Elkhart County Soil and Water Conservation District

08/12/2026

📸 Do you like taking photos? Do you want a change to see your photos featured in our biennial stormwater education calendar? This is your perfect opportunity! 💧

The theme for the 2028/2029 Greater Elkhart County Stormwater Education Calendar is “Water + Community: Community Starts Upstream.”

Keep this theme in mind while exploring Elkhart County throughout the next year and capturing meaningful moments around water and community in every season. With the submission deadline not until August 6, 2027, there’s plenty of time to photograph all four seasons across the county’s waterways. 🍂❄️🌱☀️

We’re looking for photos of people interacting with water throughout Elkhart County, including moments like:

☀️ Warmer Months:
Kayaking, canoeing, fishing, swimming, jumping in puddles or streams, playing in the rain, nature walks, and more.

❄️ Cooler Months:
Cross-country skiing, ice fishing, playing in the snow, winter nature walks, and more.

🗓️ Photo submission deadline: August 6, 2027

Submit your photos and learn more here: https://www.elkcoswcd.org/stormwater-education-calendar-submit/

Questions? Call 574-523-2033.

08/12/2026

This is a tough invasive species to get rid of, so be on the lookout for it. If you see it, you want to get rid of it early. The best way is to inject pesticide directly into the stalk.

When you see it, report it. Then, contact your local Purdue Extension office, as many of them have the necessary tools that you can borrow/rent to get rid of these invasive species.

Ever spotted a plant that looks a little like bamboo but definitely isn’t? That’s Japanese knotweed, and it’s one of the most destructive invaders we deal with in Indiana.

What it looks like
Hollow stems, heart shaped leaves, and that zigzag growth pattern make it stand out once you know what to look for.

Why it spreads so fast
Even tiny fragments can start new plants, allowing it to take over streambanks, roadsides, and backyards.

Why it matters
Knotweed crowds out native plants, reduces habitat for wildlife, and can even damage foundations and pavement.

What you can do
If you think you’ve found knotweed, avoid cutting or mowing it, and report it on EddMapS.

Let’s keep our landscapes healthy by stopping this invader before it spreads further.

For more information on invasive species visit sicim.info

08/11/2026

📣 Pay Dirt IN-field 2026 Sponsor & Exhibitor Registration Update!

Have you been trying to register as a sponsor or exhibitor and run into issues with the payment process? We’re sorry for the frustration!

We were unaware of a technical issue affecting payments during registration, but thanks to those who reached out and let us know, we were able to investigate, find the problem, and get it fixed. ✅

If you’ve been waiting to register as a new sponsor and/or exhibitor, please give it another try!
👉 Register here: https://www.elkcoswcd.org/paydirt-2026/sponsors-exhibitors-in-field/

Thank you for your patience and for letting us know when something wasn’t working. We truly appreciate your help in getting this resolved!

We look forward to seeing our sponsors and exhibitors at Pay Dirt IN-field 2026! 🌱🚜

08/11/2026

Can't wait to see you, Michelle! So glad you enjoyed the fair and our booth. May your harvest be prosperous! 🌱

08/11/2026

Thank you, BF&S! This has been an incredible journey and partnership. The Water Quality of Life manual has been a dream of those in the office for quite some time, and it continues to be a staple of growth for us in Elkhart County and beyond.

08/11/2026

Take a photo. Squish it. Report it.

08/11/2026

Were you looking for native plants to fill your landscape and help nurture healthy habitats? Our annual native plant sale is going on now. 🌿

☁️ Today we want to highlight the Shade Garden Kit. 🌺
Many native plants thrive beneath the canopy of trees and in areas that receive limited sunlight. The Shade Garden Kit is designed for partial shade to full shade locations and performs best in average to moderately moist soils. It includes a variety of woodland wildflowers and grasses that provide color, texture, and habitat throughout the growing season.

Featuring blooms in shades of red, blue, purple, white, and yellow, this kit brings life and diversity to areas where traditional garden plants often struggle. Native columbine, lobelia, asters, and goldenrods provide nectar for pollinators while the grasses and foliage add structure and interest. This kit is ideal for woodland edges, shaded garden beds, and landscapes beneath mature trees where a natural, low-maintenance planting is desired.

