Abbi Hastings has hit the ground running as the new executive director of the Indian Lake Watershed Project. On board for about two months, the Hardin County native and agriculture systems management saw the installation Friday of two floating treatment wetlands at Moundwood and Pew Island.
Volunteers assist with the preparation, above, and installation Friday of a floating treatment wetland at Moundwood for the Indian Lake Watershed Project. A smaller wetland also was placed off Pew Island. The plants that are suspended in the rubberized mat attract fish and wildlife and trap sediment. (PHOTOS | SANDY HELGESON)
She and watershed board members and volunteers, including Honda Go workers who were working already around the Moundwood park area, placed native plants in holes dotting rubberized mats and the mats are then anchored to the banks. The wetlands are designed to attracts lots of fish and wildlife habitat, Hastings explained last month.
They also help prevent bank erosions, they filter nutrients and other pollutants and they provide nutrient uptake and sediment filtration through their roots that are suspended in the water. The root system acts as glue to trap suspended sediment.
Also assisting in the preparation and installation was Kiersten McMahon, a summer intern for Logan Soil and Water, and members of Hastings’ family.
