Indian Creek Watershed News 2007- 2008…

• Calendar for 2008 Events

Indian Creek Watershed’s updated watershed-based plan is complete!
(see Our Plan for details)

Bill Grinnell, Highway Commissioner of Fremont Township and Indian Creek Watershed Project Board member received the Steward of the Year award from the Lake. Co. Stormwater Management Commission in December 2007.

Great News! The Lake County Forest Preserve Expands Heron Creek Forest Preserve in 2008 from 144 to 240 acres. This action will help to preserve land, lakes, creeks, wetlands and vital native habitat in the Long Grove area of the Indian Creek watershed. Preservation of this area was included as a preservation priority in our watershed plan!
Click here for more information.


Indian Creek Grant Projects – Recent Awards
In 2007 and 2008 ICWP received supportive funding from the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission (SMC) under their Watershed Management Board (WMB) fund. In 2007, we are thankful to SMC that we received the following grants….


2007 - Indian Creek Watershed’s Diamond Lake Shoreline Demonstration
Watershed Management Board Grant (WMB) - $8,000 project
SMC Grant: $4,000 SMC with $4,000 combined match from ICWP, Fremont Township Highway Department and Oak Terrace Homeowners Association. The ICWP completed this project to implement a lakeshore re-stabilization and a rain garden demonstration project in the Oak Terrace subdivision on Diamond Lake, the only glacial or natural lake in our watershed. This is the only portion of Diamond lake with natural shoreline and not containing sea walls. The shoreline demonstration included installation of coconut logs, erosion control matting, rock, and native plants/seeding. A rain garden was also planted in the wet buffer area near the shoreline to help with infiltration of rain water and to prove the value of deep rooted native plants. Water loving shrubs were also planted for further stabilization. Informational signs and website updates will further educate the area community on the benefits of the project.

2004 to 2007 – Sylvan Lake’s Ravinia and Indian Creek Parks 319 Grant $260,000 project funded under IEPA’s 319 Nonpoint Source Pollution Fund with 40% match support from Fremont Township Highway Department.

This stream bank, floodplain and woodland restoration covered 660 linear feet of stream; 1.5 acres of floodplain/woodland at Sylvan Lake in Fremont Township. Sylvan Lake is in the Indian Creek watershed, a subwatershed of the Des Plaines River in Illinois. Ravinia Park is owned by the Sylvan Lake Improvement Association (SLIA, a homeowner’s association), and is just upstream of Sylvan Lake.The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning/CMAP (formerly NIPC) applied for and was awarded the IEPA Nonpoint Source Pollution Control nonpoint source pollution control grant in August of 2004 on behalf of Fremont Township Highway Commission. Goals of the project were to utilize best management practices to reduce sediment and nutrient loading into Sylvan Lake and downstream waters. Applied Ecological Services was the primary design build contractor during the grant.

The stream and floodplain in Ravinia Park were restored to improve flow through the channel, reduce bank erosion and sediment loading into Sylvan Lake, control invasive species, and improve wildlife habitat by replacing invasive species with native species. The project involved disabling drain tiles, debris removal and regrading streambanks in Ravinia Park along selected locations to establish the proper width and depth of the stream channel for its floodplain. Grade controls (cross vanes and j-hooks) were constructed of natural rock and placed just below the normal water level elevation of the stream to gently step down the grade and to prevent streambank erosion. The volunteer effort to install plugs along the stream channeland in biofiltration ponds at Ravinia Park was a huge success – 43 volunteers from the community gathered on a rainy day with AES staff to install nearly 1,500 plugs. The volunteers acquired a greater appreciation for future maintenance and stewardship of Ravinia Park.
For more information see: www.appliedeco.com/Projects/ravinia.pdf and: www.slia.net/environmental.htm

2008 - Indian Creek Watershed’s Outreach Strategy for Plan Implementation Watershed Management Assistance Grant (WMAG) - $7,000 project
SMC Grant: $3,500 with $3,500 match from ICWP. The Indian Creek Watershed Project, LTD has the first EPA compliant watershed-based plan in the state of Illinois. The mission of the Indian Creek Watershed Project, LTD. is to improve water quality, lessen flooding and educate the citizenry of the Indian Creek Watershed about the watershed and its’ plan objectives. This grant will allow ICWP to reach still more decision makers in the watershed who can help to implement more in-the-watershed projects as they are itemized in the action priorities of the Indian Creek Watershed plan.
This WMAG funding will go toward:
1) the cost of printing informational packets and presentation materials for municipal meetings we attend to request support for our plan,
2) holding a Fall outreach meeting with key government stakeholders in the watershed as well as coverage of the associated meeting costs,
3) updating the ICWP website for the recent plan adoption and
4) generating ICWP’s third newsletter which will focus on the watershed based plan.

(Note* The primary purpose of the WMAG program is to support the growth and sustainability (i.e., organizational capacity) of local watershed partnerships in Lake County. RE: Lake Co. Stormwater Management Commission.)

Another SMC WMB grant awarded in 2008 for one of our Indian Creek watershed partners:

Village of Vernon Hill's Seavey Ditch Corridor Restoration/ Wetland Construction Project
Estimated project cost: $142,500/ SMC WMB Grant: $30,000 plus 8 SMC staff hours.
The project scope includes restoration of approximately 680 linear feet of streambank along Seavey Ditch east of Butterfield Road, as well as debris removal from the stream and restoration of adjacent riparian areas. The project benefits will include a reduction in streambank erosion and improved water quality and conveyance along this historic agricultural channel.

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Mark Your Calendars - Important dates in 2008

Sunday, April 20th, 2008 - Please help us this day at 9:30 am as we clean up litter along our Adopt-A-Highway stretch of road in the Indian Creek watershed. Call if your group can join us, by April 17th, 847-566-8570.

Celebrate the 38th EARTH DAY, APRIL 22nd, 2008 by doing something nice for the watershed, area lands, parks or the earth in general.

September 20, 2008 – The Third Saturday in September is It’s OUR River Day (IORD), an Illinois River system clean up day, we are in the Illinois River system. Please clean up litter on the roads, in lakes or streams near your home. Every little bit of pollution prevention helps our waterways stay healthier.

October 18, 2008 – The 36th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. Please use your water wisely and don’t pollute!
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The following pollution prevention message is from Lake County Communications:

Dispose of Unwanted and Outdated Medication Properly
Discarding your old antibiotics and other medications by flushing them down the toilet is creating a veritable medicine cabinet on our river bottoms. And tossing them in the garbage is also troublesome. A recent study of mud at the bottom of Portland, Oregon creeks by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey revealed types of almost every kind of pill or other medicine on the market. In total USGS analyzed 139 streams in 30 states and found many pharmaceuticals among a variety of contaminants.

Here are the new federal prescription drug disposal guidelines:
• Take unused, unneeded or expired prescription drugs out of their original containers. Mix them with an undesirable substance, like used coffee grounds or kitty litter, and put them in impermeable, non-descript containers, such as empty cans or sealable bags.
• These containers may be thrown in the trash but even better would be to return unused, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs to pharmaceutical take-back locations that allow the public to bring unused drugs to a central location for safe disposal.

In Lake County Illinois, SWALCO maintains several locations for Household Chemical Waste (HCW) Collections, which also provides for disposal of medications.
Go to http://www.co.lake.il.us/swalco/events/hcw.asp

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