Some farmers in Monroe County will soon receive a survey in the mail from the Washtenaw County Conservation District.

“It’s for a watershed management project that we collaborate on,” Brittany Santure, district manager of the Monroe Conservation District, said.

Over the next few weeks, the Washtenaw County Conservation District, Monroe Conservation District, Washtenaw County, Monroe County and local townships will conduct a survey of farmers in the Ottawa-Stony North Watershed.

More than 300 landowners will receive a survey in the mail.

“The survey will help identify knowledge and interest in management practices that benefit farmers and residential landowners and keep the water clean,” the organizations said.

The Ottawa-Stony North Watershed, encompassing about 290 square miles, drains parts of Washtenaw, Wayne and Monroe counties. The Ottawa-Stony North Watershed feeds directly into Lake Erie and is one of the contributors to the phosphorus and algae problems that plague the Western Lake Erie Basin. Swan Creek, Paint Creek, Stony Creek and Sandy Creek, all part of the Ottawa-Stony North Watershed, have been listed as impaired waterbodies for recreational use due to the presence of elevated levels of E. coli bacteria, the organizations said.

This survey is the first step of a larger project that will provide technical and financial assistance to farmers implementing best management practices that reduce sediment, E. coli bacteria and excess nutrients that enter our waterways.

“We ask that if you receive a survey to please fill it out and mail it back (postage is prepaid),” the organizations said. Surveys can be returned to: 705 N. Zeeb Road, Suite 201, Ann Arbor, MI 48103.

For more information, contact Megan DeLeeuw at 734-302-8715 or megan@washtenawcd.org.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Farm survey to be mailed soon in Ottawa-Stony North Watershed