sources of funding for water quality improvement projects.

Chad Watts of The Nature Conservancy spoke regarding the "Two-Stage" concept for agricultural ditch design as a way to reduce chemical, ecoli, and sediment runoffs into the watershed. Bob Robertson, regional biologist for the DNR, also commented on the state of the river and lakes as fisheries.

The consensus of those present was that there are common goals among the participating organizations to protect and enhance the watershed, and better water quality.

It was recognized that there are no "quick fixes" to the problems facing the watershed. It may take decades to make a dent and to accomplish the end goals. The idea of the establishment of one large project encompassing the efforts of all the organizations, and a permanent umbrella organization was rejected in favor of smaller joint collaborations and links where there were areas of common interest in a problem or concern. The sharing of each other's expertise and data as resources for developing individual projects was also emphasized. Eventually individual organizations could join together to seek federal, state and private grants.

Phyllis McGurk of the Tippecanoe River Watershed Alliance in Rochester accepted responsibility for developing data contributions into a central database that all the organizations could access.

"I thought we took great strides in beginning a combined effort by all entities in attendance to enhance the Tippecanoe Watershed and our Twin Lakes area," said Daryl Johns, executive director of SFLECC. "Of special interest is the possibilities the 2-Stage ditch concept offers in enhancing water quality and sediment loading. The SFLECC hopes that through education, and a model project in White County, that we can encourage our local drainage boards to start considering them as a best management practice."

The Tippecanoe River Watershed Alliance will host the next meeting to be held in April in Rochester.