Darby Watershed Coordinator Report

Katherine Skalak

Darby Watershed Coordinator Report

August 14, 2008

Activities and accomplishments:

1.  Three mailings were done

a.  Robinson Run Landowners(4) in potential 319 project location.

b.  Darby Joint Board Mailing

c.  Robinson Run Landowners upstream Hawn Rd.

2.  Planning group meeting June 5 and August 13

3.  Met with David Ferguson(Madison NRCS) to look at Orleton Farm for potential stream restoration project- June 24

4.  Wrote article about Robinson Run for Union SWCD newsletter.

5.  Did extensive research about projects done using 319 grant.

6.  Read about 5 star grants.

7.  Contacted Honda concerning new wetland project

8.  Delineated minor subwatersheds for Robinson and Buck Run, Headwaters Big Darby Creek and Big Darby Spain Creek

9.  Updated historical data for website with Spring Fork Biological Data.(attached)

10.  Took Middle Big Darby pictures and added to website. Also added additional pictures from Flat Branch.

11.  Attended Madison and Union SWCD board meetings in June and July and Champaign SWCD in June

12.  Met with Rick Rausch of Buck Ridge Golf Course about Robinson Run Project

13.  Met with Mr. Greenbaum about Robinson Run Project

14.  Attended GIS Workshop at Fountain Square

15.  Located all ditch projects in the Robinson Watershed to determine where it had been modified though time, scanned and georeferenced.

16.  Scheduled Robinson Run 319 meeting for August 27th, letters will be going out today to about 15 landowners

Upcoming dates and activities:

August

14: Union Annual meeting, Champaign SWCD Board meeting

20: Madison County Annual Planning meeting, 8:00AM-10:00AM Red Brick Tavern, Lafayette

Darby Joint Board meeting 7:00PM Madison

26: ODNR Rural Drainage Workshop, Horace Collins, Delaware

27: Robinson Run 319 Meeting, 940 London Avenue, Marysville OH: 7:00PM

28: Drainage Management Workshop- Hardin County

September

1: Labor Day- Office closed

6: Covered Bridge Festival

9: Madison SWCD Board Meeting 8:00AM

Union SWCD Board Meeting 7:30 PM

15-19: Non-point source monitoring conference: There will be a tour in the Big Darby Watershed and I have been asked to give a presentation.

16-18: Farm Science Review

Madison SWCD continues to work with Orelton Farms to develop a conservation plan. On June 24th, I went out with David Ferguson (Madison NRCS) and others to look at the possibility of a stream restoration project at Orelton Farm. I now have both the chemical and biological data. The planning group and I met on August 13th to develop a list of questions concerning the chemical/biological data and will be meeting with the OEPA in the future as a follow-up to these questions. If anyone has any additional questions, please let me know. Overall the biological results were very good and were all in attainment with the exception of Chenoweth ditch which had a very poor ICI(Invertebrate Community Index- bug) score. Neither fish nor habitat was determined at this location. I am also awaiting the Flat Branch data. The triennial water quality standard review which was due out last August is still not out. When this document is available, the joint board and/or planning group may wish to make comments. I will let you know when this has become available.

The Robinson Run project is moving along and this month I met with a few of the interested landowners. They would like a meeting with OEPA to discuss the possibility of a 319 grant. This meeting will be Wednesday August 27th at 7:00PM. One of the requests that were made awhile ago was to identify areas in Robinson Run that have experienced modifications through county projects over the years. I scanned all the ditch projects from Darby Township and they are now in my GIS mapping program.

Table X. Aquatic life use attainment status for stations sampled in the Little Darby Creek basin and upper Deer Creek basin based on data collected June-October 2007. The Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI), Modified Index of well being (MIwb), and Invertebrate Community Index (ICI) are scores based on the performance of the biotic community. The Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) is a measure of the ability of the physical habitat to support a biotic community.

Ecoregion Biocriteria for Eastern Corn Belt Plain

W - All fish sites were wading sites.

H - Headwater site, MIwb is not applicable.

RR - Regional Reference site (ECBP Ecoregion).

a - MIwb is not applicable to headwater streams with drainage areas 20 mi2.

b - A narrative evaluation of the qualitative sample based on attributes such as EPT taxa richness, number of sensitive taxa, and community

composition was used when quantitative data was not available or considered unreliable due to field sampling constraints. VP=Very Poor,

P=Poor, LF=Low Fair, F=Fair, MG=Marginally Good, G=Good, VG=Very Good, E=Exceptional

c - Attainment status is given for the existing or recommended use designations; status based on one organism group is parenthetically

expressed.

1 - QHEI measured at RM 0.4 (upstream Rosedale – Milford Center Rd.) in 2001 was 70.0.

NA - Not Applicable

ns - Nonsignificant departure from biocriteria (4 IBI or ICI units, or 0.5 MIwb units).

* - Indicates significant departure from applicable biocriteria (>4 IBI or ICI units, or >0.5 MIwb units). Underlined scores are in the Poor or Very

Poor range.

2 - HMFEI = Headwater Macroinvertebrate Family Evaluation Index determines Primary Headwater Habitat (PHWH) Class designation (I, II, or

III. PHWH streams have by definition a drainage area of 1 square mile or less.