Watershed

Finding out what's polluting Herrington Lake, Clark's Run and Hanging Fork is the focus of study of Dix River watershed being conducted by the Kentucky Division of Water this year. Scientists will look at the entire Dix watershed that includes the river from the Herrington Lake dam to its headwaters. The state will hold a public meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at Danville City Hall to explain the study and form a watershed council. The council will be made up of community leaders, water districts, health departments, landowners, farmers and anyone else who is involved or concerned about the waterways.

The Lincoln County Sanitation District has been formed to address the ongoing problem with failing septic systems contaminating local creeks and reversion the county.   Tuesday, Judge Executive Jim Adams appointed five members to oversee the management, planning, and operations of Lincoln County’s wastewater facilities.  The district will not interfere with services already provided by the cities of Stanford, Crab Orchard, Eubank, and Danville.  Also, the group of five will be responsible for continuing efforts to protect county’s watersheds and waterways.

The Strodes Creek Conservancy has developed a watershed-based plan for the Hancock Creek watershed and will showcase the plan during roundtable discussions at 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Clark County Cooperative Extension Service. The conservancy is seeking feedback from the general public. Historically, efforts to improve water quality have been implemented on a piecemeal basis and did not examine watersheds as a whole, often creating situations where funds were used without planning.

Local residents and water quality advocates concerned about E. coli in the Dix River watershed asked the state to figure out if the bacterium is coming from the intestinal tracts of humans or animals. The Dix River Watershed Council made the request at its meeting Tuesday. The group discussed preliminary results of water sampling that show high levels of E. coli have been found at several spots along Clarks Run and at the mouth of Hanging Fork in Lincoln County. E. coli is an indicator that other potentially harmful pathogens might be living in local waterways.

High levels of E. coli, the same bacterium that caused the recent fresh spinach recall, have been found at several spots along Clark's Run and at the mouth of Hanging Fork, according to preliminary water sampling results. The Dix River Watershed Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. today at Danville city hall to discuss testing and possible sources of the pathogen. E. coli can be found in the intestinal tracts of both humans and animals. Waterway contamination can come from several sources, including pet waste, cattle pastures, failing septic systems or problems with waste water treatment.

CRMC Auxiliary sells Christmas ornaments Clark Regional Medical Center Auxiliary is selling "in memory" or "in honor" personalized Christmas ornaments for $5 during November. Ornaments will be placed on a tree in the front lobby until after the holiday season. Orders may be placed through the gift shop week days from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 745-3474 for weekend hours. Republican Party meeting Saturday The Clark County Republican Party will hold its monthly meeting Saturday at 9 a.m. at the public library.

A joint city and county ordinance designed to better allocate the cost of building sewer lines among developers received a first nod from the Winchester Board of Commissioners on Tuesday. The seven-page regulation, which has undergone 13 drafts and years of scrutiny, requires developers to pay for sewer lines based on a new formula for dispersing the cost of lines over all developments in a watershed. Ultimately, officials said, the rule sets forth a standard for developers to equitably pay for sewer lines and ensures that developers construct lines that are appropriately sized to accommodate growth in an entire watershed rather than a single development.

Two large red dots on a map of the Clark's Run Creek and Dix River watersheds caught the attention Tuesday night of more than 40 people who attended a town forum to hear about water quality. Preliminary results from a year of sampling the water by a consulting firm indicates large E. coli concentrations are located in Clark's Run along Corporate Drive and at the confluence of Balls Branch off Lancaster Road. E. coli can make people ill if it gets into food through water, said Tony Miller, biologist with Third Rock Consultants in Lexington, which did the sampling.

Years of debate over how to fairly allocate the cost of building new sewers was laid to rest Wednesday when a divided Clark County Fiscal Court gave the final go ahead to a new sewer "privilege fee" ordinance. Court members voted 5-1 in favor of the measure with Magistrate Steve Palmer opposing and Magistrate Joe McCord recusing himself from the vote. Magistrate Pam Blackburn was absent. Overall, the ordinance provides Winchester Municipal Utilities with a fresh method for distributing the cost of new sewers to every development in a watershed.

The Winchester Board of Commissioners gave a final round of approval to a new utilities ordinance Tuesday, which aims to reapportion the cost of building sewer lines among developers and ensure that lines are built to the correct size. Commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of the seven-page regulation, which has undergone more than a dozen drafts and has been subject of intense debate for years. City Commissioner Kenny Book voted against the measure. "The intent here is to have an equitable system â?

