Doug and Barbara Grant, left, are shown with Heather Harwood, WACF executive director, at the Barbara Berkey Grant and Sacajawea Wetlands just off CR 100N one-half mile east of Lake Wawasee. WACF recently acquired 27 acres in the Turkey Creek Wetlands, known as the "Final Filter," just upstream from Lake Wawasee. Turkey Creek supplies approximately 43 percent of Wawasee and Syracuse Lakes surface water.

Several years ago, when WACF was examining areas needing protection, Barbara Grant was one of four people who paddled the challenging wetland route via canoe through this section of Turkey Creek. These wetlands had not been previously opened for canoeing and made the trip feel like an expedition. Like Sacajawea, the Shoshone Indian woman who joined the Lewis and Clark expedition in Missouri, Barbara Grant maintained a helpful, uncomplaining attitude of cheerfulness. Hence this wetlands acquisition is named in honor of both Barbara and Sacajawea. The Grants were instrumental in the acquisition of this wetland area with a substantial donation specifically named for the wetland acquisition.

Deborah Flanagan didn’t really mean to get involved in protecting the Wawasee area watershed - it just happened.

“It’s a funny story,” Flanagan said. “I was an innocent bystander, sitting on my pier, when someone tapped me on my shoulder and asked if I was interested in getting involved with the Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation. He explained how we’re all interdependent and the group’s charter was a noble one.”

Flanagan, a native Hoosier who grew up in Indianapolis, spent several weeks in the summers of her childhood at Lake Wawasee. When she retired from a sales operation management job in London, she bought a house on the lake she loved as a child. Flanagan now spends May through November in Syracuse and the remainder of the year in northern California.
She became involved with the Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation 10 years ago. At the foundation’s next meeting, Flanagan will be named chairperson of the group.

“It’s fun and worthwhile,” Flanagan said about the group that she is passionate about. “This region has a lot to offer and we need to conserve it.”

The WACF was founded in 1991 as a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of the Wawasee area watershed for present and future generations.

“A lot of people think its just about the lake, but its about the entire watershed č all 25,000 acres,” said Flanagan. “We need to preserve fragile properties, keep the area as clean as possible, keep the community educated and raise awareness. It’s critical to the entire community.”

The entire watershed area affects water quality and the WACF’s mission covers the area’s complete watershed ecosystem, including 26 lakes (Wawasee, Syracuse, Papakeechie and Bonar Lakes, to name a few). The foundation preserves and improves the lakes by determining problems through environmental testing and analysis. They solve those problems by developing systems for the protection of water and ecosystem from environmental pollution and deterioration by, among other methods, acquiring, by gift or purchase, ecologically significant parcels of land.

“We’ve built retention ponds to filter waterways; preserved wetlands from abuse, neglect, and getting into trouble; prevented erosion; and instituted trash pickups,” Flanagan said.

In 1995, the WACF engaged environmental engineers to study watershed and determine problems in maintaining the ecology of the lakes. The study has served as the basis of dozens of projects. As of 2001, the WACF has acquired 362 acres of wetlands and buffer ground including 11,350 feet of wetland shoreline.

“We have a flight plan that we work off of,” Flanagan explained. “By studying the watershed, fish, water life, weeds and sediment we know what we need to do in order to protect the watershed. We’re well-intentioned, but we’re not microbiologists.”

The WACF is run and supported by volunteers’ time, money, expertise and land. The foundation applies for grants which are then used for river and lake enhancements.

“[The foundation] brings an added dimension to my time here at the lake. The lake is beautiful but fragile č we strive to keep it clean, upstream,” said Flanagan.

One thing Flanagan looks forward to in her upcoming two year term as chairperson is educating and reaching out to the community about what is at stake at the lake.

“The very health of the ecology of the lakes is important,” she said. “The quality of the water affects the quality of life, property values and water recreation. One thing that is controllable is human behavior so one of our goals is wetland education.”

Besides her involvement in the WACF, Flanagan also spends her time working for the Catholic Youth Organization in Indianapolis, the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation and at a yoga school. She also enjoys water skiing, swimming and the bike trails around the area.

Flanagan will be named chairperson of the WACF at the Sunday, Aug. 17 meeting at 4 p.m.; the public is welcome to attend. For more information about the foundation call (574) 457-4549.

“One drop of water stays in the lake for two and half years,” said Flanagan about the importance of the WACF. “We need to make that drop count.”

Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation, a non-profit foundation, is dedicated to preservation and enhancement of the Wawasee area watershed, for present and future generations.

