save the dunes update - green drinks 9-19-11
DESCRIPTION
Jennifer Birchfield, Water Program Director with Save the Dunes, will update the group on several news items and initiatives. Save the Dunes in partnership with the city of Valparaiso, was recently awarded a $607,000 EPA grant to improve a large detention area located at Evans & Roosevelt in Valparaiso. The basin feeds into the Salt Creek watershed and eventually into Lake Michigan.Birchfield said more than 500 acres of developed land drains into the 2-acre Thorgren basin after a storm. That water contains pollutants, such as lawn chemicals, oil and animal feces. The grant money will spur efforts to naturalize the basin to mimic a wetland surrounding to filter pollutants. Concrete will be replaced by a meandering waterway. Turfgrass will be replaced with native plantings that have deep roots that absorb water and pollutants.Save the Dunes officials hope the Thorgren basin will become a model for other basins in the Lake Michigan watershed.TRANSCRIPT
Salt Creek Watershed Management
Save the DunesMission:To preserve, protect, and restore the
Indiana dunes and all natural resources in northwest Indiana’s Lake Michigan watershed for an enhanced quality of life.
• A watershed is the area of land that drains to a stream, river, or lake.
• Watersheds are like funnels.
Pollutants present on the land in a watershed can be carried by rain and melting snow into receiving water below.
What is a watershed?What is a watershed?
Little Calumet Galien Little Calumet Galien watershedwatershed
Increased RunoffIncreased Runoff
What pollutants are carried with the rain into nearby waterbodies?
Water QualityWater Quality
– Sediment (construction sites)– Bacteria (pet wastes, septic systems)– Lawn chemicals (fertilizers and
pesticides)– Oil , trash, salt & heat (from roads &
parking lots)
Urban RunoffUrban Runoff
Agricultural RunoffAgricultural Runoff
• Sediment• Fertilizers/pesticides• Bacteria (animal waste)
The resultThe result
• Increase runoff volumes and velocities • Downstream flooding• Eroded streambanks
Water QuantityWater Quantity
– How much water enters the stream?• How quickly?• How often?
Watershed ManagementWatershed Management
The Salt Creek WatershedThe Salt Creek Watershed
• Nearly 50,000 acres
• 19% of Porter County
• Urban, agricultural and forest land uses.
The Salt Creek WMPThe Salt Creek WMP
• Completed in 2008• Background
information (soils, land use, etc)
• Water quality data summary
• Critical and priority areas
• Set goals/activities• Implementation
underway
Watershed GoalsWatershed Goals
• Goal 1: Reduce nutrient and sediment loading.
• Goal 2: Reduce pathogen (E. coli) concentrations.
• Goal 3: Improve stakeholder and public involvement.
• Goal 4: Improve biotic communities.
• Primarily grant funded• Cost-share program for BMPs• Ongoing monitoring• Education and outreach
ImplementationImplementation
Rain GardensRain Gardens
BioswalesBioswales
Pervious PavementPervious Pavement
Green RoofGreen Roof
Education and OutreachEducation and Outreach
Thorgren Basin Thorgren Basin Naturalization and RetrofitNaturalization and Retrofit•Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
•October 1, 2011- September 30, 2013
•$607,000 from GLRI
•$126,100 from Valparaiso
•Engineering/design by the City of Valparaiso
•Grant administration/public involvement by
SDCF
Thorgren Basin Thorgren Basin Naturalization and Naturalization and
RetrofitRetrofit
Thorgren Basin Thorgren Basin Naturalization and Naturalization and
RetrofitRetrofit
Thorgren Basin Thorgren Basin Naturalization and RetrofitNaturalization and Retrofit
Thorgren Basin Thorgren Basin Naturalization and Naturalization and
RetrofitRetrofit
Thorgren Basin Thorgren Basin Naturalization and RetrofitNaturalization and Retrofit•STEPL estimated load reductions:
•61.1 lbs/year P,
•4,449 lbs/yr BOD,
•and 10.7 tons/yr sediment.
•Do not take into account sediment basins,
elimination of the eroding channel
Thorgren Basin Thorgren Basin NaturalizationNaturalization
Thorgren Basin Thorgren Basin TimelineTimeline
•Thorgren public meeting – October 18, 2011 at 5:30pm– Porter County United Way located at 951 Eastport
Centre Drive in Valparaiso.
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