Summary
The Shelby County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) received a Section 205j grant from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) in 2022 to rewrite the 2007 Watershed Management Plan (WMP) for the Little Blue River watershed. A revised WMP was deemed necessary due to land use changes in the watershed and the need for updated water quality and pollutant loading information
The Little Blue River (LBR) Watershed drains portions of Shelby, Rush and Henry Counties (67,040 acres) and consists of one 10-digit HUC (0512020402). Primary land uses in the watershed include agricultural (87%) and urban (7%). There are more than 124.6 miles of streams in the LBR Watershed. Impairments include: 124.6 miles for E. coli, 62.2 miles for biotic communities, and 52.3 miles for dissolved oxygen. Based on data compiled as part of the 2024 WMP, nutrients, sediment and E. coli are the primary nonpoint source concerns in the LBR Watershed.
The WMP is a strategy for achieving water quality goals by characterizing the watershed, setting goals and actions steps, and developing an implementation plan to address documented problems. The Little Blue River WMP meets the requirements of IDEM’s 2009 and 2024 Watershed Management Plan Checklists and was approved by IDEM in December 2024.