The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet is seeking public comment until Jan. 2, 2012, on a draft report addressing bacteria impairment in nine stream segments and two springs within the South Elkhorn Creek watershed located in the Kentucky River Basin. The Clean Water Act requires each state to periodically identify specific waters where designated uses are not being met and water quality impairments exist. The state is also required to prioritize the list of impaired waters, calculate a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)

STANFORD — The Lincoln County Sanitation District has been formed to address the ongoing problem with failing septic systems contaminating local creeks.   Judge-Executive Jim Adams recently appointed five members to oversee management, planning and operations of Lincoln County’s wastewater facilities. The district will not interfere with services already provided by the cities of Stanford, Crab Orchard, Eubank and Danville. Also, the group of five will be responsible for continuing efforts to protect county watersheds and waterways.

The Lincoln County Sanitation District has been formed to address the ongoing problem with failing septic systems contaminating local creeks and reversion the county.   Tuesday, Judge Executive Jim Adams appointed five members to oversee the management, planning, and operations of Lincoln County’s wastewater facilities.  The district will not interfere with services already provided by the cities of Stanford, Crab Orchard, Eubank, and Danville.  Also, the group of five will be responsible for continuing efforts to protect county’s watersheds and waterways.

The basement of the Community Arts Center is a refreshing change from the steamy street on a hot, muggy June morning. To add to the coolness of the room, water-like sounds also fill the air. “Can you take these out to your garden, shake them and sing a song for rain?” asks camp instructor Kim Nicholson-Messmer. A group of kids giggles, but stay focused on the construction of their rain sticks — made from using donated cardboard tubing filled with dried beans. Nicholson-Messmer is teaching kids why our water source is important and how it affects their community as a part of Arts for Kids’ Sake’s three-week summer camp, “Give me Water.” The camp weaves an instructional lesson into three weeks’ worth of artistic projects, tying in creativity in the hope of impacting small minds about the responsible way to treat our environment.

Palmer Engineering has been tapped by Winchester Municipal Utilities officials to begin studying the Lower Howards Creek Watershed to determine what projects might be feasible to complete in the area in the future. The WMU Board of Commissioners approved the $203,000 at Thursday’s regular meeting in an attempt to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s consent decree. “That’s a step in the right direction in regards to the project,” said Mike Flynn, WMU general manager, in a separate interview.

Danville is one of 10 communities and organizations across the state that will share $3.3 million in federal pollution control grants. Danville will receive $200,460 for Phase I of the Dix River Watershed Implementation Project and must match it with $133,640, according to an announcement from Gov. Steve Beshear. The money will be used to target pollutants from failing wastewater systems and storm-related runoff and perform public outreach and education. The 10 projects selected for funding must provide 40 percent in matching funds.

The Strodes Creek Conservancy has developed a watershed-based plan for the Hancock Creek watershed and will showcase the plan during roundtable discussions at 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Clark County Cooperative Extension Service. The conservancy is seeking feedback from the general public. Historically, efforts to improve water quality have been implemented on a piecemeal basis and did not examine watersheds as a whole, often creating situations where funds were used without planning.

CRMC Auxiliary sells Christmas ornaments Clark Regional Medical Center Auxiliary is selling "in memory" or "in honor" personalized Christmas ornaments for $5 during November. Ornaments will be placed on a tree in the front lobby until after the holiday season. Orders may be placed through the gift shop week days from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 745-3474 for weekend hours. Republican Party meeting Saturday The Clark County Republican Party will hold its monthly meeting Saturday at 9 a.m. at the public library.

The Dix River Watershed Council has received its long-awaited watershed plans for Clarks Run and Hanging Fork. Third Rock Consultants recently completed the comprehensive planning documents and the council has submitted them to the Kentucky Division of Water. The report summarizes the water quality for these watersheds and presents very specific management recommendations for their protection and improvement. In order to carry these recommendations and enable continued progress in the overall Dix River watershed, the council needs sustained, broad engagement from the council members and local leaders.

Years of debate over how to fairly allocate the cost of building new sewers was laid to rest Wednesday when a divided Clark County Fiscal Court gave the final go ahead to a new sewer "privilege fee" ordinance. Court members voted 5-1 in favor of the measure with Magistrate Steve Palmer opposing and Magistrate Joe McCord recusing himself from the vote. Magistrate Pam Blackburn was absent. Overall, the ordinance provides Winchester Municipal Utilities with a fresh method for distributing the cost of new sewers to every development in a watershed.