District Capacity

Elkhart County SWCD building relationships, working hard, creating conservation results in a strong urban/agricultural Indiana region

Elkhart County is a region of great diversity. On one side is strong agricultural production. In fact, the county consistently ranks in the top five in overall cash receipts for Indiana agricultural products. On the other side it is a region with growing urbanized areas encompassing three cities and four towns. Holding the conservation umbrella over this diverse region is the Elkhart County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Former President Teddy Roosevelt said “Far and away the best prize life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” His words appropriately describe the Elkhart County SWCD's philosophy as they approach the conservation needs of a county comprised of English and Amish farmers, developers and businesses, cities and towns, growth and economic hardship all wrapped up into one.

“Our District works well under these diverse demographics because of our business plan,” says Brian Campbell, supervisor. “The plan helps us stay on track and focus. We're all on the same page, working in the same direction. There is not a sense of hierarchy,” Campbell says. “There's diversity among the supervisors and staff, but there are no egos and we don't judge each other.”

Right: Jim Hess, Elkhart County SWCD chair of the board of supervisors; Brian Campbell, supervisor; Eric Kurtz, SWCD storm-water coordinator; Nancy Brown, SWCD program manager; Lynette Black, SWCD ag conservationist; and Jason Kauffman, SWCD urban conservationist.

Conservation challenges are easily met with their business plan guiding them. As urban conservation needs have grown dramatically in the county, it has been appropriate for the District to move forward with its feet planted on both sides of the soil and water quality foothold.

“Each District needs to find its solution,” Campbell says. “What works for us is to be involved in both urban and agricultural conservation solutions. It was very contemplative to decide to add an urban conservation position, however, now we have two positions here,” Campbell adds.

“We've made it work because we have worked hard at it,” says Jim Hess, chairman of the Elkhart County board of supervisors.

Right: Elkhart County SWCD staff have worked with Bethany Christian School environmental science teacher Amy Thut to convert the school's retention area into a wetland the school can use for students to study.

Working hard at conservation work worth doing has paid off for the Elkhart County SWCD in ways even the District couldn't foresee. Nancy Brown, SWCD program manager, sites numerous examples where work on one committee led to new-found partnerships or a grant opportunities. She sites her work as a Hoosier Riverwatch volunteer that led to the opportunity for the District to do some urban BMP work at the Bethany Christian School in Goshen. This, in turn, led to Jason Kauffman, Urban Conservationist, coaching the school's Envirothon team. The team finished third regionally this year.

Another excellent partnership project for the District has been at the Elkhart Environmental Center. The center, built on a former city dump site, is now a great example of the community's commitment to restoring and preserving its soil and water resources.

“It sits along the Elkhart River and is a great demon-stration site,” says Brown. “The center received an Elkhart River Restoration Association 319 grant and really needed Jason and Eric's technical skills on their BMP projects because the soil on the center's site is clay capped.”

Right: Eric Kurtz, (green shirt, back to camera) Elkhart County SWCD Stormwater Coordinator, talks to a group of people at the Elkhart Environmental Center about pervious concrete.

They installed pervious concrete, rain gardens and a large bio retention pond in the middle of the parking lot at the center. They will soon add rain barrels to the site.

In their current business plan, the Elkhart River sub-watershed was identified as an area of critical concern to the Elkhart County SWCD both in terms of agricultural and urban area mitigation efforts. The District has partnered with the Elkhart River Restoration Association (ERRA) to organize the Elkhart River Alliance, a steering committee working to develop and implement a watershed management plan for the Elkhart River.

“The Elkhart River Restoration Association and the Elkhart River Alliance has opened many new doors for the district from a watershed planning aspect,” says Brown, “providing valuable networks with individuals and alliances in the urban arenas that we didn't have before.

“For example, we're connected with people and associations all the way to Noble County now through the ERRA. They came to us and asked about dredging a pond. I asked them to consider the source of the sediment going into the pond first instead of dredging it,” Brown says. “They did, and now they've done all this work to date to improve the water quality by stopping sediment from going into the river in the first place. It's exciting to find common “water” with these people instead of common “ground”,” Brown adds.

“The District works hard to connect local people to the resources they need to help them reach their conservation goals.”

Brown sites the District's invaluable partners in their conservation work:

• County government is HUGE! We are very closely tied to county government. We are a part of county government This is very important to us. Emergency Management will be an important partner in the future when we set up educational meetings, in addition to the County Council and Commissioners.
  • Provides primary funding for the office and staff (from the Commissioners and County Council).
  • Relationship allows the District to work closely with other county departments, cooperating on projects of joint concern, avoiding costly duplications.
• Cities of Elkhart and Goshen/Town of Bristol:
  • Through the Greater Elkhart County Stormwater Partnership, the SWCD works with the county and these municipalities to address stormwater quality issues throughout the county. Each entity provides input and guidance in developing and implementing a county-wide stormwater management plan.
• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service is always key.
  • SWCD’s primary source of technical expertise in agricultural areas.
  • Share office space and equipment.
  • Also share goals to reduce erosion and sediment on productive agricultural lands.
• Cooperative Extension Service is a excellent partner.
  • Every SWCD should be in the same building as the Extension office. They are a huge part of our partnership: People change but the relationship is always there.
  • Extension provides the Elkhart County SWCD with the educational branch of their conservation partnership. Through the local Extension office, they have local staff and Purdue University expertise available for workshops, field days and other conservation programs and activities.
• Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation District's guidance is critical.
  • The training we get from the Association is key.
• ISDA Division of Soil Conservation: Jim Lake, our District Support Specialist, has been critical for our growth in the District.
• Indiana Department of Environmental Management is a big partner for the watershed staff.
• Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Lake and River Enhancement Program, forestry, etc.

Left: Trash from the dump at the site before the Elkhart Environmental Center reclaimed the land. The center is a partnership of the City of Elkhart and the University of Notre Dame.

Establishing a Master Naturalist Program is hard work. Setting up agricultural BMPs for a farmer in the middle of an urban population is not the simplest of tasks either. Establishing urban and stormwater conservation positions isn't an easy sell to County Councils and Commissioners, and perhaps an even harder sell to agricultural constituents. However, the Elkhart County SWCD doesn't shy away from hard work or challenges . . . not when improving the quality of the region's soil and water is at stake.

If you want to learn more about their successes, contact them at 574.533.3630, ext. 3 or www.elkcoswcd.org.

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