North Laughery Creek Watershed -

The North Laughery Creek Watershed is a continuation of the water quality improvement initiative that Historic Hoosier Hills started several years ago. Historic Hoosier Hills in partnership with local Soil & Water Conservation Districts, state & federal organizations, local businesses, and landowners within the area have set a goal to assess the quality of water sources within the area. In the North Laughery Creek Watershed, IDEM has identified 20.35 miles of impaired streams due to E. coli, impaired biotic communities, and impaired dissolved oxygen.

The North Laughery Watershed (HUC 0509020305) comprises approximately 167.41 square miles (107,138.6 acres) and consists of approximately 341 stream miles. Northern tributaries of the watershed originate in Decatur and Franklin counties and flow south through Ripley County.  Laughery is quite scenic and is used by a large number of visitors throughout the year, especially in the southern sector which includes Versailles State Park.

The North Laughery watershed is comprised of seven subwatersheds at the 12-digit HUC level: Tub Creek 050902030501, Walnut Creek 050902030505, Jericho Creek 050902030506, North Branch 050902030504, Headwaters Ripley Creek 050902030503, Little Laughery Creek 050902030502, and Henderson Bend 050902030507. 

In 2018, Historic Hoosier Hills Resource, Conservation and Development (RC&D) was approached with the idea of doing the watershed project with Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM)  that included a TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) Study which would flow into a cost share program and education.  HHH got with their partners, mainly Ripley, Decatur and Franklin County Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) and interested landowners to form a steering committee to see interest in the project.  North Laughery residents were not new to this idea as the Ripley County SWCD had a LARE grant years prior and the need was still great.  The Steering Committee is made up of key stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds including landowners, technical experts, and concerned citizens.   These steering committee members decided that indeed a watershed project was needed and prepared an application to submit to IDEM in 2019.  

After successfully receiving the funding in December 2019, the TMDL study and education began.  Once that study was concluded the management plan was created and completed in the summer of 2022.  Following approval of the management plan the cost share program was outlined and implemented. The current grant ends in December 2023.  With the success of this project another round of implementation has been applied for through IDEM in fall of 2023. 

For more information contact  Kim Jolly at kim.jolly@in.nacdnet.net or phone 812-689-4107. Click here to view a list of free DVDs and CD-Roms that South Laughery Creek Watershed has available.