Indian Lake watershed tributaries receive excellent rating

Two of the largest tributaries carrying more than 50 percent of area runoff and containing the heaviest concentration of livestock in the Indian Lake watershed area were recently given excellent water quality ratings.

A report based on tests performed June 6 by the University of Dayton Biology Department showed 4 sensitive and 3 somewhat sensitive species of organisms were present in the south and north forks of the Great Miami River, which are indicators of good water quality. It was a first since monitoring began in 2001.

Since the ILWP began in 1990, farmers have helped improve the water’s quality in a variety of ways, including by trading in moldboard plows for no-till equipment, fencing livestock from streams, building wetlands and establishing grassed filter strips and waterways.