Grants Awarded For Tippy River Cleanup
The Tippecanoe Lake Chain, Lake Wawasee and Syracuse Lake were among 17 projects receiving grant money for a sediment removal plan and funds awarded to remove a logjam in the Tippecanoe River. The local grants totaled $63,000.
The Department of Natural Resources grants totaling more than $850,000 will fund removal of sediment and logjams from Indiana’s lakes and rivers.
The grants were awarded by DNR Director Rob Carter and are provided through the Lake and River Enhancement program in the DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife.
Funds for sediment removal plans were awarded for the Tippecanoe Lake Chain, including Tippy Lake, James Lake and Oswego Lake totaling $18,000, while Lake Wawasee and Syracuse Lake received $7,500 for such a plan.
The Tippecanoe Lake Chain sediment removal plan grant was applied for by the Lake Tippecanoe Property Owners Association. The grant for a similar project on Wawasee and Syracuse were applied for jointly by the Wawasee Property Owners Association and Syracuse Lake Association along with some business owners.
The $37,500 grant awarded for a logjam removal in the Tippecanoe River in Kosciusko County was the result of an application by Dr. Nate Bosch with Kosciusko Lakes and Streams in collaboration with the Lake Tippecanoe Property Owners Association and county Emergency Management.
The total 17 projects involve 11 lakes and seven waterways in 10 counties. They were selected from a number of applications submitted by local sponsors who commit to sharing a portion of the cost. The DNR’s portion comes from the LARE fee paid annually by boat owners to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The grants allow for the completion of projects that would be difficult for local organizations to fund on their own and are in addition to grants for addressing invasive aquatic vegetation announced earlier this month.
“These projects aim to achieve dual goals of enhancing public access to selected Indiana waterways and lakes while improving aquatic habitat, and we are pleased to partner with several new sponsors in these projects,” said Mark Reiter, director of DNR Fish & Wildlife.
The sediment removal grants will increase public access to lakes through selective dredging. The proposed logjam removal projects should reduce the threat of undercutting of roads or structures by streams diverted due to the logjams. The resultant clearing should provide better access for boats, kayaks and canoes.
“The challenge in both of these types of projects is to undertake them in a manner that ultimately improves the aquatic habitat for fish, amphibians and mussels,” said LARE Program Manager Greg Biberdorf.
LARE-granted projects have been implemented for more than 25 years in Indiana, but logjam removal was added by the legislature in 2011.