Tuesday, February 22, 2022
www.the-papers.com
Serving Elkhart County and parts of Noble, LaGrange & Marshall Counties
Goshen (574) 534-2591
Vol. 49 No. 46
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In January 2022, the Goshen Department of Stormwater Management released its first-ever public facing annual report, a look at the state of the area’s natural water resources as well as the department’s efforts to prevent polluted stormwater runoff from impacting those resources throughout 2021. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, and the department will be overseeing numerous educational events and activities designed to bring awareness to the importance of stormwater runoff and how it affects area waterways, including its annual storm drain art mural contest, currently accepting submissions. “Water knows no boundaries,” stated Jason Kauffman, Goshen’s stormwater coordinator, “It flows downhill no matter what … The actions of everybody can have a larger impact.” Hence the activities of Goshen residents are directly tied in to smaller tributaries like Rock Run Creek and Horn Ditch as well as the Elkhart and St. Joseph River basins and, eventually, the Great Lakes and beyond. “Small things add up,” Kauffman observed, and the state of the nation’s waterways 50 years ago, dramatized by — but by no means limited to — the infamous Cuyahoga River fire in 1969, was the result of “everything combined.” Goshen’s stormwater department works with the Greater Elkhart County Stormwater Partnership, which includes government entities of Elkhart County, the cities of Goshen, Elkhart and the town of Bristol and several other agencies to monitor and protect water resources, Kauffman emphasized. The report, citing surveys led by City of Elkhart aquatic biologist Daragh Deegan at Goshen’s Dam Pond and Shanklin Park Dam, suggests waterways are relatively healthy from a biological standpoint, indicated by the presence of several species of fish sensitive to water quality, including the Greater Redhorse, which is an endangered species in Indiana. While the final report on chemical health will be finished in 2022, early information shows levels of E.coli at four sites emptying into the Elkhart River to be well above the state standard for full body exposure. Levels of dissolved oxygen are above state standards as well, said Kauffman. Sediment runoff is also a concern. Many have noted what Kauffman called the “chocolate milk” color and consistency of waterways following a rain event. Sediment runoff is
7+( $57 2) &/($1 :$7(5 ³ .DWDULQD $QWDO ZRUNLQJ RQ KHU VWRUP GUDLQ DUW PXUDO ORFDWHG RQ WKH QRUWKZHVW FRUQHU RI WKH LQWHUVHFWLRQ RI 3XUO 6WUHHW DQG 6RXWK WK 6WUHHW QHDU *RVKHQ +LJK 6FKRRO LQ 0D\ 6XEPLVVLRQV DUH FXUUHQWO\ EHLQJ DFFHSWHG IRU WKH GUDLQ DUW PXUDO FRQWHVW 3KRWR SURYLGHG E\ *RVKHQ 6WRUPZDWHU 'HSDUWPHQW of particular concern in the St. Joseph River and reduction efforts are being led by St. Joseph River Basin Commission, Elkhart River Restoration Association and the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessment. Included in the report’s “Stormwater Program by Numbers” are the following facts from 2021, which also illustrate the interdependence of city departments in the effort to keep stormwater runoff clean: • 4,168 tons of material collected by Goshen’s street department with street sweepers. • 614 cubic yards of material removed from catch basins by the water and sewer department’s vactor trucks.
• 15.37 miles of river, stream and ditch surveyed for illicit pipe discharges. • 439 catch basins cleaned of accumulated road grit and other captured stormwater pollutants. • 13 illicit discharge incidents detected and addressed. • 15 post-construction stormwater management plans accepted by the Board of Public Works & Safety. • 318 storm sewer outfalls inspected and 14 flow samples taken for pollution indicator tests. For more information and to view the complete 2021 Stormwater Report, visit goshenindiana.org/stormwatermanagement