Lake Springfield Watershed appreciation dinner and RCPP final push

Thursday, December 5, 2024
Prairie View Reception Center
8865 State Route 4 - Chatham, IL
Mix & Mingle Social - 5:00 p.m. - Drink tickets will be provided.
Eric Fuchs(Understanding Ag) - Adaptive/Regenerative Ag Practices &
Water Quality Improvements - 6:00 p.m.
Buffet dinner by Nelson's Catering will be served followed by RCPP
Updates provided by Andrew Fulton (NRCS)/Sarah Lindholm(CWLP)
Please RSVP by Friday, November 29th to Shelly Seman @
[email protected]

Lake Springfield Watershed Planning Committee Meeting

Thursday July 18th 5:30pm

Dr Staci McGill

Staci McGill is the Midwest Program Manager for American Farmland Trust working on increasing producer-led initiatives for watershed and water quality projects in Illinois. The goal of these initiatives is to improve soil health and water quality through the implementation of conservation practices that also work to combat climate change and meet the goals of Illinois’ Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy. Prior to joining AFT, Staci completed her master’s and PhD at the University of Kentucky in Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering where she worked closely members of the equine industry to identify and address concerns in livestock facilities. Her passion for implementing research-driven best management practices led her to develop extension programming and materials to provide producers with quality scientific supported information. Staci is an avid sporthorse owner and breeder with a small array of other livestock. 
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Motorheads Bar and grill

the meeting will take place at Motorheads at 5:30pm food will be provided.  Dr. Staci McGill will give some information on Watershed planning and the progress that we have made followed by Sarah Lindholm, The CWLP RCPP coordinator.  Sarah will give some information and updates of the RCPP lake Springfield program.

2024 Contractors Meeting

The Sangamon County Soil and Water Conservation district Hosted their first contractors meeting in association with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and CWLP.  This meeting took place at the Sangamon County Farm Bureau building located at 2631 Beechler Ct. Springfield, IL 62703 on February 13th.   By attending this meeting, companies were placed on the SWCD Contractor’s list.  This list is given to people who contact us asking for work such as waterways, ponds, terraces, etc.  Attendance at this meeting also provides the most up-to-date information on our regulations and permits.
 

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Lake Springfield Watershed Bus Tour

We had a very successful Lake Springfield Watershed Bus Tour despite the recent rains! A huge thank you to all of our presenters and hosting us on this bus tour. A wealth of information was presented about our Lake Springfield Watershed and the things we are doing to improve it! We hope everyone on the tour now has a better understanding of the efforts the landowners and farm operators are doing to improve the water quality of Lake Springfield through voluntary implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs) on their land.

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Ball Chatham fourth-graders help with prairie restoration planting!

Sangamon County SWCD has partnered with Chatham School District, Pheasants Forever - Sangamon County Chapter, Naturkin Network, USFWS Partners Program, Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois Clean Energy Foundation and Lincoln Memorial Garden to present a "Youth Pollinator Habitat Program" at Ball Chatham Elementary in Chatham. Over 300 students from Ball, Glenwood and Chatham Elementary were able to attend the prairie restoration where they attended educational seminars about pollinators, conservation, and prairie ecosystems along with hands on planting and spreading of forbs (flowers) plugs and seeds throughout the site. A HUGE thank you to all of the volunteers that helped with this event and their efforts to make this all possible!!! We can not wait to see what this site looks like years to come and have outdoor education opportunities for students in the future!

See link below for the article and video of the Prairie Restoration Day by the State Journal Register.

State Journal Register Article

Education Station Video

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4R Field Day

On-Farm 4R Field Day

Thanks to everyone that attended our 4R Field Day! With over 90 people present it turned out to be a very good workshop! A special thanks to Garry Niemeyer for hosting!

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Illinois Section American Water Works Association - Source Water Summit

Barb Mendenhall and Jake Vancil were guest speakers at the Source Water Summit held at Bridgeview Park. There were many great presenters talking about ongoing source water concerns throughout the state. Barb and Jake highlighted on what the Sangamon County Soil and Water Conservation District, along with its partners, are doing to help water quality within the Lake Springfield Watershed. A special thanks to everyone involved!

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2018 Lake Springfield Watershed Legislative Field Day

Lake Springfield Watershed Bus Tour

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A special thanks to the LSW producers for taking the time to meet our legislatures and agency representatives to explain the different conservation practices they are implementing within the Lake Springfield Watershed.

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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Field Day

The staff at the Sangamon County Soil and Water Conservation District, along with U.S. EPA, Illinois EPA and CWLP braved the 100 degree heat to conduct site visits around Sangamon County on projects completed under the last 319 grant.

Despite the heat we had a great turn out with U.S. EPA, Illinois EPA, CWLP and Sangamon County SWCD.

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Karl Curby, a Sangamon County farm producer, explains to the U.S. EPA and IEPA the different Best Management Practices (BMP) implemented on one of his fields that was partially funded under the 319 grant.

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Pictured is the aluminum toe-wall structure constructed at Lincoln Land Community College.

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George Tinkam, a Sangamon County farm producer, explaining the benefits the block chute and waterway project partially funded under the EPA 319 grant benefits his farm.

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Site visit at the Lincoln Land Community College bioreactor, aluminum toe-wall and waterway site.

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Illinois EPA Grant - Lake Springfield Watershed Project

As part of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) 319 Grant, the Sangamon County Soil and Water Conservation District has been working hard to improve the Lake Springfield shoreline. In the current project, we were able to install rip-rap on 1500' of shoreline. We can't thank the contractors and cooperating partners enough for all of their hard work in trying to conserve our resources!

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