Basin
Bites and Technical Tidbits
A newsletter of the St. Joseph
River Basin Commission
December 2000--Fourth Quarter
VOLUNTEER
WATER QUALITY MONITORING DIRECTORY PLANNED
Did you remember to send in your questionnaire?
In mid-October, the St. Joseph River Basin Commission mailed questionnaires to a number of individuals that are listed in our database as Volunteer Water Quality Monitors. Most people were trained to conduct field survey water quality tests and invertebrate identification either through the WATER WATCHERS of Northern Indiana, the Indiana Rivers & Streams Program or the Hoosier RiverWatch Program. Volunteers have included not only interested individuals but teachers involved in interdisciplinary school programs.
As stated in the letter that accompanied the original questionnaire, the Basin Commission will develop a directory of all those in the St. Joseph River Basin trained and conducting water quality sampling on a voluntary basis in the River Basin. The directory will be distributed to all those returning the survey form.
We have tried to make the response simple by entering all the data in a faxable format that only requires corrections or additions. Several respondents have merely e-mailed the information. If you have not returned a form, please do so by December 8.
We are also interested in including volunteers trained in programs other than those listed above(Example: Steuben County Lakes volunteers, Indiana University's Lakes Management Secchi-disk volunteers, etc.) If you have been trained to conduct water quality analysis, and would like to be included in the directory, please contact us so a questionnaire can be sent to you.
Upon completion, the directory will serve several purposes:
As of this writing, 17 percent of the trained volunteers have returned their forms with corrected or updated entries. Even if no changes will be necessary, and you wish to be included in the directory, we need your data form returned. We'd like to see a 100 percent participation in this project!
INDIANA'S WETLANDS MITIGATIONS-ARE THEY WORKING?
In May 2000, James Robb of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management completed a report regarding wetlands mitigations in the State of Indiana--several located in the St. Joseph River Basin. The report, Indiana Wetland Compensatory Mitigation: Inventory, is published on IDEM's website, and addresses some interesting findings. The entire document is not reprinted in this newsletter due to its length.
Wetlands compensatory mitigation is usually required when a natural wetlands will be adversely impacted due to various landuse activities. Several criteria were used not only in identifying which sites would be included in the study, but whether the site successfully achieved its compensatory mitigation attempt. These criteria are identified in the full document.
The report concluded that
Robb discusses several activities that can help to insure successful mitigations.
If compensatory wetlands mitigation continues to occur, it is suggested, in the report, that a combination of these tools may be the only way to insure the goal of "no net loss" of this functional valuable resource.
The full report can be viewed at http://www.state.in.us/idem/owm/planbr/401/mitreport3.PDF
TAKE A TOUR OF SOME OF NORTHERN INDIANA'S PREMEIR WETLANDS
Taylor University's Environmental Science Department has made it possible to take a wetlands tour of some of the finest wetlands in northern Indiana, without ever gearing up with hiking boots and insect repellent. The University has constructed the website listed below, which highlights many wetlands in the St. Joseph River Basin. Take a tour and wonder at these natural resources at: http://www.tayloru.edu/upland/departments/envscience/wetlands/iswamp/index.htm
PLANNING WITH POWER
The impacts of landuse changes on water quality have been addressed in this newsletter for sometime. A new resource will soon be available that will aid policy makers and landuse planners in addressing some of these concerns.
Planning with POWER (Protecting Our Water and Environmental Resources) is a statewide educational program that links landuse planning with watershed planning. The program is coordinated by the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program and Purdue Extension.
"The Planning with POWER message is simple. Through a three-tiered strategy of natural resource-based planning, protective site design, and use of best management practices, water and natural resources can be protected while allowing for compatible economic growth."
The material distributed by the Program states that "… few programs address the impact of land use policies, which are created and enforced at the town, city and county levels. Ultimately, protection of the nation's water and natural resources will depend upon educating local land use officials about the links between land use and water quality, and providing them with ideas and tools to take action at the local level."
The Planning with POWER staff has been invited to a future meeting of the River Basin Commission, to explain, in more detail what the program is all about, and how we can work together to protect water resources in our quickly developing region. Jim McCormick, Program Coordinator, anticipates the Project should be in full operation by February 2001.
Happy
Holidays
from the
St. Joseph River Basin Commission staff
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