The Madison Council of Governments (MCCOG) assisted Brett Canaday
and the Madison County Soil & Water
Conservation to select the
Swanfelt Watershed for their watershed management plan in 2002. Several
criteria were given to select a watershed for the management plan.
The criteria included: the watershed must completely lie within Madison
County's boundaries; the watershed must contain a list impaired stream;
the watershed must contain public wellheads; and it must be a 14
digit HUC watershed.
GIS aided in showing which watersheds met all criteria allowing the
Steering Committee to narrow the choices to five. Land use mapping
was used to further narrow the selection before a driving tour was
taken to select the final watershed. The Swanfelt Watershed Management
Plan produced three main benefits. The first benefit was that water
quality concerns were identified in a non-commercial manner. Also,
funding became available to voluntarily work on those water quality
concerns as a result of the management plan. Finally, planned watersheds
provide a better quality of life for those living in that area as
well as those living downstream.
