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The Clark County SWCD has received a 319 Grant from Indiana Department of Environmental Management(IDEM) to develop a comprehensive watershed management plan will help improve the water quality in Silver Creek. For more information on this project, please contact Sylvia Hottel, Watershed Coordinator, at (812) 256-2330, ext. 110.
No matter where you live, country – suburb –city – you live in a watershed and you have an impact on its future and it has an impact on you. Every drop of water that flows from your faucet is a product of a watershed. You affect the watershed every time you drive a car or ride a bus, spread fertilizer or wash the dishes you are affecting the watershed.
A watershed is the total area of land that drains into a particular waterbody (stream, wetland, river, lake or ocean). Land uses and runoff in a watershed determine the quality of surface water in smaller streams and waterways. They in turn influence the water quality of larger streams.
Watersheds may be large or small. They may occupy sloping, mountainous, or nearly flat terrain. They cover all landscapes: forests, farmland, small towns and cities. Watersheds form where they do because of geological, climatological, hydrological, and meteorological factors.
All watersheds have two things in common:
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Knowing your “watershed address” is very important to understanding the influences on the water quality in your stream or river. Delineated by the U.S. Geological Survey, hydrologic units represent the geographic boundaries of water as it flows across the landscape. Indiana is divided into 39 watersheds at the 8-digit level. Each of these watersheds can also be divided into smaller sub-watersheds which are represented by 11-digit numbers, and even smaller units with 14 – digit numbers. Silver Creek Watershed 05140101-140 What does the 11 digit code tell us about the watershed? 05 – watershed flows into the Wabash or Ohio rivers before joining the Mississippi River (largest watershed in the US) 051401 – Ohio River Basin 05140101 – Silver – Little Kentucky Watershed 05140101140 – Silver Creek Watershed |
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Silver Creek watershed contains 97,442.9 total acres. Of these acres, about 28% is urban/suburban land, 36% forest, 25% crop and livestock, the remaining 11% is considered miscellaneous use.
Soils in the area vary from frequently flooded alluvial sites to wind blown loess upland areas. According to the Clark Soil Survey, over 90% of the soils in the watershed are problematic for onsite waste disposal due to restricted permeability, depth to bedrock, flooding, or depth to saturated zones. Septic systems are likely to fail (to some extent) sooner or later due to these conditions combined with poor system maintenance. |
Water quality is determined by a variety of factors. Parameters that will be used to test the water quality of Silver Creek are:
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Polluted water can have many adverse effects on plants, fish, animals, and people.
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Did you ever think about what happens to a raindrop that falls onto the Silver Creek watershed? It may land on a tree or other vegetation and evaporate in the hot sun. It may land on a farm field and soak into the ground, or it may land on a rooftop, driveway or roadway and travel down the street to a storm drain. Nonpoint Source Pollution (NPS) - is pollution that can’t be traced back to a specific point. NPS is the leading source of water quality degradation. You are probably thinking that you as an individual might contribute only a minor amount of NPS pollution but you are not the only one living in the watershed. The combined effect of the entire watershed can be serious. Any time activities disturb the land or water NPS can occur. Agriculture, forestry, grazing, septic systems, recreational boating, urban runoff, construction, physical changes to stream channels, and habitat degradation are potential sources of NPS pollution Educating yourself about NPS and what you can do to help manage it is the first step to improving Silver Creek or any water source. |
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Development of the land for homes, commerce and transportation has created huge areas of “impervious” surfaces where there once were forests, fields and streams capable of absorbing precipitation. Water that falls on these types of surfaces has to go somewhere, so it “runs-off”.
Tips to help you become part of the NPS solution are:
- Limit the impervious areas around you home. Grass and natural ground cover can be attractive and practical substitutes for asphalt, driveways, walkways, and patios. A system of natural grasses, trees, and mulch can effectively limit continuous impervious surface area. Wooden decks, gravel or brick paths, and rock gardens keep the natural ground cover intact and allow rainwater to slowly seep into the ground.
- Go native whenever possible. Native plants are suited to this area and require less maintenance, have lower requirements for water, fertilizers, and pesticides.
- Minimize grassed areas which require high maintenance (mowing).
- Preserve existing trees, and plant trees and shrubs to help prevent erosion and promote infiltration of water into the soil. They will absorb up to 14 times more rainwater than a grass lawn and don’t require fertilizer.
- Test the soil to prevent over fertilization. Avoid using fertilizer near surface waters.
- Use buffer strips or thick vegetation along waterways to slow runoff and soak up pollutants.
- Compost grass clippings and leaves. Never allow them to wash into roadways where they will reach storm drains or fill ditches.
- Gutters and down spouts should drain onto vegetated or gravel-filled seepage areas- not directly onto paved surfaces. Splash blocks also help reduce erosion.
- Divert runoff from pavement to grassy, planted or wooded areas of your yard, so Stormwater can seep slowly into the ground.
- Do not over-water your lawn or garden. This increase the chance of fertilizers leaching into ground water. Using slow-watering techniques such as trickle irrigation or a soaker hose reduce runoff and are 20% more effective than sprinklers.
Malfunctioning septic systems release bacteria and nutrients into the water cycle, contaminating nearby lakes, streams and ground water. To work properly septic systems must be built in the right place. Once they are installed proper maintenance is required.
- Inspect your septic system annually
- Pump out your septic system every 3 to 5 years.
- Septic system additives should not be used. Scientific studies have not shown any evidence that these additives help. In fact some may be detrimental to the septic system or contaminate ground water.
