The Kosciusko County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) administered two Clean Water Indiana (CWI) grants in 2010, both aimed at assisting with the installation of tw0-stage ditches in the county.
A two-stage ditch is an innovative ditch design that has been shown to significantly reduce sediment and nutrient loading, increase biotic communities and improve water quality. The bench of this ditch acts like a mini-floodplain that slows the speed of water during high water flow.
One of the two-stage ditches was installed on the Stoneburner-Putney Ditch on land owned by the Reiff Farm Trust. Construction of this ditch began in 2009 and was completed in 2010. A second two-stage was constructed in 2010 on the upper end of Trimble Creek for Ransbottom Farms. Both of these projects were cooperative efforts of the SWCD's CWI grant program and USDA's Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP).
A third two-stage ditch project is being planned for construction this year on Plunge Creek.
The CWI Fund is administered by the Indiana State Department of Agriculture Division of Soil Conservation, under the direction of the State Soil Conservation Board. Soil and Water Conservation Districts can apply for these grant monies to fund projects aimed at improving water quality.
The Kosciusko County SWCD will received a 2011 CWI grant to provide technical assistance to landowners in targeted sub-watersheds of the Eel River, as part of a Mississippi River Basin Initiative project.