Cohen was hired as the Lake Monroe Water Fund Executive Director on March 22. Cohen was previously the Brown County Waste Management District Manager and later the Executive Director for the Indiana Recycling Coalition.
The Lake Monroe Water Fund has its first employee after hiring an executive director last month.
On March 22, the nonprofit announced Michelle Cohen will serve as the first ever executive director in a press release.
“The Lake Monroe Water Fund is gratified to welcome Michelle Cohen to lead our organization into becoming the prominent funding source for the Lake Monroe watershed,” said President Jane Martin.
“Michelle is an experienced environmental executive who knows our watershed and our region as well as the state and federal grant authorities. We anticipate dramatic growth in our capabilities this year and beyond.”
Cohen has 12 years of experience leading other environmental entities including serving as the manager of the Brown County Solid Waste Management District. She has a master’s of science degree in environmental science from the Indiana University O’Neill School for Public and Environmental Affairs.
“I love the region and the people, so I am extremely excited to be working with dedicated board members and community partners to protect Lake Monroe and its watershed,” Cohen said.
The Lake Monroe watershed includes Brown County. Both the North Fork and Middle Fork of Salt Creek flow directly into Lake Monroe. Smaller creeks including Owl Creek, Greasy Creek, Sweetwater Creek, Lick Creek, David Branch, Gnaw Bone Creek, Little Blue Creek, Hamilton Creek and Strahl Creek feed into the two Salt Creek forks that flow to Lake Monroe.
One of approximately 48 worldwide water funds, Lake Monroe is also the first water fund in Indiana.
Martin explained that the fund allows downstream water users to “invest in conservation activities upstream to protect and restore Lake Monroe watershed.”
The nonprofit water fund is based on a new kind of model to sustain watersheds that the Nature Conservancy in Quito, Ecuador first started in 2000.
According to the Nature Conservancy’s website, “water funds create a system through which municipal utilities and businesses can invest in the source of their water upstream. But it’s not just downstream stakeholders that are investing in these protection and restoration initiatives: the proven water fund model has attracted outside funding as well, from public funding agencies, as well as private foundations and donors.”
In the press release, Martin said by creating this new position the water fund is “readying itself to pursue large scale grants and other funding for projects that reduce runoff pollution and protect the watershed.”
At the top of the project priority list will be anything related to reforestation as well as projects to address septic system needs and to support soil health practices in agriculture, the release states.
Lake Monroe was completed in 1965 as a reservoir that was created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to be a 100 year drinking water source.
Protecting the watershed and extending its life is “critical to area residents and the economic viability of Bloomington and surrounding communities,” Cohen said in the release.
“I am humbled that the board has entrusted me to lead the organization in this pivotal phase as we grow and establish ourselves as a vital vehicle for investing in Lake Monroe so that it provides a plentiful drinking water supply, a world-class recreational destination and critical wildlife habitat for years to come,” Cohen said.
She added that anyone who lives in the watershed, enjoys recreational activities at the lake or drinks water sourced from the lake has a “key role” in protecting it.
The Lake Monroe Water Fund recently celebrated its one year anniversary as an incorporated nonprofit. Cohen’s hiring coincided with World Water Day.
The goal of the water fund is to “contribute to water security through nature-based solutions that serve the entire community.” The nonprofit works to get investments from downstream water users including residents, businesses, utilities and local governments.”
The funds are then given to upstream farmers, landholders and communities to pay for conservation activities, which ultimately benefits water users by improving water quality and quantity.
For more information visit www.lakemonroewaterfund.org.
