The Watershed Foundation’s new blue and white signs will make their debut in Noble, Whitley and Kosciusko counties by the end of September. The signage promotes TWF’s Healthy Soils, Clean Water campaign to educate and assist agricultural landowners and farmers in the Healthy Soils Initiative benefiting their business and the environment. TWF’s watershed conservationists work with local farmers to get to know the current situation with the land, help them increase yield, decrease overhead prices and protect natural resources that are abundant in the watershed. This initiative includes practices such as no-till farming, cover crop planting, targeting pesticide application and advanced nutrient placement, according to a release from TWF. Farmers interested in learning and seeing the difference these practices can yield may receive grants for the first two years. Many of the recipients of this information then continue to use these practices after seeing first-hand how beneficial they are for their farms and the environment, the release states. TWF also assists owners of the land with on-the-ground permanent projects that help filter and direct the flow of water. Over the past four years, over 100 water quality projects have been completed, ranging from ditch bank stabilization to wetland restorations, according to TWF. By working with partners, landowners and farmers, the TWF says it has prevented hundreds of thousands of pounds of weeds and algae from growing and sediment from entering area lakes and creeks. The five signs will be prominently displayed in locations across the watershed, including one across the street from Troy Presbyterian Church in Whitley County, one on Ind. 13 just south of Old 30, one on Ind. 13 across from the NOAA Weather Station, one at the intersection of U.S. 30 and East Van Ness Road and one across from the Goss Grocery at Big Lake.
