Since 2011, the Urban Waters - Northwest Indiana (NWI) Partnership has been working to protect, restore, and revitalize urban waterways in Lake, Porter, and LaPorte counties.  2019 was a banner year for the Partnership with substantial achievements on key initiatives!  Highlights include:

• CommuniTree partners planted over 2,000 trees and engaged 500+ volunteers.
• More than 6,000 students and residents learned about local waterways and natural resources as part of partners’ watershed education programs, which featured paddling with Canoemobile.
• Local partners secured nearly $3 million in grants to advance green infrastructure and streambank stabilization projects that will restore urban waters and revitalize communities.
• The Septic System Coordinated Working Group helped train residents to be septic system ambassadors in their neighborhoods and began sampling for a microbial source tracking study.
• Urban Waters partners offered hands-on workshops on paddling safety, tree pruning, and tree care and helped to pilot the Master Watershed Steward Program.

Developed with input from NWI Urban Waters partners, this work plan highlights key projects that advance Urban Waters goals in NWI. Some projects are directly initiated by Urban Waters, and many others are driven by local partners with Urban Waters playing a supporting role.  This work plan also identifies tasks for moving existing and new initiatives forward in 2020. 

• Northwest Indiana 2020 Work Plan with 2019 Accomplishments (PDF)(18 pp, 2 MB, June 2020)
• Northwest Indiana 2019 Work Plan with 2018 Accomplishments (PDF)(12 pp, 2 MB, July 2019)
• Northwest Indiana 2015-2016 Work Plan (PDF)(8 pp, 724 K)