Q8 Update – Watershed Signs, Watershed Tour, and Grant Updates

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1636213115118{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}"]Remember those road signs marking the boundaries of the Lake Monroe watershed that we started working on last summer?   Well, they are finally being posted in Monroe, Brown, Jackson, and Bartholomew Counties.  You can see a map of the sign locations here.  Many thanks to the respective county highway departments for installing the signs![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1636213100012{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}"]We also hosted our Lake Monroe Watershed Tour on October 2, which was a lot of fun.  We couldn’t cover all 440 square miles in one trip, so we focused mainly on North Fork Salt Creek – with one quick detour to Middle Fork Salt Creek.  Highlights included Stillwater Marsh (a managed wetland providing habitat for waterfowl and other migrating birds), Yellowwood Lake (the third largest lake in the watershed with a successful watershed management plan of its own), the Nashville Sewage Treatment Plant (an important part of how our communities deal with wastewater), and Stone Head Nature Preserve (an assortment of diverse habitat along Middle Fork Salt Creek).  If you’d like to venture out on your own, check out this amazing illustrated watershed map developed by Amanda Duba.Last but not least, I am happy to report that our application for a second round of grant funding through the 319 grant program received an initial endorsement from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.  It is now headed to the United States Environmental Protection Agency for further review.  We are very hopeful that this time next year we will have the funding needed to implement our watershed management plan.  Friends of Lake Monroe has also applied for two other grants to fund projects next summer including a septic maintenance cost-share program and a lakeshore erosion inventory project.  We are excited to start improving our watershed!As always, please reach out with questions, comments or suggestions at watershed@friendsoflakemonroe.org.  Thank you![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1636213160936{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}"]Links:Old quarterly report about watershed signs - https://friendsoflakemonroe.org/water-sampling-update-3rd-quarter-of-watershed-management-plan/Google map with sign locations - https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/edit?mid=1BINavqsASdErhYY9TFhEhSVphBpDtAj9&usp=sharingWatershed tour - https://friendsoflakemonroe.org/lake-monroe-watershed-tour-highlights/Illustrated watershed map - https://friendsoflakemonroe.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/watershed_tour_illustrated_map.pdf[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]