Take Action
Clean it up
Every year communities and organizations across Indiana gather for river clean up events. Organize with a club or group and join in. The events are a great way to meet people, raise awareness and educate others. Plus, you’re outside enjoying time with family and friends.
Phosphorus-free green lawn
Go phosphorus-free. It is estimated that just one pound of phosphorus in the water will produce 500 pounds of blue-green algae. Much of the phosphorus (phosphate) you apply actually runs off the lawn before penetrating the soil. That means it gets into the lakes and streams contributing to the blue-green algae bloom and growth of other undesirable aquatic plants.
Conservation Funding
Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge
Contact your congressman and Senators Lugar and Bayh and urge them to support a $1.6 million appropriation for land acquisition for the Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge for fiscal year 2011. This funding would allow the refuge to seek the purchase of an additional 1,070 acres on six tracts, which contain seven lakes, a half-mile of the historic Wabash & Erie Canal, rolling grasslands, natural unmined forested bottomlands, and reclaimed mineland. These are valuable properties due to their size and habitat diversity, and may be lost to other buyers if not acquired soon.
It is important that Congress hear from Hoosiers about their support for refuge acquisition funding. Please email or fax (regular mail undergoes long delays for security reasons) your comments to:
Sen. Richard Lugar
(202) 228-0360 fax
Sen. Evan Bayh
(202) 228-1377 fax
Congressman _________
Write your State representative
Hunt Down Pollution Sources
Join the HEC’s water monitoring volunteer network. Training is available through the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Hoosier Riverwatch program. Help us identify the source of pollution – so we can stop it for good. To join our network contact Falon French at ffrench@hecweb.org.
