Minutes of the Cedar Creek Watershed Management Plan Task Force
November 6, 2003
USDA Service Center
New Vision Drive , Allen County , Indiana
Present:
Jane Loomis
Karen Griggs
Gretel Smith
Norman Yoder
Mary Jane Slaton
Sherman Leichty
Greg Lake
Richard Waring
Bill Lambert
Jane Dustin
Toby Days
Rae Schnapp
Jane Loomis called the meeting to order. Karen Griggs volunteered to be the recorder pro tem. The minutes of the meeting were corrected with the name of R. D. Kemmery from the Purdue Extension office in Allen County in attendance. Minutes were filed.
The telephone number of the St. Joseph River Initiative is extension 120 at the USDA Service Center . Voice mail is available for messages.
Four copies of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management watershed planning guide and a CD with a template were made available. Jane Loomis said that following the April through June 2003 input during public meetings, that the task force group was now working as a steering committee. The writing process was discussed. The task force could break down into working groups and subcommittees such as writing, planning, community outreach, and monitoring, she said. Others suggested relocating segments and more input instead of small working groups.
Jane Loomis reported that the rough draft of the Cedar Creek Watershed Management Plan had been dropped into the template. The table of contents, a map of soils, and executive summary were discussed. The St. Joseph River Initiative in its role as a clearinghouse will put a revised draft plan on the World Wide Web. She said that she would put information in the plan, if task force members can send it and designate what section it goes in. Anyone sending any information by e-mail should make sure that a reference is given, Loomis said. Betsy Quinn, a volunteer, has been working on the project.
Outreach to the people in the watershed involves 50-75 meeting notices. The total mailing list has been 175, but some people provide no feedback.
Jane Dustin said that like rulemaking, until we get language, people just sit there. She recommended that we get the draft plan to people and maybe phone people who have never shown up. She said that she saw the task force subdividing by category or topic to do research and write. It is difficult unless the group gives a task. Each section could have a one- or two-sentence conclusion about quantity and quality, she said.
The task force has to chart all sources of E. coli bacteria from farm animals, Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) and town combined sewer overflows, Dustin said. IDEM wants to avoid Total Maximum Daily Loads, she said. New quality and stormwater tracing to find contamination is required.
Norman Yoder, mayor, said that in Auburn they work on and monitor continuously non-contact point sources. MS4s will be doing that, Yoder said.
He estimated costs at $100,000. They will do their NPDES pollution discharge permit with the Long Term Control Plan, he said. Due to size, our MS4 plan will be the only city in the watershed, but that doesn’t solve the problem of Waterloo and other communities [Garrett]. He saw the Cedar Creek Watershed Management Plan as a way to hopefully have enough public buy-in to be a plan to qualify for non-point source control grants. He expected some assistance for livestock producers like brownfields.
Toby Days, Rural Water Alliance, noted that the Source Water Plan for Waterloo includes NPDES-permitted sits as potential sources of pollution.
The draft plan document discussion ensued. A new mailing list will replace the initial citizen participation list. Other segments to add will be a glossary for acronyms, the Clean Water Act 303 (b) list of impaired waters with e. coli.
A list of key experts and data sources for each discussion segment of the plan began.
Gretel Smith plans to get information about geology for Section 2.2 Description and History
Recent microbiological research by Dr. Deborah Ross has been completed. She investigated swine, horse, dairy, and human bacteria. Some sample sites were Nettle Creek upstream from Auburn , above and below Bridgewater Golf Course. Wastewater in the Garrett City Ditch was 25% human in origin. In a stretch below, pollution dissipated. A horse-human –dairy mix was observed with some very high geese droppings. Bill Lambert, DeKalb SWCD, said that e. coli is only a marker. Rae Schnapp, Hoosier Environmental Council, discussed human health and regulation.
Jane Loomis said that it is necessary to look at land uses and testing results. Loomis said that there is a place in the plan for known water quality problems, that IDEM looks at the plan, and then determines the TMDL, goes forward, or decides we are already working on it. Lambert said that IDEM may say if action steps occur, the agency will not do a TMDL. Jane Dustin said that IDEM may agree that action steps are good ideas and possibly help fund them. Because we are in a Great Lakes Basin , Section 4 of the plan is critical, Dustin said.
Pesticide sales data will be provided by Rae Schnapp. Fertilizer sales data are available county-by-county, she said. The state chemist’s office has a Fertilizer Tonnage Report.
Bill Lambert attended a septic tank workshop and suggested experts from Allen County (Gary Chapel) and DeKalb County (Mike Garrett). No septic expert from Noble County was identified. Don Jones, Purdue University , did a survey of failing septic tanks by asking health departments.
Input on lawn and garden practices can be obtained from a landscapers’ association and Al Boger, Extension. Toby Days will ask Jim McCanna for information on the Greenhurst and Bridgewater golf courses. Gretel Smith will ask the Garrett golf course manager for information.
Experts in Geographical Information Systems were identified: Brad Stump, DeKalb County ; and Alex Warner, Allen County . Established forest cover will relate to impaired waters.
Christopher Burke Engineering was suggested for expertise in Best Management Practices.
Karen Griggs displayed photographs of the Dibbling Drain north of U. S. 6 where channelization had destroyed all streamside vegetation. Photographs of the manure waste in the stream from the Grate dairy farm were included.
A possible conference on alternatives to channelization in 2004 has been discussed by Kathy Latz, Karen Griggs, and Jane Loomis. Channelization of Cedar Creek’s tributary streams by the county surveyors and drainage boards’ contractors has led to large ditch tax assessments and public controversy.
Critical Areas were briefly discussed, and blue sheets for volunteer monitoring were made available.
ACTION
Action was planned, since the task force does not have to wait until the plan is done. Two objectives were identified:
• renew the task force
• bring new notice to Cedar Creek
Brainstorming led to four tangible objectives:
Set date and arrange publicity
Joint event with the city of Ft. Wayne
Parking for shuttle to canoe launch (Karen Griggs will ask the Ft. Wayne chapter, Izaak Walton League for parking permission the third week of April)
Upcoming events:
November 8 Great Lakes Clean Drinking Water conference, Ann Arbor
(Days, Loomis, Quinn, and Griggs plan to attend. Griggs will present a slide show on Cedar Creek.)
December 8 The board of directors of the St. Joseph River Initiative will meet
In January, the Association of County Surveyors meets with the Road School .
The next meeting may be held in Garrett, to foster citizen participation. Landowners in the Little Cedar Creek area and from Noble County were mentioned. A public hearing on DeKalb County ’s plan to channelize Little Cedar Creek was held November 7. Cassandra Rhoades and other witnesses could possibly attend.
Jane Loomis was thanked for the refreshments. The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Griggs
(260) 481-6027
(260) 837-4154