Oldham County Watersheds

(The following information on Oldham County's Watersheds is extracted from the Oldham County Conservation District's website at http://www.geocities.com/occdconservation/.  We suggest you visit the site to see the great works that the Conservation District is accomplishing for Oldham County.)

Every resident of Oldham County is a user of our slowly renewable natural resources.  As we use these resources, whether they are the soil, water, woodland or wildlife, we make an impact on their availability for future generations.

Water is the resource most affected by our use.  No matter where we live, we all have an impact on the quality of water in our streams and waterways.  Daily activities around our homes, apartments, farms and businesses affect the overall quality of Oldham County 's unique and valuable watersheds.

In 1993 the district board of supervisors began to focus on the water quality needs of Oldham County .  This was accomplished by dividing the county into six major watershed groups:  Organ Creek, Eighteen Mile Creek, Harrods Creek , Ohio River Tributaries, Floyds Fork and Curry's Fork.  The district's focus began to shift toward recognizing the "watershed" as a unit of measure for planning assistance.  The first major phase consisted of an inventory and evaluation of conditions in the Harrods Creek Watershed.  The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), at our request, developed, documented and reported their assessment of this watershed.  In 1996 the NRCS and the District completed its second stream and watershed assessment report focusing upon the Ohio River including the small tributaries west of Highway 42 beginning at the Jefferson County line and ending at the Trimble County line.  The third stream assessment was completed in 1997 focusing on the water quality and issues affecting Currys Fork. 

Many planning groups have realized the value of the watershed approach to providing solutions to water quality problems.

In 1998 the Conservation District commissioned the NRCS to develop a watershed report for the upper Floyds Fork watershed.  This report completed the five year watershed analysis for the area of Oldham County .

The District delivers technical assistance to Oldham County through a memorandum agreement with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).  Through this partnership, the District has been able to provide soil and water quality management services to the citizens of Oldham County regardless of rural, suburban or town lifestyles.

 Six Major Watershed Groups of Oldham County

1.  Organ Creek                                        4.  Small Tributaries of the Ohio   River

2.  Eighteen Mile Creek                             5.  Floyds Fork

3.  Harrods Creek                                      6.  Curry’s Fork

EPA Watershed Information for Oldham County

http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/county.cfm?fips_code=21185

The Environmental Protection Agency provides the following information on Watersheds within Oldham County.  The county crosses two watersheds--the Silver-Little Kentucky and the Salt.  You can click on the links below to gain additional information about these watersheds.

Oldham County , KY

Click on the map to zoom in on your watershed

This county crosses 2 watersheds.

Find environmental information for each of these watersheds:

• 05140101 Silver-Little Kentucky ; state(s): IN, KY
• 05140102 Salt; state(s): KY

Kentucky's Watershed Management Framework

Kywatersheds.org is the Web site for Kentucky’s Watershed Management Framework. The Kentucky Watershed Framework serves as a means for coordinating and integrating the programs, tools and resources of stakeholders to better protect, maintain and restore the ecological composition, structure and function of watersheds and to support the sustainable uses of watersheds for the people of the Commonwealth. 

The Framework is overseen by a Statewide Watershed Steering Committee, convened by the Kentucky Division of Water. A list of Steering Committee partners is available; meeting minutes are also available.

The Framework takes each basin management unit through a five-year activity cycle of (1) data gathering, (2) analysis, (3) targeting, (4) planning and (5) implementation. Each basin’s progress is overseen by a multi-party basin team, which is facilitated by a basin coordinator. Partners providing significant resources for basin coordinators include the Kentucky River Authority, University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service and the Jackson Purchase RC&D Foundation.

In phases 3 and 4 of the basin cycle, local watershed task forces are established in targeted watersheds. These task forces have locally-specific names, such as council, workgroup or conservancy. The task force develops a watershed action plan to implement watershed improvements.


For More Information Contact:
Margaret Shanks
14 Reilly Road
Frankfort, KY 40601
Phone: (502) 564-3410
Fax: (502) 564-0111
E-mail: margaret.shanks@ky.gov