Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Thursday, August 28, 2014
(UNDATED) - New grants for the care of Indiana’s water bodies totaling $994,300 have been awarded through the Lake and River Enhancement (LARE) program in the DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife.
The grants help fund 23 projects in 18 counties. Local sponsors submit applications for LARE assistance and commit to sharing a portion of the total cost. DNR's share comes from a fee paid annually by boat owners when registering their boats with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The grants allow for the completion of projects that are difficult for smaller local organizations to fund.
The projects include water quality monitoring, bank erosion control, and watershed land treatments to reduce the amount of sediment and nutrients entering water. Six grants for land treatment were awarded to Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs). These grants will complement SWCD efforts with local landowners.
Some projects also will result in the creation of habitat elements such as riffle pools, stream meanders and wetlands for fish and other aquatic organisms. Habitat enhancements encourage biological diversity in and around the streams, including more opportunities for game fish populations to thrive.
"Simultaneously enhancing habitat for fish and other organisms while addressing erosion make this a clear 'win-win' for both the resources and the citizens of Indiana," said Mark Reiter, director of DNR Fish & Wildlife.
The list of projects by water body, county, project type and grant award:
* Bean Blossom Creek (Monroe and Brown) Watershed land treatment $35,000
*Beaver Dam Lake (Kosciusko) Bio-engineered shoreline protection $10,900
* Crooked Lake (Whitley) Gully stabilization and watershed detention basins $19,700
* Driftwood River (Bartholomew) Watershed diagnostic study $48,000
* Eagle Creek (Boone) Stream bank stabilization and habitat enhancement $100,000
* Eel River (Wabash) Watershed land treatment $60,000
*Iroquois River, Carpenter Creek and Curtiss Creek (Jasper) Water quality monitoring project $13,600
* Lake Galbraith (Marshall) Rain garden construction $15,000
* Lake George (in Hobart in Lake County) Shoreline stabilization $98,000
* Lake James tributary (Steuben) Stream channel improvements and wetland restoration $71,200
* Lake Lemon (Monroe) Study to evaluate a proposed sediment trap $6,400
* Loon Lake (Whitley and Noble counties) Bio-engineered island protection $33,000
* Oliver Lake tributary (LaGrange) Stream bank improvements $16,900
*Spy Run Creek (Allen) Design project to improve habitat and reduce bank erosion $55,600
* Sugar Creek (Boone) Watershed land treatment $50,000
* Sugar Creek (Clinton) Watershed land treatment $50,000
* Thorpe Creek (Marion) Bank stabilization and habitat enhancement $60,000
* Tippecanoe River (Pulaski) Design project for stream bank restoration $42,000
* Upper Tippecanoe River (Kosciusko) Watershed land treatment $35,000
* Upper Tippecanoe River (Whitley) Watershed land treatment $35,000
* Yellow Creek (Elkhart) Bio-engineered stream bank stabilization $50,000
* Yellow River (Marshall) Water quality monitoring project $33,000
* Webster Lake (Kosciusko) Bio-engineered island protection $56,000
1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com
© Ad-Venture Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.