Lower Fall Creek Watershed Management Plan
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LOWER FALL CREEK WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PLAN Prepared For: Marion County Soil & Water Conservation District Lower Fall Creek Watershed Alliance May 2009 Prepared By: Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd. National City Center, Suite 1368-South 115 W Washington Street Indianapolis, IN 46204 CBBEL Project Number 07-116 This project has been funded wholly or in part by the US EPA via IDEM. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the US EPA, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. May 2009 Lower Fall Creek Watershed Management Plan DISCLAIMER: Exhibits and any GIS data used within this report are not intended to be used as legal documents or references. They are intended to serve as an aid in graphic representation only. Information shown on exhibits is not warranted for accuracy or merchantability. ii May 2009 Lower Fall Creek Watershed Management Plan TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... iv LIST OF EXHIBITS ......................................................................................................... v 1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 1.1 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................. 1 1.2 PURPOSE ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT ................................................................................. 1 2.0 WATERSHED OVERVIEW .................................................................................. 11 2.1 WATERSHED DESCRIPTION .................................................................................... 11 2.2 LAND USE & LAND USE CHANGE ............................................................................ 14 2.3 RELATIONSHIP OF GROUNDWATER & SURFACE WATER .................................. 19 2.4 FLOODING & FLOODING IMPACTS ......................................................................... 22 3.0 WATER QUALITY PROBLEMS, CAUSES & SOLUTIONS ................................ 27 3.1 STAKEHOLDER CONCERNS .................................................................................... 27 3.2 WATER QUALITY BASELINE STUDIES .................................................................... 27 3.3 CAUSES AND SOURCES OF POLLUTION ............................................................... 39 3.4 AREA OF CONCERN SUMMARY .............................................................................. 51 4.0 CRITICAL AREAS ............................................................................................... 53 4.1 IDENTIFICATION OF CRITICAL AREAS ................................................................... 53 5.0 GOALS AND DECISIONS ................................................................................... 63 5.1 GOALS ........................................................................................................................ 63 5.2 DECISIONS ................................................................................................................. 64 6.0 IMPLEMENTATION & MONITORING EFFECTIVENESS ................................... 73 6.1 IDENTIFYING INDICATORS ...................................................................................... 73 6.2 PLAN EVALUATION ................................................................................................... 78 iii May 2009 Lower Fall Creek Watershed Management Plan LIST OF TABLES Table 1-1: Steering Committee ..................................................................................................... 2 Table 1-2: Public Education and Outreach Work Group ............................................................... 3 Table 1-3: Land Use and Economic Development Work Group ................................................... 4 Table 1-4: Water Quality Work Group ........................................................................................... 4 Table 2-1: List of Named Waterbodies ....................................................................................... 13 Table 2-2: Impact of Imperviousness on Water Quality .............................................................. 14 Table 2-3: Current and Projected Land Use ............................................................................... 18 Table 2-4: Land Use Planning Strategies ................................................................................... 18 Table 3-1: Stakeholder Concerns ............................................................................................... 27 Table 3-2: Water Quality Benchmarks ........................................................................................ 28 Table 3-3: 2008 305(b) Report .................................................................................................... 29 Table 3-4: 2008 303(d) Impaired Streams .................................................................................. 30 Table 3-5: Fish Consumption Advisories .................................................................................... 30 Table 3-6: Land Use Categories and Associated Pollutants ....................................................... 39 Table 3-7: Percent of Crop Acres in Conservation Tillage .......................................................... 41 Table 3-8: Estimate of Nutrient Application ................................................................................. 44 Table 3-9: STEP Priorities .......................................................................................................... 46 Table 3-10: E.coli Concentrations and Land Use Classes in the City of Indianapolis ................ 48 Table 3-11: Livestock Statistics .................................................................................................. 50 Table 4-1: Identifying Critical Areas Work Group Exercise ......................................................... 61 Table 5-1: Sediment Management Measures ............................................................................. 65 Table 5-2: Nutrient Management Measures ............................................................................... 68 Table 5-3: Pathogen Management Measures ............................................................................. 69 Table 5-4: Education Management Measures ............................................................................ 71 Table 6-1: Sediment Indicators ................................................................................................... 74 Table 6-2: Nutrient Indicators ...................................................................................................... 75 Table 6-3: Pathogen Indicators ................................................................................................... 76 Table 6-4: Education Indicators .................................................................................................. 77 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1-1: Steering Committee .................................................................................................... 2 Figure 1-2: Public Meeting ............................................................................................................ 5 Figure 1-3: Shoreline Stewards Workshop ................................................................................... 6 Figure 1-4: Backyard Conservation Workshop ............................................................................. 7 Figure 1-5: Regulated & Non-Regulated Drain Workshop ............................................................ 7 Figure 1-6: Lower Fall Creek Website .......................................................................................... 8 Figure 1-7: Lower Fall Creek Brochure ......................................................................................... 8 Figure 2-1: Lower Fall Creek Watershed (State) ........................................................................ 11 Figure 2-2: Lower Fall Creek Watershed (local) ......................................................................... 12 Figure 2-3: Fishers 1950 ............................................................................................................. 15 Figure 2-4: Fishers 2003 ............................................................................................................. 15 Figure 2-5: LUCI 2040 Current Growth Model ............................................................................ 16 Figure 2-6: LUCI 2040 Build-Out Growth Model ......................................................................... 17 Figure 2-7: LUCI 2040 Conservation Growth Model ................................................................... 17 Figure 2-8: Infiltration and Imperviousness ................................................................................. 19 Figure 2-9: Gaining and Losing Streams .................................................................................... 20 iv May 2009 Lower Fall Creek Watershed Management Plan Figure 2-10: Wellfield Protection Areas 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