Wildcat Creek Watershed Alliance

About LWC

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of Little Wildcat Watershed Alliance area!

The Little Wildcat Creek Watershed:

· One of 44 subwatersheds located in the larger Wildcat Creek Watershed.

· Drains 12, 054 acres in Howard and Tipton Counties.

· 18.5 miles of natural and constructed waterways in the watershed.

· The primary land use in the watershed is agricultural crop production.

· Utilized an IDEM 319 grant to complete a Watershed Management Plan in 2003.

· The Wildcat Creek Watershed Alliance is a partnership of concerned citizens directed by a 13 member Advisory Board.

The Little Wildcat Creek (LWC) Watershed drains 12,054 acres of predominantly agriculture land in Tipton County and rural residential or suburban land uses in Howard County. There are approximately 18 miles of small headwater streams and drainage ditches in the LWC Watershed.

Chemical and biological water quality samples collected during the development of the LWC Watershed Management Plan (WMP), identified excess sediment, nutrients and E. coli. Such excess is a violation of the State Water Quality Standards.

Sediment, nutrients, and E.coli bacteria may enter waterways via overland runoff from agricultural lands, impervious areas, and failing residential septic systems. Increased erosion and sedimentation of the streams is also linked to severely eroded streambanks and the lack of a healthy streamside forests (riparian corridor) or agricultural filterstrips in the watershed.

The successful implementation of the LWC WMP will reduce the amount of pollutants finding their way to these waterways and ultimately improve the water quality of the entire Wildcat Creek Watershed.