MARSHALL COUNTY
SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
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HEADWATERS YELLOW RIVER WATERSHED IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
In 2016, the Marshall County Soil and Water District received a 319 grant from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to develop a Watershed Management Plan. This plan evaluated the health of the Yellow River and investigated problems and possible sources of pollutants entering the Yellow River from the surrounding land or watershed. To help focus future funding and projects in the most efficient way possible, the watershed was divided into sub-watersheds, and each was prioritized based on the estimated amount of pollutants entering the river from that area. Each sub-watershed was then labeled as Tier 1 (most problematic), Tier 2, or Tier 3. The result is pictured in the map.
Pollutants entering the Yellow River do not only impact water quality locally, but continue to cause problems downstream in the Kankakee, Illinois, and Mississippi Rivers and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico!
Sources of pollution to the Yellow River include both point and non-point sources of pollutants. Point sources are easy to identify, such as a pipe from a factory or sewage treatment plant. Non-point sources are more difficult to identify and quantify as they are pollutants washed off roads, rooftops, farms, construction sites, and other areas in the watershed. The main pollutants of concern in the Yellow River include sediment, excess nutrients, and E. coli bacteria.
At the end of 2021 the Marshall County SWCD received funding through a 319 Implementation Grant. A portion of these funds provided cost-share to fund specific best management practices to address pollutant sources in the Headwaters Yellow River Watershed. Agriculture is a major land use in the watershed, so many projects focused on these areas, but projects in urban and suburban areas were also included.