Q1 Update – Continuing Partnerships
As we begin a new round of our Lake Monroe Watershed Conservation Cost-Share Program, we are reminded how essential partnerships are for our work protecting Lake Monroe. Some of our most critical partnerships revolve around funding. We are deeply grateful to Monroe County Stormwater Board, City of Bloomington Utilities, and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management for funding much of the work that we do. Their support has provided us with a watershed coordinator position for three more years plus $180,000 in new funding for conservation cost-share projects.
We also depend greatly on support from our conservation partners. Many thanks to the three Soil and Water Conservation Districts in our watershed – Monroe County SWCD, Brown County SWCD, and Jackson County SWCD – for helping connect us with landowners and providing technical support. Two other amazing partners for technical support are the Indiana State Department of Agriculture and the U.S Natural Resource Conservation Service. Together, we work with landowners around the region to ensure they have the resources they need to improve land management on their farms, forests, and homesteads.
This winter we updated our cost-share program and started a fresh round of outreach to landowners and land managers in the Lake Monroe watershed. We decided to lift the $10,000 funding cap for producers to allow us to support larger projects and to look at properties holistically. If there are multiple opportunities to improve soil and water management, it makes sense to address them together. We shared information at four farmer-oriented events - the annual meetings of our three SWCD partners plus the Brown County Ag Breakfast.
Another goal this year is to develop new educational materials to take to events. Our pop up watershed map has been a big draw and we’d like to increase engagement even more by adding an interactive component. One idea is to build a plinko board showing how stormwater moves pollution into streams. Another would be a 3D model of the watershed that really emphasizes how all the land in the watershed drains into Lake Monroe. Or it could be something as simple as a trivia board with doors you can open to see if you answered the questions correctly. We will continue to table at events this year with our current materials and hope to add some new pieces for 2027.
If you have suggestions for an event where we should share information or if you know someone in the Lake Monroe watershed who might want to work on a project, please contact Maggie Sullivan at watershed@friendsoflakemonroe.org or 812-558-0217.
