Summary
The Twin Creek-Lick Branch (TCLB) Watershed project was initiated by the Washington County Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) board members after concerns were expressed by local residents and landowners. The project was motivated by the desire to improve the overall water quality flowing into the East Fork White River and improve soil health throughout the watershed. In 2021, the Washington County SWCD received a Section 205(j) grant from IDEM to develop a watershed management plan (WMP).
The Twin Creek and Lick Branch watershed area consists of two HUC 10 watersheds, Twin Creek (0512020801) and Lick Branch (0512020803), and includes eight HUC-12 subwatersheds. The watershed covers more than 117,000 acres in parts of Washington, Lawrence, Jackson, and Orange counties. Primary land use types in the watershed include agricultural (43%), forest (48%), and developed/urban (5%). The project contains 692 acres of lakes and ponds and 323.36 miles of streams. There are 13 stream segments within the watershed that are listed on Indiana’s 2022 303(d) List of Impaired Waters. Twelve of the segments (92.58 miles) are listed for unsafe levels of E. coli. The other listing is for algae and taste at Lake John Hay, a 300-acre lake in the watershed that provides drinking water to approximately 10,800 residents as well as recreation opportunities. While the City of Salem does not lie within the watershed, it receives its drinking water from Lake John Hay. The lake is also the water supply for the East Washington Water Corporation, and the Town of Pekin.
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 Twin Creek-Lick Branch WMP meets the requirements of IDEM’s 2009 and 2024 Watershed Management Plan Checklists and was approved by IDEM and EPA in September 2024.