The year started out with the addition of our new soil technician, Whitney McGrew. She is a valuable asset to our district. Her services are also available to Pike County through a contribution agreement between the two counties. Whitney and Amy Sims (ISDA Resource Specialist) participated in the Infield Advantage program. The results of their findings will be presented at the annual meeting in January 2016. Whitney has also participated in site inspections with IDEM, assisted CRP in paperwork, worked on WASCOB designs, and met with landowners over their concerns.
Several high school students from the tri-county area participated in the soils judging contest held at Thresherman's Park in Boonville, IN, sponsored by Warrick County SWCD. Five high schools and one homeschool participated in the event. North Posey High School took the honor of being the highest scoring participants of the contest.
The district is proud to be partnered with Warrick County Stormwater in reviewing Rule 5 plans,and site inspections for ongoing projects in the County. This partnership is a natural fit, as both the district and Stormwater have similar agendas ....to protect the water sources in our county for future generations. SWCD and Storm Water Management sponsored a booth at the Warrick County 4-H fair in July. A rain simulator was featured, and several t-shirts were purchased by the public, giving further exposure to the district.
The district has been working on CWI grant applications with Gibson, Pike, Posey and Vanderburgh counties for funds for the year 2016. The focus is cover crops and will be a cost share program, and Warrick will be the lead county.
The program/office manager has participated in planning meetings for the upcoming IDEA Fall Conference at Tropicana Casino in Evansville, IN. There were many details that had to be taken care of to make the workshops go smoothly .