Hamilton County Soil & Water Conservation District

Celebrating 70 years of Urban and Rural Conservation

2015 ANNUAL REPORT

Hamilton CountySoil and Water

Conservation District

Your Partner in Conservation

Since 1945

Who Are We?

Sam McKinleyNorthside Cincinnati

Program Chair

Denny BensonColerain Twp.Vice-Chairman

Scott HuberColerain Twp.

Chairman

Pam Simmons NewtownTreasurer

Steve JohnsHyde Park Cincinnati

Secretary

Who Are We?Hamilton County SWCD was established in 1945 to assist agriculture landowners in reducing soil loss on their fields. The District has always been run by a publicly elected Board of five volunteer supervisors that serve three-year terms. Another important role the District historically played was in developing farm ponds and lakes. Since Hamilton County has no natural lakes, farmers often had to make several trips a day to the nearest stream to haul water for livestock. Hundreds of farm lakes have been surveyed and sited by the District and our Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) partners. In 1992, the District took on the administration of the Hamilton County Earthwork Regulations that governs earth movement on development sites. This includes erosion, sediment control and hillside stability. In 2003, the District was asked to also be responsible for the Education, Community Involvement and Pre-Construction components of Phase II of the Clean Water Act that addressed non-point source water pollution.

What Can We Do For You? Today, our highly trained SWCD Technical staff is available to address erosion, hillside stability, stream stability, water quality as well as storm water issues. We offer hands on training through our monthly water quality lab. You can also “make your mark” in your neighborhood by labeling your storm drains, alerting people not to dump their waste. Our education department provides enjoyable speakers and programs for all age levels, from pre-school to seniors, on anything conservation. In addition, we have unique programs for High School students such as “Caring For Our Watersheds” that challenges students to come up with ideas on how to improve their local environment. The fun twist to this program is that the top 10 winners and thier schools not only win sizable cash prizes, but also money to actually implement their ideas. The avid gardener can increase plant vigor and productivity with our soil fertility testing kit and fall cover crop program. Our newsletter, website, Facebook & Twitter pages and blogs are packed with timely news and information. If any of the above topics interest you or if you want to be added to our newsletter list, give us a call or signup online at www.hcswcd.org. The Board and Staff are extremely grateful for the support and partnership we receive from our area residents, County Commissioners, Storm Water District, Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Soil & Water Commission. We are committed to provide our services with the same quality and integrity in the years to come.

Thank you,Board of Supervisors& Staff

2015 Board of Supervisors

Education432 school programs for 11,029 students

42 library programs for 869 participants

6 summer camps for

151 campers

13 teacher workshops for 356 teachers

6 sc

out p

rograms for 142 scouts

Caring For Our Watersheds 2015 at the Cincinnati Zoo Sycamore High School heading to State Envirothon

“I enjoy teaching kids about the environment and showing them how much fun they can have in their own backyard, playground or park while learning about the environment.”

Learning about worms in the rain

Gwen Z. Roth - Education Specialist Sara Fehring - Education Assistant1

“I truly enjoy creating an interactive learning experience that leaves students with a respect for the environment and the confidence to know that they can do the right things to make a difference, at any age.”

Earthworks

Seed and Straw Netting on Critical Slope

Silt Fencing and Mulch Berm

Sediment Basin

August 2014 - July 2015 Total Sites - 402 Inspections - 1,562

Sediment Trap

2

August 2014 - July 2015 Total Sites - 402 Inspections - 1,562

Anderson Twp.37

Colerain Twp.

55

1Columbia Twp.

CrosbyTwp.

39

Delhi Twp.

9

Green Twp.45

Harrison Twp.

2

21Miami Twp.

Springfield Twp.

9

3Sycamore Twp.

11Symmes Twp.

Whitewater Twp.

24

Other Jurisdictions

3

New Earthworks Permits Issued

“The increase in residential development at the end of the year is a positive sign for the economy. We will be busy ensuring compliance with the Earthwork Regulations via permitting and inspections.”

