The Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation says that a study has helped secure some valuable federal funding to protect the area watershed.

The Wawasee Inlets Nutrient Study helped bring a designation to the area for the national Water Quality Initiative. This makes it a priority watershed for additional federal funding. The premier USDA program focuses on partnerships between federal, state, local and private resources to benefit soil health and water quality through voluntary on-farm conservation efforts.

The Wawasee watershed is the first lake watershed in the Hoosier State to receive this designation, given to 283 small watersheds across the country out of 100,000 that participate in the program.