A sign-up period is now open for landowners to apply for funding to put towards watershed improvement projects in the Upper Silver Creek watershed. The Upper Silver Creek watershed is the 120,000-acre area that drains to Silver Creek above the Madison-St. Clair county line. The watershed is mostly located in Madison County, but also includes areas in Macoupin and Montgomery counties.

The Upper Silver Creek Watershed Plan, developed with assistance from local watershed stakeholders, is a roadmap to addressing water quality and flooding problems in a strategic way in the watershed. The Plan recommends several voluntary practices for individuals, communities, and counties to implement across the watershed. The Illinois EPA 319 Nonpoint Source Pollution Control grant recently awarded to HeartLands Conservancy is designed to help implement certain Best Management Practices (BMPs) recommended in the watershed plan. HeartLands Conservancy is seeking landowners to sign up to install these BMPs, using the new funds as a cost share.

Eligible projects are grassed waterways, pond, streambank stabilization, stream channel stabilization, terraces, and Water and Sediment Control Basins (WASCOBs). These projects will improve water quality and reduce the impacts of local or downstream flooding to some extent.

The grant will reimburse a portion of construction costs spent on selected projects.

Unfortunately, not all projects can be funded. Projects will be selected based on their pollutant reduction, cost, stormwater management impact, and other criteria.

To find out if your property is in the watershed, view the watershed map here.

THIS SIGN-UP PERIOD CLOSES ON OCTOBER 20, 2016. Future sign-up periods will be announced as funding becomes available at www.facebook.com/HeartLandsConservancy.

To sign up to implement a project using these funds, fill out the application at http://www.surveymonkey.com, or fill out and mail in the application form – download here.

For more information about the cost share program, please contact project manager Janet Buchanan at HeartLands Conservancy at 618-566-4451 ext 25 or email janet.buchanan@heartlandsconservancy.org.

Many thanks to project partners Illinois EPA, HeartLands Conservancy, the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC), the Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), and Midwest Streams, Inc. for their assistance in obtaining and supporting this grant program.