Chey Alberto - Earthwork TechnicianCPESC

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41

Zoning Reviews

2,535 Site Inspections Performed

Plans ReviewedSediment /

Erosion: 542Geotechnical: 753

Steve Eberts - Earthwork TechnicianCESSW - IT

Dan Taphorn - Urban ConservationistCPESC

“The development community faced challenging weather conditions this year, and we are very proud to see continued compliance with the Earthwork Regulations and the constantly changing environmental rules & regulations.” - Dan Taphorn

“Education and training is critical to the Earthwork Staff. We continue to reach out to the development community to share innovative ideas and regulatory changes.”

259

107 Complaints & Inquiries

15 cases of Drainage

assistance, Flooding, & Pond/Wetland/Lake

Stream bank erosion, Stream stability & Log jams

32 cases

Technical support inStream Permitting &

Plan Reviews: 18

404 instances of technical supportin the area ofWater quality,Monitoring, Storm water BMPs &Groundwater

Brian Bohl - Stream SpecialistCPSWQ | CPESC

“The Urban Streams Program provides services related to technical support, water quality monitoring, public outreach and storm water management project review. These services are available to land owners, businesses, universities, consultants, local jurisdictions and nonprofit organizations.”- Brian Bohl

Hamilton County waterway being used for recreation

Water quality data being shared to a captive audience

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2 News Media Stories

Carrie GibbonsProgram Assistant

Clean Sweep of the Great Miami River

Certified stream survey under Ohio Credible Data Law.

Streams

20 volunteers 2/3 roll-off box of trash

40 trash bags18 recyclable bags

339 tiresretrieved

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Agriculture

140 TestsInterpreted

John Williams III District Conservationist, NRCS

Developed a gardening therapy curriculum for recovering vets and Cincinnati V.A. Hospital

Sold Prairie and Pollinator seed county-wide and offered a Prairie/Pollinator Workshop

80.94 lbs. of Cover Crop Sold

Cover Crop Flyover Research Project for 450 Ag. Acres in Crosby Twp. and Harrison. The purpose is to determine the impact of cover crops on soil fertility and decreasing nutrient and sediment runoff into receiving streams. The projects was partly funded NRCS EQIP and Grant Funds. EQIP covered 97.3 acres of seeding and a Farm Bureau Grant paid $21,000 toward the seeding.

Sold 1,167 3-gal trees to reforest the CountyDemo Rain Garden at the 2014 Home-A-Rama

3 Animal Waste PollutionComplaints

Wrote 28 Agriculture related articles, blogs, press releases.

Environmental QualityIncentives Program(EQIP):Cover Crop Planting- 450 acresHeavy Use Area- 100 sq. ft.Honeysuckle Removal- 1 ac.Spring Development- 1 Watering Facility- 1Technical Assistance/Drainage visits- 31

“Agriculture Activity is alive and well in Hamilton County. In addition to the 21,618 acres reported by USDA as food and fiber crops planted, our County has hundreds of community gardens, horticulture crops, hobby farms and small livestock operations. Our services encompass all of these land uses while educating the new operators on potential impact to the environment. ”- Holly Utrata-HalcombDistrict Administrator

Soil Fertility Tests

276 Soil Test Kits Sold

Public Relations

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Website:HCSWCD.org11,681 Visitors47,590 Sessions

SaveLocalWaters.Org9,676 Visitors16,108 Sessions

District Twitter325 Followers

207 Tweets11,800 Impressions

FacebookDistrict

Likes - 544Reach - 48,715

SaveLocalWatersLikes - 924

Reach - 79,844

YoutubeDistrict

3,254Views13,602 Minutes WatchedSaveLocalWater

79 Views84 Minutes Watched

80 Radio Spots424,621 Reach

John Nelson - PR Specialist

“We take efficiency and quality very seriously, here at the District. We take pride in running our public outreach programs with quality, despite our limited resources. Our one goal is to educate our residents about the importance of our natural resources.”- John Nelson

