WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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The volunteer organization Friends of Lake Monroe is working to develop a watershed management plan for the lake.
Dr. Sherry Mitchell-Bruker is president of Friends of Lake Monroe. She appealed to the Bloomington City Council last week, for support for a grant from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Mitchell-Bruker said the grant would jump-start the development of the watershed management plan.
Mitchell-Bruker said her group also plans to develop a tracking system to see how well the plan’s goals are being met.
The organization’s stated mission is to protect and improve Lake Monroe and its watershed through science, advocacy and public involvement. Bruker says one way they’ll involve the public is through water-sampling blitzes.
According to Mitchell-Bruker, it is unusual for a lake as important as Lake Monroe to not have a watershed management plan, or coordinator. City Council member Dave Rollo asked Mitchell-Bruker, who is a hydrologist, about the potential for improving the lake. Mitchell-Brukersaid her organization has no authority over Lake Monroe, but they hope to influence land management agencies and others towards best practices.
The city council took no immediate action last week, but Mitchell-Bruker requested letters of support from the council ahead of the IDEM September application deadline.
