By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH
Indiana Correspondent

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Farmers and others who live in the St. Joseph River watershed need to do even more to protect its water quality, officials with the St. Joseph River Watershed Initiative (SJRWI) said earlier this month.
“Adoption of conservation measures on farms has gone pretty well in recent years, but not at the level it needs to be,” said Sharon Hall, SJRWI program manager. “Some farmers adopt (conservation techniques) and others don’t. We need all of them to adopt, whether it’s no-till or whatever works best for them. But in the end, it’s really going to take everyone.”

According to a “State of the St. Joseph River” report released March 18 by the SJRWI, top concerns for the watershed’s water quality are total suspended solids and turbidity, pathogenic microorganisms, nutrients (phosphorous and nitrate) and pesticides.

For example, concentrations of E. coli and phosphorous exceed levels that make the water safe for recreation and river life, the report noted. The river supplies Fort Wayne with its drinking water, which is treated at the city’s water treatment facility.

“Water quality in the St. Joseph watershed does not support swimming, and at many (monitoring) sites, it doesn’t support the criteria to protect freshwater life,” said Robert B. Gillespie, associate professor in the Department of Biology at Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne.

“There’s been much improvement in the last 20 years due to the implementation of good land use practices and conservation practices, and many of the contaminants have improved. But many still exceed that water quality criteria.”
Concentrations of atrazine regularly exceeded the human health criteria for drinking water, the report noted, but concentrations of alachlor and metolachlor (all herbicides) did not. Consumption of several species of fish found in the watershed, including black crappie, channel catfish and rock bass, is restricted to only one meal a month because of Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) found in its waters, the report added.

The watershed covers more than 694,000 acres in northeastern Indiana, northwestern Ohio and south-central Michigan. Agriculture is the primary land use in the watershed, said Martha Ferguson, vice chair of the SJRWI board.
“Over the years, we’ve worked with producers to implement best management practices that result in cleaner water and don’t hurt their bottom lines. But the economic impact goes far beyond farmers and agriculture,” she said.
The SJRWI began in 1996 after pesticides were found in Fort Wayne’s drinking water.

The rivers are the foundation on which the city was built and provide drinking water, fire protection and opportunities for recreation, said Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry.

“The St. Joseph River truly is our water and our future,” he added.
The city was one of the founding members of SJRWI and will continue to support water testing, he said.

To help fund water monitoring and programs designed to protect the watershed, the SJRWI has begun a three-year, $2.5 million fundraising campaign, Ferguson explained. Money raised during the private-sector campaign will go toward upgrading and replacing failing septic systems, education and outreach, best management practices, water testing and an endowment that will support future river improvement projects.

“Every person who owns land in the watershed, every person who owns a business, every agriculture producer and every individual all affect the quality of our water,” she said.

“Every one of these targeted projects will make a difference in the water quality.”

Improvements in the watershed’s water quality probably won’t happen quickly, Gillespie noted.

“It’s impossible to know how long it would take. But water quality improvement should come slowly, gradually and, hopefully, steadily,” he said.