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About Us

The Indian Lake Watershed Association in a 501c3 Non Profit Organization

The Indian Lake Watershed Association (ILWA) began as a group of concerned citizens who initially organized as the Indian Lake Improvement Association in 1978. In 1985, the group incorporated as the Indian Lake Watershed Association Inc. (ILWA), a 501c3 nonprofit organization which primarily focused on combating the affects of development within the urban watershed on water quality at Indian Lake.

The ILWA has worked for over 35 years to restore and preserve the environmental quality of Indian Lake as well as improve the neighborhood surrounding it. The ILWA also maintains two neighborhood World War II memorials and holds neighborhood cleanups focused on the shoreline of Indian and Little Indian Lakes and public spaces in the surrounding neighborhood. The ILWA works with educational partners on important research opportunities and engages in neighborhood projects throughout the entire watershed. A major element of any project the association undertakes includes educational outreach.

Water Protection, Neighborhood Improvement and Educational Outreach

Watershed Protection

Advocated for the City of Worcester’s ‘Blue Ways’ initiative. In 2016, the Department of Public Works and Parks' Lakes & Ponds Program was created, bringing the first ever Environmental Analyst position to the city. The Lakes & Ponds Program, now under the Department of Sustainability & Resilience, is focused on the health of our invaluable recreational water bodies, working hand in hand with volunteer organizations like the ILWA across the city to protect and improve our Blue Spaces.
Identifying potential threats to Indian Lake, Little Indian and their tributaries.
Educating the community on the necessity of managing cyanobacteria and other threats that could threaten the waterways as well as public health.
Funded reports to evaluate short and long term challenges at the lakes including multiple sediment analysis and characterizations to determine the costs and benefits of dredging Indian Lake.
Consistently work to evaluate options and advocate for improvements to reduce watershed wide nutrient loads that contribute to water quality challenges in all of our lakes and ponds.
Collaborate on workshops to identify nonnative, invasive weeds, storm water challenges and storm gardens.
Partner in the Worcester Cyanobacteria Monitoring Collaborative which is a citizen science initiative to monitor cyanobacteria (aka blue green algae) in our local waterways.
Work with many city, state and local organizations on grants and programs.

Neighborhood Improvement

The ILWA holds semi annual neighborhood cleanups focused on shoreline maintenance and public spaces in the greater Indian Lake neighborhood.
ILWA board members provide additional support for these spaces in terms of maintenance, oversight and regularly provide opportunities for smaller group projects.
The ILWA engaged in the master planning process and continues to advocate for improvements at Morgan Park, Shore Park and the city beach at the end of Clason Road to improve safety, management, improve visual appearance and ensure these spaces continue to be valuable neighborhood assets.
The ILWA works with a multitude of partners regularly including WPI students and faculty as a sponsor of Independent Qualifying Projects. Examples of past projects include an analysis of Little Indian Lake, mapping non native invasive plants at Indian Lake, tracking storm drains in the watershed, geese management, a survey to analyze aquatic life, improving the 3 mile walking loop around Indian Lake and neighborhood history.

Education

The ILWA hosts a public meeting every spring for members. Past agenda items include:

Worcester Lakes & Ponds Program Update
Leading by Example: Field Management at Bancroft School
Progress in our Parks: Master Plan Updates for Public Spaces around Indian Lake
Neighborhood Policing presented by the Worcester Police Department
Shore Park Summer Programming presented by the Greendale YMCA
MassDOT Impaired Waters Program
The city of Worcester’s Canada Geese Program

There are numerous opportunities for citizens to get involved. Below are some of the opportunities for public engagement that the ILWA has been involved with in the last several years: