A 15-minute drive away from IU’s campus lies Lake Monroe, Indiana’s largest man-made body of water and a major source of drinking water for over 120,000 people. Lake Monroe’s watershed extends through five counties, making its protection essential for the of humans and animals that use it for drinking, recreation, tourism and habitats.
However, the lake is plagued by water quality issues that threaten those who rely on its use. In 2016, after observing these issues and deciding to take them into her own hands, Sherry Mitchell-Bruker founded Friends of Lake Monroe, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to conserving the watershed.
“A key moment for me was when I was kayaking on the lake, seeing that the water quality was very poor and that there was trash all over the shoreline,” Mitchell-Bruker said. “There was no watershed group, which was amazing to me.”
To fill this gap, Mitchell-Bruker started a Facebook page to advocate for the watershed’s conservation, which blossomed into a robust organization. Nine years later, Friends of Lake Monroe has published an extensive Water Management Plan to outline their mission. Additionally, the group carries out regular water quality surveys and shoreline cleanups, and leads outreach and education programs across the watershed about water quality protection.
Currently, Friends of Lake Monroe’s focus is on reducing and preventing contamination of the lake. The group is working toward its long-term goal of minimizing the lake’s pollution every day.
“We work to regularly update people on what the issues are, what they should be working on and generally how to protect water quality,” Maggie Sullivan, the Friends of Lake Monroe watershed coordinator, said.
The group is mostly concerned about fertilizer and manure runoff from farms, septic system runoff from private homes, improper leaf disposal and polluting boating practices. Sullivan leads education programs for citizens hoping to reduce their impact. In one of their programs, Smith has been identifying farmers interested in implementing new soil and water conservation practices and meets with them to conceptualize, design and potentially financially support projects compatible with their farms.
While protecting local watersheds is an evergreen concern, domestic crises of water scarcity — particularly in the West — are becoming more and more common in the face of poor water management practices, droughts and climate change.
To Andrew Guenther, who has chaired the Bloomington and Monroe County Environmental Commissions and now serves as vice chair of the Bloomington Commission on Sustainability, these phenomena should serve as cautionary tales for Lake Monroe’s future.
“A community without water is very difficult to sustain,” Guenther said. “I want to make sure that we don’t have to go through painful cuts or rationing if something terrible happens.”
Lake Monroe’s problems already permeate the everyday lives of the thousands who rely on it. Every summer, algal blooms caused by sediment and pollutant runoff cover the lake. Compounded with long periods without rain caused by climate change, which limit water turnover, drinking water from the lake takes on a musty taste and odor.
“There’s plenty that we can do,” Guenther said about Friends of Lake Monroe’s work to educate the public on minimizing runoff. “It’s best to address these issues at the beginning to ensure that they don’t happen at all.”
Although the steps necessary to protect Lake Monroe are vast and varied, Friends of Lake Monroe leadership is encouraged by the forward strides it has already taken, and the valuable community ties they have formed.
“There are so many different government organizations that are in the watershed: the Corps of Engineers, the Department of Natural Resources, the City of Bloomington, Brown County, Jackson County. It takes a group like ours to pull all of these people together,” Mitchell-Bruker said. “We are the people working with the people.”
For Sullivan, the broader Bloomington community has been a crucial support in the work that Friends of Lake Monroe has already done and will help them with the goals they still hope to achieve.
“One of the blessings of living in this community is that there are a lot of good people doing good work,” Sullivan said. “There are a lot of ways for people to get involved, and a lot of ways people can help make a difference locally. It’s just a question of jumping in.”
More information about Friends of Lake Monroe, and the organization’s monthly e-newsletter, is available here.
CORRECTION: This article has been corrected to include the correct spelling of Maggie Sullivan's last name.