Interested individuals will be able to hear the "State of the Watershed" at a public meeting at 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17, at its newest property, 11586 N. SR 13, just south of the WACF sign on SR 13. An open house will follow the meeting and presentation of the 2008 Cattail Awards.

The meeting will be held on property approximately 40 acres consisting of 50 percent wetlands and 50 percent filled low ground with approximately 241 feet of shore line. This land had been targeted as a high priority since the foundation’s master plan in the mid 1990s and became a reality in the spring following several years of discussions and negotiations.

Hear at the meeting about other acquisitions/gifts the past year: purchased 27 acres in the Turkey Creek Wetlands, known as the "Final Filter," just upstream from Lake Wawasee, now known as the Barbara Berkey Grant Sacajawea Wetlands; received a donation of approximately .75 acres of wetland in the Chinese Gardens/Mud Lake area; purchased 21.8 acres along Dillon Creek; and purchased and partial gift of 53.49 acres of forested lowland Dillon Creek passes through.

These acquisitions - whether through purchase or gifted - include now more than 30 wetland properties totaling close to 639.2 acres primarily in the targeted areas and it translates to more than 50,000 feet (9.5 miles) of protected shoreline.

Importance of Acquisitions
Every acquisition made or received by the WACF has its own importance.

Wetlands are the "life of our lakes.the life giving and the life sustaining," stated Heather Harwood, WACF executive director. "We all have memories of how it used to b in different areas or in our neighborhoods. And many of the changes that have occurred cannot be viewed as favorable changes. So we feel it is increasingly important to maintain critical areas to prevent irreversible changes in our lakes."

Have you not said or heard said at one time or another, " remember when there used to be so many red-winged black birds all over the place. What ever happened to all these birds" Or, "whatever happened to all the cattails and lily pads that used to grow in that area?" Or how about, "I used to see bulrushes along a certain shore line. Why has that changed?"

Many of the changes can be traced back to increased usage of the lakes and the disregard for wetlands. WACF is committed to the preservation of wetlands because a wetland defines the results WACF seeks to obtain and maintain in its watershed. Without wetlands, the ecosystem of a lake would be eliminated and the lakes would resemble a low-lying area in the middle of a field that collected water. There would be no life.

Harwood explained, "A wetland can be defined as an area consisting of soil that is saturated with moisture, such as a swamp or a marsh or a bog. It is the area between ˜land and water" and all three, -land, waterâ and wetland are all different, yet all dependent on each other."

Wetlands contain many types of plant life and animal life. Cattails, bulrushes, water lilies, arrowhead, duckweed for example. In addition, many different types of fish, birds, insects, ducks, geese, wading birds use the wetlands as their habitat. Like various types of plants, certain animals such as wood ducks and muskrats only survive in wetlands. Beavers may actually create their own wetlands to survive. Migrating waterfowl use wetlands to rest and feed. Fish breed, lay eggs, raise their young and live in or near wetlands.

Water quality is enhanced by the filtering action of wetlands, and yet, with all this quietly happening in a wetland many view wetlands as indifferent or even sometimes as a nuisance. Can life be envisioned on present, beautiful lakes without wetlands?

WACF's mission (dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of the Wawasee area watershed for present and future generations) covers the area's complete watershed ecosystem including 26 lakes (including Wawasee, Syracuse, Papakeechie and Bonar lakes) and is funded by individual, corporate and government gifts and grants.

The watershed begins at Little Knapp and Harper lakes in Noble County and flows through 10 lakes by way of Turkey Creek into Lake Wawasee, then through the wetlands of Main Channel and Mud Lakes into Syracuse Lake. This area consists of 24,498 acres.

While studies, grants and acquisitions of essential property are frequently highlighted, the WACF also provides educational opportunities, such as canoe trips each summer through the watershed.

There have been many hot topics for WACF including Eurasian water milfoil. It was one of 49 lakes in the state to receive a grant for Aquatic Plant Management Planting and Treatment from the Department of Natural Resources.

The foundation has been chosen for a littoral study through a lake and river enhancement grant. This study will see which of four plantings -concrete, plastic, bio log and natural - will help preserve erosion. The study is taking place near the channel going to The Frog.

The group is also working with the WPOA, DNR and Town of Syracuse on the needs of the dam in Syracuse. Proposals and engineering studies are in the works.

Since the inception of WACF, funding for projects to improve water quality has reached more than $1,270,000 in grants and contributions. The organization is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity.

More information about the WACF can be found on its Web site, www.wacf.org, or individuals can write or call: WACF, P.O. Box 548, Syracuse, IN 46567, (574) 457-4549.