Dunes Creek Watershed
SDCF partnered with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) to design and install interpretive signage at the Indiana Dunes State Park. (see signs)
Dunes Creek Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring
During development of the Dunes Creek watershed management Plan (DCWMP), volunteers helped SDCF collect baseline water quality data to identify pollutant sources and critical areas of the watershed. SDCF continues coordinating volunteers to collect water quality data to gauge the success of DCWMP implementation efforts. The volunteer program is a great way to get help protect Dunes Creek and get to know your watershed. SDCF works with the Hoosier Riverwatch Program coordinators to provide training and certification to volunteers. Contact erin@savedunes.org to find out how you can get involved.
In the spring of 2007 SDCF planted the first rain garden at the Indiana Dunes State Park with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), the Porter County Master Gardeners, and other volunteers. Water from the roof of the IDNR-Lake Michigan Coastal Program (LMCP) office building is now directed to the rain garden. Joe Exl, Coastal Nonpoint Coordinator with IDNR-LMCP designed the garden. The rain garden provides an excellent opportunity to educate Indiana Dunes State Park visitors on ways they can help alleviate stormwater runoff and nonpoint source pollution.
A second rain garden was planted at the Dorothy Buell Memorial Porter County Visitor Center. After attending a workshop on rain gardens, more than fifty volunteers helped SDCF plant the rain garden, which collects runoff from the Visitor Center roof (read more. . .)
The Stream in a Ditch Seminar and Tour was brought to Porter County by SDCF with funding from Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) and EPA Region 5. Lunch was generously provided by Williams Creek Consulting, DLZ, Incorporated, and Global Land Surveying, Incorporated. Other partners included Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Indiana Department of Natural Resources – Lake Michigan Coastal Program, Indiana Society of Professional Land Surveyors, Porter County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Town of Porter, and the Porter County Surveyor’s Office. (read more. . .)
The Dunes Creek Implementation Kickoff Event
SDCF celebrated putting the Dunes Creek Watershed Management Plan into action with a kickoff event at the Indiana Dunes State Park on September 18th, 2006. Water Program Director, Christine Livingston, explained completed, current, and upcoming projects in the Dunes Creek watershed. Partners include the Indiana Dunes State Park, the Town of Porter, the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, the Porter County Convention, Recreation, and Visitor Commission, Indiana Department of Natural Resources- Lake Michigan Coastal Program, and local residents. A guided tour of the Indiana Dunes State Park restoration “daylighting” of Dunes Creek followed the presentation. Cubscouts from Pack 966 got out into Dunes Creek to try their hands at water quality sampling.