2014 was another great year for the Hancock County Soil and Water Conservation District; all for the betterment of Conservation. One is we have had an increase of cover crops being utilized in our District and we look forward to seeing this conservation practice being used more in the future. Our NRCS District Conservationist, Ashley Linville, completed her 2nd year in our office. This is a shared position with Henry County which works out for us in planning events as we share and work together. We have seen an increase of EQIP applications and CSP applications. Our MS4 Partnership has grown and strengthened for our residents in Hancock County on learning how to protect our water at the local level, we have worked several events with our MS4 Partners. We assisted in the Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative (CCSI) in planning events. Our one staff person has managed and completed 187 Wetland Determinations and 185 HEL (Highly Erodible) Determinations for 2014. Our one staff person has also worked hard for the Pathway to Water Quality Exhibit at the Indiana State Fair, especially the Education Area – creating activities, purchasing educational giveaways, working time slots and being a member of the Pathway Committee. Our Fall Creek Watershed Partnership (FCWP) Program, is a program that is driven by the Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD's) of Hancock, Hamilton, Madison and Marion Counties, and was developed to address water quality needs and educate urban and suburban customers along our watershed. The effort target landowners and landusers (homeowners, neighborhood associations, businesses, colleges and universities, municipalities, parks and public lands, non-profits, planning entities and economic development organizations) to adopt conservation practices that improve water quality. Partners in the Fall Creek Watershed have joined efforts to address many water quality, soil health, and natural resources including wildlife habitat, and neighborhood/community improvements in 2014. The SWCD's worked together to apply for an initial Clean Water Indiana (CWI) Grant in 2012 to hire a watershed coordinator who conducts outreach and offers technical assistance to landowners and landusers. A second CWI Grant in 2013 was awarded to offer cost-share funds that incentivized best management practice implementation. Interest and participation has grown throughout 2014. Pockets of landowners from community to community, who have become involved, along with demonstration projects, are generating even greater Backyard Conservation interest and applications. This groundswell of support for clean water conservation information, technical assistance and projects demonstrates real interest and need for support. Some of our FCWP to date accomplishments:
- 68 FCWP Cost-Share applications
- 23 UWRWA Cost-share application with FCWP outreach and technical assistance
- 72 conservation practices implemented
- 300 + rain barrels implemented
- 530 + contacts created
- 20 workshops on topics ranging from home drainage, how to build a pond, managing CSO's with green infrastructure, a pond pro workshop to rain garden design and construction, rain barrel retrofit and painting and stream management.
The Hancock County Board of Supervisors and Office Staff would like to thank everyone that has worked with us in 2014 and look forward to working together in the future. You can reach us at 317-426-2283 ext. 3.