Rain Barrel Art Project at the Cincy Zoo

270 TV Spots386,918 Reach

12Press ReleasesPublished

August 14• Nature Next Door Camp

- 50• Days in the Park - 4,500

attendees • Taste of Colerain - 20,000

attendees• Green Township Fun Day -

450 attendees • Great Miami River Citizens’

Lab - 27 volunteers

September 14• GCEE Ultimate Educator

Expo - 400 attendees• Mayerson Student

Leadership Conf - 700 attendees

• Great Outdoor Weekend - 48 participants

• Annual Meeting - 100 attendees

• Glendale Street Fair - 640 attendees

• Great Miami River Citizens’ Lab - 32 volunteers

October 14• Agriculture Education Day

- 450 participants• Who Works the Rivers? -

150 participants• Project Underground

Workshop - 13 participants

• Tree Sale Distribution - 400 participants

• XU Pre-service workshop - 22 participants

• Worm workshop - 22 participants

• Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) Training Course (UC) - 10 students

• Great Miami River Citizens’ Lab - 38 volunteers

• Clean Sweep of the Great Miami River - 20 volunteers

November 14• XU Pre-service workshop

- 18 participants• Wild about STEM Conf

- 45 participants• Fostering Sustainable

Behavior - 200 Partcipants• Great Miami River Citizens’

Lab - 33 volunteers

December 14• NACD Webinar - 147

attendees• NACD Webinar

“Conservation Education in Urban Counties” - Nationwide

January 15• HCESC podcast - 60

Participants• Indian Hill Garden Club

Soil Prepping Presentation - 24 attendees

• Farmer’s Forum - 53 attendees

February 15• Buckeye United Fly Fishers

Show - 135 attendees• XU pre-service teacher

workshop - 12 participants• GUW/PLT teacher

workshop - 29 participants• Rain Barrel Artist

Workshop - 55 participants

• Green Umbrella Presentation - 20 attendees

• Lower Great Miami River Water Quality Data Forum - 35 attendees

March 15• Home and Garden Show –

75,000 attendees• Master Composter class -

15 participants• State of the Mill Creek

Watershed Forum - 50 attendees

• Great Miami River Citizens’ Lab - 25 volunteers

• Prairie and Pollinator Program - 23 attendees

• Cincinnati Home and Garden Show Presentation - 18 participants

• April 15• Civic Garden Center

Environmental Science PLC - 10 participants

• P&G Earth Day - 250 attendees

• Party for the Planet - 7,500 attendees

• Envirothon - 600 attendees

• Cincinnati State Earth Jam - 250 attendees

• Christ Hospital Earth Day - 200 attendees

• Touch-A-Truck (Blue Ash) - 250 attendees

• Earth Day at Sawyer Point - 6,000 attendees

• Caring For Our Watersheds Final Competition - 150 attendees

• MU Pre-service workshop - 75 participants

• Cincinnati Flower Show - 575 participants

• Great Miami River Citizens’ Lab - 32 volunteers

• Civic Garden Center “Healthy Soil/Healthy Garden” - 14 attendees

• Cincinnati Children’s Home Soils and Soil Sampling - 39 participants

• Pond Clinic - 20 participants

May 15• The Plant Sale at the Civic

Garden Center - 600 attendees

• Weigel Elementary Earth Fest - 400 participants

• Public Employees

Recognition Day - 500 attendees

• STEM Conference presentation - 55 participants

• Worm workshop - 45 participants

• N Avondale Montessori Field Day - 335 participants

• Crisis Communication Workshop - 50 participants

• Great Miami River Citizens’ Lab - 30 volunteers

June 15• Bugfest - 1,200 attendees• Paddlefest Kids Expo -

7,000 attendees• Paddlefest Music Festival -

4,500 attendees• Sayler Park Festival - 200

attendees• Great Miami River Citizens’

Lab - 32 volunteers

July 15• Red, White and Blue Ash -

50,000 attendees • Hamilton County 4-H Fair

- 1,100 attendees• Touch-A-Truck

(Springfield Twp.) - 150 attendees

• Sycamore Days - 20,000 attendees

• Great Miami River Citizens’ Lab - 32 volunteers

• Cincinnati State Soil Fertility Program - 11 attendees

• Prairie and Pollinator Workshop - 55 participants

• Gorman Farm Thistle Control - 11 attendees

• County Commissioners update on SWCD - 9 attendees

Public Education

7

Facebook

Partnership, Efficiency, Effectiveness. These terms describe how Hamilton County agencies, specifically our SWCD, Hamilton County Health and Hamilton County Developmental Services work with the County Engineer to accomplish the USEPA’s mandated yet unfunded Phase II of the Clean Water Act. I frequently hear from other Ohio SWCDs that it is amazing how all our agencies coordinate and work so well together on this program. When asked what our secret is, I respond there are no egos involved. We simply get the job done in our area of expertise. Majority of the 49 jurisdictions in our County belong to the Storm Water District. We use economy of scale to reduce the administrative costs and avoid duplication of effort. Our SWCD is in charge of three of the six required components. These are - Public Education of water quality, Public Involvement in showing residents how they can have a positive impact on water quality, and Pre-Construction sediment and erosion control. We have been involved in all three of these tasks for 23 years or longer. We have simply augmented our programs to speak to the EPA requirements. In addition to our experience, we are skilled at acquiring grants to help pay for our programs, thus reducing the cost to our landowners.Agrium Inc. provides a $60,000 annual grant to support the “Caring For Our Watersheds” competition for High School Students. Hundreds of students submit ideas on how to improve water quality within our streams and rivers. The top 10 teams win cash prizes along with their school, just for the idea. They also receive a minimum of $1,000 each to actually implement their idea; empowering the student to make a difference!Ohio Farm Bureau provided a $21,000 grant this year to help support the cover crop research project the District is conducting. Over 350 Ac. of farmland will be seeded this September to help improve soil quality, reduce erosion and improve water quality. Annual soil testing and monthly water quality monitoring will illustrate the effectiveness of this approach.The Storm Water District supports its member jurisdictions by offering seriously reduced cost of soil fertility testing. Laboratory soil testing usually costs $12.00/sample. Due to cost-share, our members only pay $5.00/sample with a limit of two at that price. The goal is to put down only the fertilizer

needed. This saves the landowner money and keeps excess fertilizer out of our streams.

These are just a few of the opportunities we offer about your water quality. If you are interested in learning how to

conduct water quality sampling, participate in a stream clean up, or help educate others

by assisting in staffing one of our many education exhibits, give us a call!

Holly Utrata -Halcomb District Administrator

Administrator’s Note

General Units of Gov’t – 25 calls, 4 e-mailsAdministrative – 694 calls, 5,109 e-mailsOffice Visitors – 145

5,002 EarthworkContractor/developer/builder – 672 calls, 1,721 e-mailsComplaint/inquiries – 82 calls, 171 e-mailsUnit of Gov’t – 317 calls, 2,039 e-mails

2,021 LandownerDrainage/erosion – 164 calls, 279 e-mails

Pond/Lake/Wetlands – 12 calls, 7 e-mailsStorm water – 60 calls, 64 e-mailsFarm programs (storm system, road, back-yard, etc) – 1 call, 6 e-mailsLandslides – 37 calls, 22 e-mailsDistrict services & products (soil fertility kits, cover crop, maps, etc) – 384 calls, 985 e-mails

11,849 Education/OutreachSchool/teachers – 183 calls, 1,653 e-mailsPublic events – 61 calls, 398 emailsGeneral public – 186 emails

Collaboration with groups – 463 calls, 5,368 e-mailsPublic relations – 139 calls, 3,295 e-mailsPublic Involvement – 5 calls, 98 emails

7,454 StreamStream bank stability – 146 callsStream-water quality – 735 callsFlooding – 64 callsLog jams – 4 callsPermits/Regulatory – 69 callsSoils/erosion/hillside – 21 callsPond/wetland/lake – 41 callsStream programs E-mails – 6,374

