Baugo Creek Watershed - HUC #0405000123

Baugo Creek Watershed is located in the southern portions of St. Joseph and Elkhart counties Indiana. The watershed is composed of four sub-watersheds: Wisler Ditch, Grimes Ditch, Olive Township Ditch, and Rogers Ditch, totaling a drainage basin of 49,581 acres. This watershed has had a history of water quality issues, primarily E. Coli and fecal coliform, resulting in the main stem, Baugo Creek, being listed on Indiana’s 303b list of impaired waters. Dominant agriculture land-use paired with poorly regulated discharges to tributaries within the watershed is believed to be the main contributors to water quality issues in this watershed. Thus, the Baugo Creek-Wisler Ditch Management Plan was adopted in 2004 with the mission:

“To improve the overall water quality in the Baugo Creek Watershed through reduction of Escherichia coli, with an ultimate goal of reducing the discharge of E. coli entering the St. Joseph River”

- Baugo Creek-Wisler Ditch Watershed Management Plan (2004)