The Indiana State Nonpoint Source Program management plan (“Management plan”) guides the usage of Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 319 funds received by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). The Plan outlines and drives the IDEM’s Nonpoint Source Program efforts, while seeking to credit and provide synergy with other state, local, and federal nonpoint source efforts in Indiana.
Current U.S. EPA guidelines require states to update their Plans every five years. This 2025 revision of the Plan is a comprehensive update to all sections of the previous Plan (2019-2023, IDEM 2019). IDEM requested and received a one-year extension of the previous plan to provide additional time needed due to programmatic limitations at the time. Therefore, this plan will cover years from 2025 through 2029 and will continue its five-year revision cycle on this schedule. For this revision to the Indiana State Nonpoint Source Management Plan, IDEM is updating all sections to reflect current data to create a comprehensive standalone plan. This Plan will be reviewed annually by program staff to assess its continued validity. The next full revision of this program plan will be completed in Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2029.
Approach
Sections of the Plan are representative of the conditions in Indiana, continue to inform how the Indiana Nonpoint Source Program guides the use of Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 319 funds, and provide explanation of how the Indiana Nonpoint Source Program will operate in 2025-2029.
The goals and actions presented in this document were informed through a survey of stakeholders and a pair of workshops with an advisory team made up of IDEM staff and partner organizations. IDEM has established six goals for 2025-2029 plan:
- Improve the resources available for nonpoint source pollution management through partnerships.
- Characterize Indiana waters for nonpoint source pollution impairments and improvements.
- Cultivate a citizenry that embraces the value of water quality.
- Improve Indiana’s water quality by reducing nonpoint source pollution and restoring aquatic habitats.
- Prioritize water resources so that they may continue to meet their intended uses.
- Provide networking, guidance, and support to the people doing the work.
Nonpoint source water pollution reflects land uses. Nonpoint source pollution in Indiana originates from a variety of sources including agriculture, forestry, mining, and urban or residential land uses that impact 13,616 miles of streams, while unknown sources impair 11,649 miles of streams (IDEM 2024 Integrated Report).
Indiana has formulated a multi-layered approach to address nonpoint source pollution that includes monitoring, targeted implementation, and education and outreach. Monitoring forms the basis of the approach. Monitoring identifies which waterbodies are high quality, which meet designated uses, and which are designated as impaired. In recent years, Indiana has solicited grant applications for both restoring impaired waters and protecting higher-quality waters. Indiana has targeted its restoration dollars to watersheds with impaired waters that have demonstrated stakeholder interest in tackling nonpoint source pollution issues and show the most potential for success. Section 319 watershed planning and implementation grant recipients undertake an outreach campaign for the local watershed and encourage the use of best management practices (BMPs) on targeted lands. Cost-share for those BMPs is often provided through a Section 319 grant or through the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Bill programs. As a result of these efforts, Indiana has been able to show successful restoration of several streams and watersheds at www.idem.IN.gov/nps/what-is-nonpoint-source-pollution/make-a-real-difference/.
Over the next five years, Indiana’s Section 319 program proposes to continue working with state, federal, and local partners to produce and implement Watershed Management Plans (WMP). To optimize resources and water quality benefits, Indiana proposes to work with partners to prioritize its watersheds for targeted funding. Indiana will work to achieve a balance between restoration and protection activities funded through its programs.
