01 May May 2018 Conservation Update
The SWCD has conducted interviews for the summer intern positions at the County Farm. The intern selections were made on April 14th. Tanner Chamberlain and Nathan Tesmer will be the County Farm caregivers for the 2018 Summer season. The start date for both interns will be May 21, 2018.
April was filled with watershed steering committee meetings. The district tries to be involved in all soil and water improvement projects in the county. We met with the Lower Salamonie Watershed group on the April 9th. They will be conducting water sampling and implementing conservation practice cost share for land owners. Unfortunately, Wabash does not have enough of the watershed to qualify for cost-share dollars. We will however be participating in water sampling. Sampling since 2009 has shown particularly high levels of phosphorous, nitrogen, total organic carbon, sulfates, and total suspended solids. These elements increase the turbidity and fertility of the waters flowing into the Salamonie Reservoir, where blue-green algae blooms have been noticed in past years. One of the thirteen sampling sites are in Wabash county. It will be in Lagro, at the bridge on East Hanging Rock Road.
The Upper Middle Eel Watershed group met on the 16th of April. The watershed management plan will be completed in December of 2018. As a result, Wabash Co. SWCD is eligible to apply for the IDEM 319 Implementation Grant for the Upper Middle Eel Watershed. Wabash will be partnering with Whitley and Kosciusko counties for the implementation of conservation cost-share. Wabash also plans to continue the water monitoring that it is currently collecting with Manchester University’s Environmental Studies Department.
In Field Advantage(INFA) enrollment is beginning and final applications will be submitted by June. The INFA program is funded by Indiana Pork. Participants are from Miami, Huntington and Wabash counties. Through this program they will receive free corn stalk nitrate samples and aerial imagery. The results of these allow the landowners to determine a more accurate reading of nitrogen on their fields, preventing over application
Our next board meeting is May 15th 6:30pm, at the USDA Service Center 599 Bryan Ave.
If you would like further information on the items above or the other work performed this month, please contact our office and we would be happy to meet with you.