Partnership Improves Water Quality at Howell Wetlands 
         Funded by Vanderburgh Co. SWCD CWI Grant and federal Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program
                
                     Before                                                       During                                                           After     

The Vanderburgh County SWCD partnered with the Wesselman Nature Society (WNS), Clean Water Indiana (CWI), the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and many other contributing entities to improve local water quality influenced by Howell Wetlands, Indiana’s largest urban wetland located on the Westside of Evansville, Indiana.  The 35- acre wetland complex showcases a diversity of habitats and wildlife within a short walk and at a convenient location in the middle of a bustling city.   It is an ideal outdoor classroom where children can explore the natural world, and a popular destination for solace and recreation.   

Howell Wetlands was at one time a severely degraded wetland, seen as a mosquito haven and trash dump by the community. Given three decades, over a million community dollars, and many invested efforts by local, state, and federal organizations, it has been restored to a natural state. Howell Wetlands is owned by the City of Evansville, but managed by the not-for-profit environmental education organization WNS.

 Restoration efforts included installation of a water control structure and two water features, a bald cypress pond and a marsh, thanks to a grant and technical service through the Army Corp of Engineers.  However, over time (since 1995) the flowing water eroded away much of the soil around and under the structure. There was no longer any control over the water levels in the wetland, which would get exceedingly high during periods of high rainfall, and critically low and dry during periods of low rainfall. This was a dangerous situation for the urban areas adjacent to it, and it contributed to fish kills, drying out of the marsh, and wide temperature and dissolved oxygen variations.  CWI funds applied through the SWCD, a grant from the Vectren Foundation, and cost share dollars through the USDA Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program were used to renovate and rebuild the structure to provide better control of the water levels. The project was engineered by the firm of Bernardin, Lochmueller and Associates, but the USDA-NRCS technical services and specifications were vital to determining the design needed.  WNS provided oversight for the project, and will maintain the structure into the future.

Howell Wetlands conserves soil and improves water quality by slowing and storing urban surface runoff, reducing flooding upstream and down, allowing sediments and pollutants to settle out, and reducing the turbidity and pollution in the water exiting the wetland to join tributaries to the Ohio River. The improved water control structure will allow this wetland to continue to provide these ecosystem services to the community. These collaborating organizations were instrumental in ensuring the success of this community wetland and therefore the quality of water in this part of SW Indiana.
                 
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