The mission of the Elkhart County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) is to promote and implement the protection, conservation, and wise use of natural resources in Elkhart County through partnerships. By working with Elkhart County Government and the eight member organizations of the Indiana Conservation Partnership we are able to provide quality information, education, and technical assistance to people throughout the County. Elkhart County is a region of great diversity: consistently ranking in the top five in overall cash receipts for Indiana agricultural products; while growing urbanized areas encompass three cities and four towns.
Traditional partners continue to provide services to the local agricultural community with local leadership from the SWCD Board. The board also works with County Government, the Town of Bristol, and the cities of Goshen and Elkhart within the Greater Elkhart County Stormwater Partnership. This group addresses Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) requirements.
The SWCD houses the partnership staff, which together with other members of the SWCD staff takes the lead on three of the six minimum control measures that are required for compliance. Public involvement, education and construction are all traditional roles of the SWCD and coordinating these efforts is a natural fit for us. The stormwater coordinator compiles information from the other entities to report on the other three minimum control measures: good housekeeping, illicit discharge and post construction.
Our partnerships does not end there. The SWCD has assisted the Elkhart River Restoration Association through the implementation of a $500,000 EPA/IDEM 319 Grant to develop and begin implementing a watershed management plan for the Elkhart River Watershed. We continue collaborating with them as they seek grant funds to work throughout the watershed to improve water quality in our rivers and streams. Agriculture practices such as exclusion fencing and wetland restoration, and urban rain gardens were completed as a part of this grant.
We have sponsored Indiana Master Naturalist classes since 2007 as part of the SWCD Adult Education Program in partnership with the Elkhart County Park Department and Middlebury Park Department. Participants are required to do volunteer service hours for each hour of instruction. Our graduates have given over 2,500 hours of service back to local natural resource agencies and organizations after graduation.
These volunteers are a critical link in our ability to partner with all of the above groups and others such as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Jimmy New Foundation, who added grant funding to local efforts to install the 3,000-square-foot rain garden at Prairieview Elementary School (shown above). Administrators, teachers, volunteers and SWCD staff assisted over 400 students as they planted 1,786 native plants to convert a retention pond into a rain garden that both improves stormwater absorption and the aesthetics of the school.
By nurturing a wide network of partnerships, the SWCD is able to achieve their mission of promoting and implementing the protection, conservation and wise use of natural resources in Elkhart County.
Traditional partners continue to provide services to the local agricultural community with local leadership from the SWCD Board. The board also works with County Government, the Town of Bristol, and the cities of Goshen and Elkhart within the Greater Elkhart County Stormwater Partnership. This group addresses Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) requirements.
The SWCD houses the partnership staff, which together with other members of the SWCD staff takes the lead on three of the six minimum control measures that are required for compliance. Public involvement, education and construction are all traditional roles of the SWCD and coordinating these efforts is a natural fit for us. The stormwater coordinator compiles information from the other entities to report on the other three minimum control measures: good housekeeping, illicit discharge and post construction.
Our partnerships does not end there. The SWCD has assisted the Elkhart River Restoration Association through the implementation of a $500,000 EPA/IDEM 319 Grant to develop and begin implementing a watershed management plan for the Elkhart River Watershed. We continue collaborating with them as they seek grant funds to work throughout the watershed to improve water quality in our rivers and streams. Agriculture practices such as exclusion fencing and wetland restoration, and urban rain gardens were completed as a part of this grant.
We have sponsored Indiana Master Naturalist classes since 2007 as part of the SWCD Adult Education Program in partnership with the Elkhart County Park Department and Middlebury Park Department. Participants are required to do volunteer service hours for each hour of instruction. Our graduates have given over 2,500 hours of service back to local natural resource agencies and organizations after graduation.
These volunteers are a critical link in our ability to partner with all of the above groups and others such as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Jimmy New Foundation, who added grant funding to local efforts to install the 3,000-square-foot rain garden at Prairieview Elementary School (shown above). Administrators, teachers, volunteers and SWCD staff assisted over 400 students as they planted 1,786 native plants to convert a retention pond into a rain garden that both improves stormwater absorption and the aesthetics of the school.
By nurturing a wide network of partnerships, the SWCD is able to achieve their mission of promoting and implementing the protection, conservation and wise use of natural resources in Elkhart County.