HeartLands Conservancy Awarded $831,847 from Illinois EPA for Development of Indian-Cahokia Creek Watershed Plan
Via The Telegraph
undefinedThe Indian Creek-Cahokia Creek watershed includes all or parts of Bethalto, Bunker Hill, Dorchester, Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Hartford, Roxana, South Roxana, Staunton, Wilsonville, Wood River, and Worden.
The project will assist local landowners to voluntarily implement storm water projects, called best management practices, in the watershed to reduce nonpoint source pollution, soil erosion, and nutrient and sediment loadings to improve water quality. HeartLands Conservancy will launch a sign-up period in the late Spring or early Summer for landowners and government entities.
The total cost of the project is estimated at about $1.57 million. The IEPA grand will fund about 55 percent, with the remaining coming from HeartLands Conservancy and Madison County Stormwater Management.
Steven Brendel, storm water coordinator for MCSM, said the IEPA grant is the ultimate collaboration for individuals to be invested in projects that directly impact them.
“Having local stakeholders identify water quality and flooding issues was vital to the development of the Indian-Cahokia Creek Watershed Plan,” John O’Donnell, water program manager for HeartLands Conservancy said. “Now, we are excited to take this plan and execute some best management practices to help solve the issues identified by the community.”
The Indian-Cahokia Creek Watershed Plan addresses storm water and nonpoint source pollution issues in the watershed that drains Indian and Cahokia creeks in Madison and Macoupin Counties. NPS pollution occurs when runoff from rain and snowmelt carries pollutants into waterways such as streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and even groundwater.
Funding from this grant will also assist one of the large residential lakes, Dunlap Lake in Edwardsville, to better capture sediment before it enters the lake.
“The Dunlap Lake Properties Owners Association engaged with Heartland Conservancy 2 years ago to assist in long-term planning for our community,” Association President Andrew Reznack said. “Part of this effort included the submittal of a grant application offered by the IEPA.
“Heartland Conservancy was instrumental in our ability to gain access to funds offered by this grant,” he added “We could not be happier. We will be using this portion of the grant allocated to the Dunlap Community to support lake health and shoreline stabilization. We are excited to see the positive impacts this will have on not just our lake but watershed across the surrounding communities.”
The grant program is a competitive financial assistance grant program established to help control NPS pollution. Federal funds are designated to the Illinois EPA under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act. The funds are then used to support state NPS management programs.
Some of the practices eligible for cost-share assistance include: grassed waterways, ponds, water and sediment control basins, wetland restoration, shoreline stabilization, stream channel stabilization, streambank stabilization, bioswales and cover crops.
The local watershed management plan is a part of the Madison County Stormwater Management Plan, the overall framework for storm water management in the county, which guides regulations, identifies flood and water quality problems, establishes best management practices, and prioritizes work to be done.
Contact John O’Donnell at HeartLands Conservancy to learn more or to sign-up for the cost-share program. For information and updates on this project visit https://heartlandsconservancy.org/water/INDIAN-CAHOKIA-CREEK-WATERSHED/.
