Save Maumee’s Meeting Monday December 3, 2018 ~ 7-8:30pm and the group hosted Megan Butler from Riverfront Development for a Q&A at Mad Anthony’s, 2002 Broadway & Taylor Street, Fort Wayne. Megan called the group because she wants others to see the vision of Riverfront Development and wants Save Maumee and others to know that Riverfront Development is working on water quality issues. Save Maumee is always looking to open communication to help create a more symbiotic relationship between people who work to improve conditions, because then we all win! Ms. Butler says no question is off limits. Save Maumee has never been against Riverfront Development. Our group was present when the Legacy dollars began funding plans of grandeur for our waters edge. After attending the first two meetings in 2013, it was revealed that, “it is not within the scope of riverfront development to work on water quality issues.” So time passed and the public was heard and the agencies involved began to develop the plan and came to understand the fact that people want water quality to be considered. Save Maumee is concerned that the Riverfront Development Project is an example of what is happening all over Indiana and the
Read more →Allen County IDEM comment period is now through December 17, 2018 for permitting in the Orthophosphate Pilot Project at the Fort Wayne Water Filtration Plant. https://www.in.gov/idem/files/notice_20181227_ws_11909.pdf Save Maumee Member, Daniel Bennett Ph.D. dug into this a bit, and explains, “I looked for recent orthophosphate references from Fort Wayne Utilities and saw this letter they put out earlier this month and discusses elevated lead results from this Summer.” https://www.cityoffortwayne.org/images/stories/Utilities/docs/Lead/Lead_results_letter_2018_web.pdf Fort Wayne City Utilities tested 70 local homes, and 8 of those 70 had higher than recommended levels of lead. The letter continues on describing the dangers of lead in water, what homeowners should do, and what Fort Wayne is doing about it. For The City’s own response, they write: Fort Wayne employs pH and alkalinity adjustment to control corrosion. Over the years this treatment has proven to be effective. Currently the utility is in process of evaluating addition of orthophosphate to the water to improve corrosion control. So based on the timing of the permit, Dr. Bennett is assuming that the ”Orthophosphate Pilot Project” is a direct response to these poor lead tests. The purpose of the added orthophosphate then, in this case, is to act as “corrosion inhibitor” in
Read more →SAVE MAUMEE GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATION·TUESDAY, JUNE 26, 2018 Diversity is Earth’s antibiotic. The new forestry technique is to remove the invasive species in wild areas, and the natives will return. One does not even have to plant any other plants (although it helps)! To have the natives return, one just needs to remove the plants that do not belong and nature will take care of the rest! Humans have introduced these non-natives and it will take humans to help get them under control. The native species are better adapted to our climate and have longer taproots to live through drought of flood. They have adapted over millions of years and this will help keep them hardy and help them to make it through stress caused by climate changes. Animals in the specific region go hand-in-hand with the plants and have also taken a million years (or so) to adapt and become dependent on the native food sources and habitat these native species of plants provide. Invasive species are not suitable to our local adapted wildlife. Be selective in your removal though, because different species of plants should be identified and categorized differently…for example: * Natives – desirable and present previous to
Read more →Press Release: February 17, 2017 You’re Invited ~ Save Maumee Grassroots Organization invites you to a collage of music, art expression and activism at their Wine and Canvass Art-N-Party fundraiser on February 25, 2017 from 5:00 PM to midnight at The Phoenix, located at 1122 Broadway, Fort Wayne, IN 46802. Save Maumee is teaming up with local artist Terry Ratliff to assist participants in painting a beautiful Maumee River landscape. The Wine and Canvass event will take place from 5:00-7:00 PM, with music following directly afterwards. Local musical talent, the Grateful Groove and U.R.B., will take to the stage for a night of music that will make you shake-a-tail feather! This is an all ages venue, so please bring the kids to participate in the Cookies and Canvass from, 7:00 -9:00 PM in the foyer with dancing all night! Raffle tickets for a silent auction will be available for purchase throughout the evening. The group gives many thanks to the local businesses that have donated items to help raise money for upcoming restoration projects. Whether you buy a t-shirt, plant a tree in your name, or join any of the 3-day Earth Day Celebration coming up in April, the work could not be done with out everyone’s support. As part of the fundraising event, Save Maumee will be donating a handcrafted, up-cycled bench to local painter, Terry Ratliff. The bench will replace the Rat Art bench that was destroyed by vandals last summer,
Read more →Riverfront Rapport February 8, 2017 CLICK TO SEE OUR UPCOMING EVENTS 3 Day Earth Day Weekend, because 1 day just isn’t enough… Fundraiser February 25
Read more →Press Release: October 11, 2016 Contact: Abigail Frost-King, Save Maumee Vice President & Founder 260-417-2500 Federal money to restore streams and ditches: Save Maumee needs riverbank volunteers 4 days in October and beyond 2018 This Saturday, October 15, the public is invited to harvest seed from Eagle Marsh Nature Preserve with Save Maumee Grassroots Organization. It is illegal to remove anything from nature preserves, but Little River Wetlands Project opens their land for harvesting seed that will be planted nearby, at a site where 460 trees will be planted over 3 days. Save Maumee invites the public to help plant the trees and seeds on Friday, October 21, Saturday, October 22 and Sunday, October 23 in New Haven. Koster Ditch is a major tributary to the Maumee River that flows through Six Mile Creek subwatershed. Participants will help to improve and protect water quality that flows directly into an EPA-designated priority Area of Concern. To date, Save Maumee has been the only group to implement the Upper Maumee River Watershed Management Plan (UM WMP) that was approved in December 2013. The group plans to plant a total of 1,390 trees by April 2017, to complete its first Riparian Buffer Initiative
Read more →From the document: Wabash – Maumee Connection Site Visit Field Report July 27, 2010 Prepared For: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes National Program Office Click to access Wabash-Maumee-Field-Report_Final_small.pdf “Of primary concern are the Silver and Bighead carp which have been expanding their habitats within the Mississippi River basin for at least the past twenty years where they have decimated native fish populations by as much as 97 percent in some areas. These fish are currently threatening to enter the Great Lakes, a valuable fresh water resource.” THIS is the specific location they are able to cross from the Mississippi via the Wabash to the Great Lakes via the St. Marys/Maumee. “Asian carp have been known to exist within the Wabash River for nearly 20 years. However, in May 2010 Indiana DNR observed Asian Carp eggs and spawning behavior much further upstream on the Wabash than was previously anticipated. The Wabash River was a “dead‐ end” for these fish as the Roush Dam prevents Asian carp from reaching the headwaters of the Wabash River. However, the Little River connects to the Wabash below the dam and its headwaters ebb into marshland on the southwestern edge of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Due
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