Green County L&WCD Receives LSRWA Stewardship Award
Photo caption: Jason Thomas Green County Conservationist (left) and Tonya Gratz Green County Land and Water Conservation Department Technician (center) accept the 2017 Water Resources Stewardship Award from Lower Sugar River Watershed Association board member Lindsay Foy. The award was presented at this year’s Sugar River Watershed Summit (see related article).
The Green County Land and Water Conservation Department and Natural Resources Conservation Service were honored with a Water Resources Stewardship Award from the Lower Sugar River Watershed Association at their recent annual meeting Sugar River Watershed Summit 2017 at the Brodhead Library. The award recognizes Green County and multiple collaborating landowners and operators for their use of innovative conservation practices to improve water quality and watershed health in the Spring Creek Basin. Spring Creek is a designated Clean Water Act Section 303(d) Impaired Waterbody in the Lower Sugar River Watershed for excess sediment and phosphorus. The Spring Creek Project, with NRCS National Water Quality Initiative funds, combines aerially applied cover crops, stream bank stabilization using bioengineering techniques, and deep-rooted native buffer plantings to achieve improved infiltration and reduced runoff and stream channel erosion. These practices together improve overall soil health, water quality, and fish habitat in the Spring Creek Basin. Baseline and ongoing water quality monitoring by LSRWA citizen science volunteers in Spring Creek will help to measure change resulting from these conservation practices. The partners are promoting these integrated strategies by hosting cover crop field days, self-guided driving tours, and other community outreach efforts, to raise awareness and empower land stewards with innovative best practices.