Summary
The Upper Sugar Creek Watershed drains 508 square miles, 319 square miles of which are addressed in this watershed management plan. The Upper Sugar Creek Watershed starts downstream of the Browns Wonder-Sugar Creek Watershed, receiving water from Prairie Creek, Walnut Fork-Sugar Creek, and Lye Creek, in addition to drainage from the Browns Wonder-Sugar Creek Watershed. It includes drainage from the municipalities of Lebanon, Darlington, Colfax, and Thorntown. The Upper Sugar Creek Watershed is comprised three 10-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) watershed basins: Prairie Creek-Sugar Creek, draining north and west from the City of Lebanon, Walnut Fork-Sugar Creek, draining west along the southern portion of the watershed, and Lye Creek, draining the north and eastern portion of the watershed. The watershed covers approximately 204,500 acres and is covered by mixed land use, consisting mainly of row crop agriculture and pasture. Small areas of developed open space, low, medium and high-density developed land, and small forested pockets dot the watershed, especially adjacent to the mainstem of Sugar Creek. The mix of land uses generate nutrient, sediment and pathogen runoff concerns.
The Montgomery County Soil and Water Conservation District obtained funding from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management Section 319 program for the development of a watershed management plan (WMP) for the Upper Sugar Creek Watershed. A steering committee of regional partners, local producers, and interested stakeholders was organized to work with the watershed coordinator to develop the plan. The Upper Sugar Creek WMP is a comprehensive examination of the Upper Sugar Creek watershed and is intended as a guide for the protection and improvement of the quality of Sugar Creek and its watershed. The plan was developed with the goal of balancing the different uses within the watershed and the demands of the natural resource by the community. Stakeholders identified the need to maintain high-quality habitat and aesthetic conditions that leads Sugar Creek to be a recreation destination.