This kit includes wild columbine, blue mistflower, bottlebrush grass, great blue lobelia, smooth beardtongue, rough goldenrod, elm-leaved goldenrod, calico aster, arrowleaf aster, zigzag spiderwort, and additional woodland species selected to provide season-long interest and habitat value.

🌱 KIT INFO: 🌱
• Each kit includes 50 native plant plugs selected for specific growing conditions such as sun, shade, prairie, rain gardens, and more.
• Kits are $150 each and are available by pre-order only.
• Order deadline is August 21, 2026
• Kit pickup will be September 2–4, 2026 from 8 AM – 4:30 PM at our office.

Available kits include:
🌼 Basic Prairie Garden Kit
🦋 Monarch Garden Kit
🌾 Prairie Grass Kit
🌧️ Rain Garden Kit
🌳 Shade Garden Kit

Availability is limited, so don’t wait too long to grab yours.

Order here: https://www.elkcoswcd.org/product/native-plant-kits/

Turn your yard into habitat, support pollinators, and help improve water quality—one kit at a time. 🌱🐝🌎

08/10/2026

💧 National Water Quality Month: Follow a Raindrop ☔

Imagine a single drop of rain falling onto your driveway.

It may seem harmless, but that tiny raindrop begins an incredible journey.

As it flows across pavement, it can pick up motor oil, fertilizer, pet waste, grass clippings, litter, sediment, and other pollutants. From there, it often enters a storm drain—not a treatment plant.
Instead, that water typically flows directly into a nearby ditch, creek, river, or lake. Whatever the raindrop collected along the way travels with it.

Now imagine that journey happening thousands of times during every rainstorm.

The good news is we can help change that story. Practices like rain gardens, native plants, healthy soils, vegetated areas, and other conservation efforts help slow runoff, filter pollutants, and allow more water to soak into the ground naturally before it reaches our waterways.

Every raindrop has a destination. Together, we can help make sure it arrives cleaner than it would have otherwise. 💙🌱

08/07/2026

🍎 Teachers: Turn Learning Into an Adventure This School Year! 🌱

Looking for a hands-on way to bring science, environmental education, agriculture, engineering, and stormwater concepts to life for your students?

Through the Stormwater Education Field Trip Incentive (SEFTI), Elkhart County teachers can receive funding for transportation costs to approved educational field trip sites focused on water resources and conservation. The program is available to accredited K-12 schools throughout Elkhart County and helps remove one of the biggest barriers to field-based learning—getting students there.

One exciting opportunity for middle and high school students is Pay Dirt IN-field 2026, taking place on August 27, 2026, at Hess Family Farm in Goshen. Through hands-on demonstrations and interactive learning stations, students will explore stormwater management, agriculture, construction, engineering, forestry and habitat management, conservation practices, and weather awareness. The event helps students connect classroom concepts to real-world careers while learning how natural resources, infrastructure, and land management work together to protect our communities and environment.

✅ Transportation costs covered through SEFTI
✅ Hands-on STEM and career-connected learning opportunities
✅ Real-world applications of environmental science, agriculture, forestry, engineering, construction, conservation, and weather awareness
✅ Interactive demonstrations led by industry and natural resource professionals
✅ Ideal for grades 6–12
✅ August 27, 2026

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Simply choose your field trip site, schedule with the host, submit your SEFTI application, and once approved, transportation costs will be billed directly to the program.

View all of the approved locations and start planning your next field trip 👉 https://www.elkcoswcd.org/education/stormwater-education-field-trip-incentive/

08/06/2026

💧 August is National Water Quality Month! 💙

When you hear the words "water quality," what comes to mind?

Many people think of drinking water, but water quality is about so much more. It affects the lakes we boat on, the rivers we paddle, the streams where fish and wildlife live, the water farmers rely on to grow crops, and the places where families make memories outdoors.

Here in Elkhart County, we're fortunate to have an incredible network of rivers, lakes, wetlands, and streams that support our communities, agriculture, recreation, and local ecosystems. Protecting these resources isn't just about today—it's about ensuring they're healthy for future generations.

The good news? Water quality isn't protected by one person or one organization alone. It's the result of thousands of everyday decisions made by homeowners, farmers, businesses, developers, contractors, and communities all working together.

Throughout August, we'll be sharing simple ways we can all help protect our local waterways and explore the conservation practices that make a difference.

Because clean water doesn't happen by accident—it starts with all of us. 💧🌎