Letter to the Editor

Group wants to assist water quality understanding

Friday, February 10, 2012

To the Editor:

Do you appreciate having clean water to drink? Do you ever wonder how safe our water is for swimming and other types of recreation?

Chances are, you answered yes to at least one of these questions. The Big Walnut Watershed Alliance, a non-profit group working on water quality issues in the Greencastle area, wants to help you understand the quality of our water, where our current pollution problems are coming from, and how every business and resident can do their part to ensure we always have enough safe water.

Our mission is focused on improving water quality in the Big Walnut and Deer Creek areas by raising public awareness, protecting natural areas, enhancing adjacent landscapes, and allowing for the public use and enjoyment of the water. We work closely with the Putnam County Soil & Water Conservation District and Putnam County Health Dept., among others.

We have created an educational PowerPoint presentation and several informational brochures and hand-outs on various water quality and environmental topics that we would love to share at no charge to you.

We have also received a grant from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) to implement a cost-share program, which can actually pay landowners to install certain environmental projects on their properties.

If you want to capture rainwater runoff from your rooftop in a rain garden, use pervious pavers instead of typical concrete in your parking lot or sidewalk, are interested in installing a green roof to make your building more environmentally friendly, or have an interest in other environmental projects for your business (or even your own home), please let us know!

There's a good chance we can help.

If you are interested in learning more about the Big Walnut Watershed Alliance, I encourage you to view our brochure, visit our website (www.bigwalnutwatershed.org), email us at coordinator@bigwalnutwatershed.org, or call your local Soil and Water Conservation District (Putnam County - 653-5716).

Thank you for your time and we hope to hear from you soon.

Shaena Reinhart

Coordination Team Member