Soil & Water Conservation Districts Receive State Showcase Award
The Huntington County Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD), along with Blackford, Grant, Wabash and Wells counties SWCDs, received one of four District Showcase Awards presented at the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts Annual Conference on January 24, 2017. These five SWCDS, along with other conservation partners were recognized for their work in the Lower Salamonie River Watershed (LSRW).
Over the past several years the SWCDs have received Clean Water Indiana (CWI) grants that have provided funding to promote and assist with implementing conservation practices. After raised concerns of the increase in Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in the Salamonie Reservoir, the five districts along with other conservation partners combined their efforts and formed the Lower Salamonie River Watershed (LSRW) group. In 2013, the LSRW group received an Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) 319 Management and Implementation Grant. This grant was for four years and included the development of a Watershed Management Plan, Water Monitoring Program, Education and Outreach Program and Cost-Share Program.
This project has brought increased awareness of the importance of implementing conservation practices, in both the rural and urban communities that will help improve our water quality and protect our natural resources.
The Blackford, Grant, Huntington, Wabash and Wells County SWCDs, along with the partners of the Lower Salamonie River Watershed group were deeply honored to receive the 2016 District Showcase Award.
District Showcase Photo
Seated: Darin Hadley-Wabash Supervisor, Kyle Lund-Huntington Supervisor, Lynne Huffman-Wells SWCD, Cheryl Jarrett-Huntington SWCD, Cassandra Vondran-NRCS Huntington District Conservationist, Kelley Barkell-NRCS Wells District Conservationist, Andrew Ambriole-Huntington Supervisor
Standing: Rob Shellhamer-Wabash Supervisor, Nicholas Williams-NRCS Grant District Conservationist, Bobby Hettmansperger-Wabash Supervisor, Dale Thomas-Wells Supervisor, Kevin Brickley-Wells Supervisor, Chad Fiechter-Wells Supervisor, David Lefforge-ISDA Resource Specialist, Larry Buzzard-Huntington Commissioner, Tim Kroeker-LSRW Coordinator, Wesley Slain-NRCS Blackford District Conservationist