Phone, Emails and Office Visits

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District AccountJanuary 1, 2014 beginning balance 24,320 Outstanding checks total for 2013 (110)Income 18,486 Expenses 6,520 December 31, 2014 ending balance 36,176

Special Account (Soil & Water Conservation)January 1, 2014 beginning balance 298,359 General Fund Subsidy 207,823 State Match 183,924 Other Revenue 118 Total Expenditures 382,877 December 31, 2014 ending balance 307,347 Less 20 % Contingency Fund and Payroll Liabilities 149,538 Total 157,809

Special Account (Storm Water)January 1, 2014 beginning balance 517,075 General Fund Subsidy 280,067 State Match 146,819 Other Revenue 1,640 Total Expenditures 549,161 December 31, 2014 ending balance 396,440 Less 20 % Contingency Fund and Payroll Liabilities 227,247 Total 169,193

Special Account (Save Local Waters)January 1, 2014 beginning balance 88,014 Collaboration Funding 34,290 Other Revenue 50 Total Expenditures 54,632 December 31, 2014 ending balance 67,722

Financial Report

This is an unaudited financial report for the period January 1, 2014 - December 31, 2014

Susan Juriga - Administrative Assistant

“Working for the District is a great opportunity to serve the community. The District offers Hamilton County many programs such as soil fertility testing, cover crops and recently affordable trees. I am proud to be working for Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District.

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2014

Hamilton Count y Commiss ioners

Edward Seitz 1945-1954Meade C. Pottenger 1945-1954Clifford Wittmeyer 1945-1954Frank Bauer 1945-1950Philip Huss 1945-1950Gene R. Abercrombie 1950-1956E. J. Kluener 1950-1953J. Frederick Vogel 1954-1956H. David Diebel 1955-1985Tom Pottenger 1955-1957Ray Hollmeyer 1955-1958Harry Eisman 1957-1959J. C. Jenkins 1957-1958Jack Palmer 1958-1960Stanley Strimple 1958-1997George Kase 1958-1974, 1979-1981Wayne Dittmer 1960-1997William Kuhlman 1961-1975Norma Hergert 1975-1987Donald T. Hester 1976-1978

The District sincerely appreciates the support we receive from the Hamilton County Commissioners: Commissioner Greg Hartmann, Commissioner Chris Monzel, Commissioner Todd Portune. We also appreciate the support we receive from the Hamilton County Storm Water District, ODNR-Division of Soil & Water Resources, the Ohio Legislature, the Ohio Soil & Water Commission and USDA Natural

Resources Conservation Service.

Mission Statement: A public organization committed to assisting the citizens of Hamilton County through education, technical assistance and leadership in the conservation of our soil and water resources.

All district programs and services are offered on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, marital status or handicap.

Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation DistrictPast & Present Board of Supervisors

with terms servedRobert Schultz 1982-1983Thomas W. Reininger 1983-2008Steve Sandfort 1985-1988, 1992-2007Lou Elva Imhoff 1987-1989Dennis Heyob 1988-1993Bob Davis 1990-1991Melissa Rumpke 1994-2001Karen Heyob 1998-2004Patrick Arnette 1999-2005Joe Allen 2002-2007Tim Boehmer 2004-2006Dave Dyke 2006-2008Nate Holscher 2008-2010Craig Abercrombie 2009-2011Pete Mallow 2011- 2013Dennis Benson 2007-2012, 2013- presentSam McKinley 2008-2010, 2011- presentSteve Johns 2009 -2014, 2015- presentScott P. Huber 2012-2014, 2015 - presentPam Simmons 2013- present

Thank you to all that have served on the Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District’s Board of Supervisors to help the District achieve its mission in serving the community.

A Publication of:Hamilton County Soil & Water Conservation District

22 Triangle Park Dr. Cincinnati, Ohio 45246(513) 772-7645 | www.hcswcd.org

Chris MonzelTodd PortuneGreg Hartmann