- Sump pumps should not be diverted into septic systems.
- Garbage disposals contribute unnecessary solids to your septic system causing them to need pumping more frequently. Avoid or reduce their use.
- 75% of drainfield failures are due to hydraulic overloading. Installing water-efficient showerheads, faucets, and toilets help limit wastewater levels and reducing the likelihood of septic system overflow.
- Don’t use your toilet as a trash cans! Chemicals can cor rode septic system pipes and might not be completely removed during the filtration process. They may also interfere with the proper function of your septic system.
Other areas around your home and community you can help reduce NPS.
- Dispose of household hazardous wastes properly. Many household p roducts contain toxic ingredients that can be a threat to public health and environment when disposed of improperly. Do not pour them down the toilet or any drain. Storm drains often lead directly to a water source such as a stream or river. Contact county solid waste management Office for information regarding hazardous waste collection in your area.
Clark County Solid Waste 812-256-7942
Floyd County Solid Waste 812-948-4733
- Place all litter in trash receptacles. Never throw litter in streets or down storm drains.
- Don’t hose down driveways or sidewalks. Dry sweeping paved areas, along with careful trash disposal, are simple, effective pollution reducers.
- Recycle used oil and antifreeze. Putting one quart of oil down a storm drain can contaminate up to two million gallons of drinking water!
- Clean up all pet waste. Pet waste contains nutrients and pathogens that can contaminate surface water.
- Wash your car on a grassy area to help reduce run-off and use a bucket to save water. A commercial carwash is not a bad alternative since the use water efficiently and dispose of runoff properly
- Get involved in the community by starting a Stream sweep or other clean-up activity.
- Encourage local officials to develop ordinances that help reduce NPS pollution.
Where would we be without farms and farmers? Agriculture is literally tops in the world p roducing millions of tons of food annually. Thanks to technology the American farmer has become the most efficient in the world, despite operating on razor-thin profit margins. Responsibility for our natural resources comes with this incredible ability to grow plants and raise livestock. Farmers have long been proud stewards of the land. If they had not protected the land they would have put themselves out of business and millions would be starving today. Best management practices plus technology are helping them continue to care for their land and protect natural resources, even while making the most of p roduction opportunities.
Farmers work hard to reduce the impacts of their livelihood on the environment. Some of those best management practices can be applied to the suburban and urban areas to reduce NPS pollution there also.
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A riparian buffer is a narrow strip of land next to a stream or river that is vegetated, usually with trees and shrubs, that serves as a protective filter for streams. The purpose of a riparian buffer is to serves as a protective barrier between the land and the water absorbing and filtering out nutrients and other chemicals carried into the area by runoff. Riparian buffers offer many valuable assets:
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A filter strip is also installed to improve water quality. It is an area of close-growing grasses that are planted adjacent to waterways. They offer the same benefits of a riparian buffer. Filter strips filter 85% of sediments from flowing into lakes, ditches or streams and retain up to 83% of certain agricultural chemicals. Both the NRCS and the Clark County SWCD have programs available for farmers to install filter strips on their fields. |
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Conservation tillage practices used by farmers reduce soil erosion and sediment runoff into streams. Crop residue is left on the field surface and managed so that the soil remains p roductive and in place instead of moving to rivers and streams. One form of conservation tillage called no-till increase soil organic matter, slows microbial degradation and reduces moisture loss due to evaporation. In Clark County about 80% of the farmers use some type of conservation tillage practice.
Planting cover crops (such as wheat and rye grasses) provides temporary cover and hold the soil in place against the forces of the wind and water. All of the above measures help to trap any pollutants before they reach our waterways. They work much like a coffee filter keeping the grinds from your cup. |
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It doesn’t matter what kind of animal you have, their waste is detrimental to water. Manure, urine and soiled bedding are organic, biodegradable materials, but many of their biological and chemical properties can pose a threat to fish, insects, and other aquatic life if those wastes get into waterbodies. All aquatic life depends on the small amount of dissolved oxygen that naturally exists in water. The atmosphere contains 20% oxygen but water saturated with oxygen contains only 11 parts per million at 50°F, and even less, 9 parts per million at 70°F. The addition of any decomposable organic material to water stimulates the growth of aerobic bacteria that break down, or consume the organic matter. The respiratory demand of the resultant bacterial population can become large enough to overwhelm the water’s oxygen dynamics, leaving little or no dissolved oxygen for other aquatic life.
Ammonia is an intermediate byproduct of bacterial conversion of urea, a principal constituent of urine and other nitrogenous materials excreted by animals. A very small amount of ammonia dissolved in water can kill fish. Salts contained in all animal waste do not breakdown, and can be carried by rain runoff into local surface and ground waters. The presence of salts in soils of animal confinement areas can increase the salt load to local streams, limiting the species of fish, amphibians, and invertebrate life. Bacteria and viruses in manure rarely cause health problems for people. The potential for spread of disease to other domestic animals or susceptible wildlife species may be of concern.
Remember, any complaint about animals reflects on all animal owners. It’s hard to believe but not everyone loves animals. Consider yourself an ambassador by practicing good stewardship of land and water resources. Care of natural resources in your local area will initiate an expanding ripple. We’re all part of a neighborhood and our actions can affect others. Stewardship means taking care of land and water resources on your property. Livestock and pet owners need to take responsibility for managing waste, limiting erosion, controlling stormwater runoff and protecting aquatic habitat. |
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