Watershed Council

In order to establish the capacity required to implement the Watershed Management Plan, the FotSJR maintains an advisory Watershed Council with representatives from each of the 15 Michigan and Indiana counties in the watershed, as well as state agencies and other key organizations. These individuals advise the FotSJR Board of Directors at monthly meetings and participate in the Annual Watershed Council Meeting.

Please contact us for more information regarding seats available on the FotSJR Watershed Council.

(*) Representative Position Pending

Soil & Water Conservation Districts

Berrien County Conservation District (Nancy Carpenter)
Branch Conservation District (Cortni Hull)
Calhoun Conservation District (Maureen Reed)
Cass County Conservation District (Korie Blyveis)
DeKalb County Soil & Water Conservation District (Julie Knudson)
Elkhart County Soil & Water Conservation District (Jim Hess)
Hillsdale Conservation District (Jerry Leininger)
Kalamazoo Conservation District (Elizabeth Rochow)
Kosciusko County Soil & Water Conservation District (Melinda Miller)
LaGrange County Soil & Water Conservation District (Martin Franke)
Noble County Soil & Water Conservation District (OPEN)
Steuben County Soil & Water Conservation District (Aimee Wentworth)
St. Joseph County (IN) Soil & Water Conservation District (Sam James)
St. Joseph County (MI) Conservation District (Carolyn Grace)
Van Buren Conservation District (Kim Sinclair)

State, Federal & Tribal Entities

Indiana Department of Environmental Management (Jessica Faust)
Indiana Department of Natural Resources (TBA)
Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy , Water Resources Division (Matthew Hanauer)
Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division (Brian Gunderman)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Tom Eitniear)
Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Indians (John Rodwan)
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians (Grant Poole)

Resource Conservation & Development Councils

Wood-Land-Lakes Resource Conservation & Development (Brian Campbell)

County, Regional & Local Government

Berrien County Drain Commissioner (Chris Quattrin)
Branch County Drain Commissioner (Mike Hard)
Calhoun County Water Resources Commissioner (Ron Smith)
Cass County Drain Commissioner (Jeff VanBelle)
City of Elkhart (IN) [scroll down to Aquatic Biology] (Daragh Deegan)
Hillsdale County Board of Commissioners (VACANT)
Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners (Dave Maturen)
Kalamazoo County Drain Commissioner (Jason Wiersma)
Southwest Michigan Planning Commission (Marcy Hamilton)
St. Joseph County (MI) Drain Commissioner (Jeff Wenzel)
St. Joseph County (IN) Drainage Board (Robert Kurszynski)
St. Joseph River Basin Commission (Matt Meersman)
Van Buren County Drain Commissioner (Joe Parman)

Watershed Groups, Lake Associations & Non-Profits

Christiana Creek Coalition [no website] (Don Stohler)
Elkhart River Restoration Association (Nancy Brown)
LaGrange County Lakes Council (Leslie Raymer)
Little Elkhart Watershed [no website] (David Arrington)
Michiana Watershed (Vacant)
Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy (Peter Ter Louw)
Two Rivers Coalition (Dave Foerster)
Union Lake Community Association [Facebook page] (Bill Courliss)

Corporations & Businesses

Indiana Michigan Power (Vacant)