Friends of Lake Monroe to develop plan for Lake Monroe watershed

November 5, 2019

The Friends of Lake Monroe have been awarded federal funding through the State of Indiana to develop a management plan for the Lake Monroe watershed.

Currently, no such management plan exists for the watershed, which provides drinking water for some 140,000 people in Monroe, Brown and Lawrence counties, as well as Indiana University.

In recent years, the Friends of Lake Monroe have raised concerns about algal blooms, excessive macrophyte growth and the presence of E. coli in the lake.

The watershed, which spans more than 415 square miles in Monroe, Brown, Jackson, Lawrence and Bartholomew counties, is overseen by myriad organizations such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

The management plan will be developed with help from the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University and the League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County.

Previous studies of the lake have suggested the introduction of a management plan since at least 1997, according to a press release from the Friends of Lake Monroe. The press release states that the Friends of Lake Monroe and the League of Women Voters hope the plan will “serve as a guiding document to help address land use concerns and coordinate landowner/user education initiatives in the watershed.”

In order to keep the public involved in the development of the plan, the Friends of Lake Monroe and League of Women Voters will host a community forum on November 14 from 6:45 to 8:30 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Bloomington.

The meeting will be open to the public for comments and concerns. Learn more about the meeting here.

Friends of Lake Monroe to develop plan for Lake Monroe watershed

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