How the Friends of Lake Monroe preserve the watershed in Bloomington

Bloomington, Indiana – Lake Monroe, Indiana’s largest artificial body of water and a significant supply of drinking water for more than 120,000 people, is 15 15-minute drive from IU’s campus. Because Lake Monroe’s watershed spans five counties, protecting it is crucial for the welfare of people and animals who depend on it for habitat, drinking, recreation, and tourism.

But people who depend on the lake’s utilization are in danger due to problems with its water quality. Sherry Mitchell-Bruker decided to take action after seeing these problems and established Friends of Lake Monroe, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization devoted to watershed conservation, in 2016.

“Seeing the extremely bad water quality and the trash all over the shoreline while kayaking on the lake was a pivotal moment for me,” Mitchell-Bruker said. “I thought it was fantastic that there was no watershed group.”

Mitchell-Bruker filled this need by launching a Facebook group to promote the conservation of the watershed, which grew into a strong organization. In order to clarify their goals, Friends of Lake Monroe released a comprehensive Water Management Plan nine years later. The group also organizes outreach and education initiatives concerning water quality protection throughout the watershed and conducts routine shoreline cleanups and water quality surveys.

Friends of Lake Monroe is now working to prevent and lessen lake contamination. Every day, the organization strives to reduce the lake’s pollution, which is its long-term objective.

According to Maggie Sullivan, the watershed coordinator for Friends of Lake Monroe, “we try to regularly update people on what the issues are, what they should be working on, and generally how to protect water quality.”

The group’s primary concerns are inappropriate leaf disposal, harmful boating activities, septic system outflow from individual residences, and fertilizer and manure runoff from farms. Sullivan oversees educational initiatives for people who want to lessen their influence. Smith has been identifying farmers who are interested in adopting new water and soil conservation techniques as part of one of their initiatives. They then meet with these farmers to discuss, plan, and maybe fund projects that work with their farms.

Local watershed protection is a timeless concern, but due to poor water management practices, droughts, and climate change, domestic water scarcity crises are becoming more prevalent, especially in the West.

These occurrences ought to act as warning signs for Lake Monroe’s future, according to Andrew Guenther, the vice chair of the Bloomington Commission on Sustainability and the former chair of the Bloomington and Monroe County Environmental Commissions.

“It is very difficult to sustain a community without water,” Guenther stated. “If something horrible occurs, I want to make sure we don’t have to endure excruciating cuts or rationing.”

For the thousands of people who depend on Lake Monroe, the issues already affect their daily lives. The lake is covered with algae blooms every summer as a result of silt and pollution runoff.
The lake’s drinking water has a musty taste and smell due to climate change-induced extended dry spells that reduce water turnover.

Regarding Friends of Lake Monroe’s efforts to inform the public about reducing runoff, Guenther stated, “There is a lot that we can do.” “To make sure that these problems don’t occur at all, it’s best to address them early on.”

Even though there are many different actions that need to be taken to conserve Lake Monroe, the leadership of Friends of Lake Monroe is inspired by the positive initiatives that the organization has already taken and the important connections they have made with the community.

The watershed is home to numerous government agencies, including the Department of Natural Resources, the Corps of Engineers, the City of Bloomington, Brown County, and Jackson County. Mitchell-Bruker stated, “It takes a group like ours to bring all of these people together.” “The people working with the people are us.”

According to Sullivan, the larger Bloomington community has been instrumental in Friends of Lake Monroe’s past efforts and will continue to assist them as they pursue their future objectives.

“There are many good people doing good work in this community, which is one of the blessings of living here,” Sullivan added. “There are several opportunities for people to become involved and contribute to changing the world in their local communities. The only thing to do is to dive right in.