Levings Park Water Quality Improvement Project
January 5, 2021 UPDATE:
Thank you for your continued attention and comments regarding South Fork Kent Creek and the watershed plan. Olson Ecological Solutions submitted the final South Fork Kent Creek Watershed Resource Inventory and Watershed Plan to the Environmental Protection Agency for review. We will provide another update regarding their approval of the plan once it has been received.
The Rockford Park District and Olson Ecological Solutions looks forward to working with watershed partners to implement the watershed plan over the next five years!
To become involved, get on our email list, or for more information, please see the contact options below.
Feel free to contact Tom Lind of the Rockford Park District at 815-987-1649 or tomlind@rockfordparkdistrict.org, or Rebecca Olson of Olson Ecological Solutions at 815-985-2689 or rebecca@olsonecosolutions.com with any additional questions or comments. You can also sign up below for e-mail updates on the project.
Project Background
The Rockford Park District is working to improve the water quality at Levings Lake. Water quality improvements must prevent phosphorous and sediment from entering Levings Lake from upstream sources, and treat phosphorous and sediment already circulating within the lake. If nothing is done, nuisance algae blooms will be a problem, sediment will build, and the fish habitat will suffer.
Over the years, the Park District has worked to improve the water quality at Levings Lake by installing:
BioHaven® Floating Islands – 20 floating islands are in place, and the District would like to add 31 more to help maintain water quality by acting as floating wetlands to clean the lake water of excessive nutrients, and provide fish habitat in an area of the lake where very little exists. BioHaven® Floating Islands help repair ecosystems by accelerating the natural recovery processes. BioHaven® Floating Islands will create a long-term solution to the buildup of sedimentation, and will reduce future costs of dredging the lake.
Filter Strips – vegetated filter strips have been planted along the edge of the lake to filter stormwater runoff that sheet over parklands into the lake, control erosion, and deter resident geese.
Wildflower Plantings – 7,681 wildflowers were planted last fall at Levings Park to help slow down future flood waters and also help with filtration as the water passes into the lake.
In late 2018, the Rockford Park District received a grant to prepare a water quality improvement plan for the South Fork Kent Creek watershed – a 7,400-acre watershed located west of the Rock River. The grant award is from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency section 319 Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Financial Assistance Program. The program provides grant funds for projects that prevent, eliminate, or reduce water quality impairments caused by nonpoint source pollution. The Park District has hired Olson Ecological Solutions to facilitate the project and prepare the plan. Olson Ecological Solutions is an ecological consulting and planning service specializing in wetlands and the water quality of streams and lakes.
Developing a Watershed Plan
The watershed planning process involves the compilation of natural resource data throughout the watershed, including inventory of streams, wetlands, forest, waterbodies, land uses, and more. The Natural Resource Inventory has been drafted and a link to the document can be found at the bottom of this webpage. Olson Ecological Solutions will utilize the Inventory as well as knowledge from local technical experts and input and participation from local stakeholders to create a watershed-based plan that satisfies the nine requirements of watershed plan set forth by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
EPA’s 9 Minimum Elements of a Watershed-Based Plan:
Identify causes and sources of pollution.
Estimate expected pollutant load reductions once recommendations are implemented.
Detail recommended solutions and targeted critical areas.
Estimate needed technical and financial assistance.
Create an information and education component.
Develop a project schedule.
Describe interim, measurable milestones.
Identify indicators to measure progress.
Develop a monitoring component.
This list and more information can be found at USEPA Watershed Academy Web >
With the facilitation of Olson Ecological Solutions, the Rockford Park District has hosted several stakeholder meetings to gather stakeholder concerns, goals, and vision for the watershed. These stakeholder meetings not only allow stakeholders to provide input and be vital contributors to the creation of the watershed plan, but it also gives stakeholders an opportunity to learn about financial and technical resources for implementing projects that can help address erosion, sedimentation, water quality, flooding, etc. Stakeholder participation and input generates a more effective plan and increases the likelihood of funding opportunities when implementing the plan.
The plan will provide recommendations for best management practices (BMPs) that will improve water quality that can be implemented watershed-wide as well as identify site-specific projects that stakeholders have come forward with an interest in implementing. Olson Ecological Consultants can assist landowners by conducting a site visit and providing feedback on what BMPs could best improve water quality and address the stakeholder’s concerns. The finalized plan will estimate benefit and cost of potential projects and prioritize those projects that offer the maximum benefit at a reasonable cost. Landowners will be able to find within the plan suggestions for appropriate grant resources and technical support to implement prioritized projects.
Stakeholder Meetings and Resources
To date we have held six stakeholder meetings. Please review the materials posted below.
Meeting #1 - July 11, 2019
Meeting #2 - August 28, 2019
Meeting #3 - October 12, 2019
Meeting #4 - December 12, 2019
Meeting #5 - January 30, 2020
Meeting #6 - February 27, 2020