About

Facilitated by CTIC, local farmers and interested others lead this project to demonstrate and test best conservation practices on Indian Creek Watershed farms. The project, sponsored by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (with funds provided through Section 319 of the Clean Water Act) will show how conservation practices installed on Indian Creek watershed farms will affect water quality. Goal Determine what water quality improvements result when 50-75% of producers and acres in a small watershed adopt comprehensive agriculture conservation systems over a six-year period.   Activities Outreach activities include field tours, public meetings, email and website updates, news releases and more. &...

Bioenergy Productions

Argonne National Laboratory found a home for its biomass test site on the Ray Popejoy farm in the Indian Creek watershed. Argonne is exploring the potential for farmers to employ underused or marginal land to produce crops for biomass energy. Factors studied include economic potential and water quality benefits. As this project moves forward, funding from the Department of Energy is expected to support the scientific investigation and field study. Agribusiness will assist with identifying potential supply chain participants. The project will address:   the disconnection between producers and users (potential new conversion facilities are constrained by the lack of ...

Demonstrations

Our demonstrations illustrate the 4 Rs of nutrient management:   Right Source Right Rate Right Place Right Time We demonstrate management systems---not individual practices. We measure practice success through agronomic yield, economic sustainability, nutrient use efficiency and water quality impacts. Agrium's ESN v. Urea Agrium designed ESN®, a polymer coated urea, to slow the release of nitrogen into the environment. This is allows the plant to access nitrogen when it needs it the most... Read more. Application Timing We designed this study to demonstrate the differences in nitrogen rates and yields with different urea application times. Spring timing gave ...

Indian Creek Watershed Project

Over the course of six years, the Indian Creek Watershed Project proved to be a significant model for voluntary water quality improvement efforts—not just in Livingston County, Illinois, but across the country. Project organizers talked to every single producer in the watershed about conservation practices and water quality, and by the end of the project, conservation systems and best management practices (BMPs) were in place on at least 57% of the agricultural acreage in the Indian Creek drainage. Goals and Recipes Key concepts at the heart of the Indian Creek Watershed Project included: The importance of locally led conservation ...

Videos

Water Quality Monitoring Program

Weekly handgrab samples were taken for nitrates from March 2011 through June 2011. Monthly handgrab samples were taken for total suspended solids and phosphorus. A Hydrolab probe was also used to gather dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, and conductivity data during each visit. Since July 2011, all parameters were sampled monthly through March 2012, when weekly sampling will began again.  This sampling occurs at four sites located along Indian Creek and on one tributary.    Water quality sampling station locations. US Geological Survey, with financial support from IEPA, installed a stream gage to monitor flow. In September 2011, the nitrate probe was installed. Flow ...