This is the second in a series of posts regarding the North River Project
Let us not get the cart (North River Project) before the horse (Omni Source property). Sadly that has already happened but at least the city is only on the hook for the $25,000 option they took on the property. There are serious questions that need to be answered before the city writes a check for $4,300,000.00.
The Saint Mary's River starts as a couple of creeks in Ohio before reaching Decatur, Indiana. The water continues to flow slowly toward Fort Wayne. When the water gets to Fort Wayne it makes several hard turns before reaching the downtown area. At that point it merges with the Spy Run Creek and Saint Joseph River to form the Maumee River.
The Saint Mary's River has little current flow at normal levels from Decatur to Fort Wayne. The reason for this there is very little drop in the elevation of the river bed. This provides for low current flow, little deep water, and on going water quality issues during the summer months. There has been periods of time when the Saint Joseph River watershed received large amounts rain that water would rush into confluence of the rivers and some water would actually flow "backwards" into the Saint Mary's river well past Foster Park.
To raise the level of the river to an usable level would require some type of dam. Sadly, any dam on the Saint Mary's here in Fort Wayne could produce a disaster for Decatur. If there is a sudden series of major rain storms dumping large volumes of water on the Saint Mary's watershed it would result in flooding for Decatur and the near southwest side of Fort Wayne. There are a couple of concepts that could take care of this issue but would cost in the order of millions and millions of dollars.
The Saint Mary's level fluctuates many many times a year. It will go from a couple of feet to fifteen feet within a few days with melting snow or heavy down pours of rain. During these events of high water the river could not be used in a safe manner by any one without extreme risk to life. Someone accidentally falling into the river could face drowning!
While the concept of a hardedge reaching out into the river with steps may be appealing it would be a difficult to impossible convince the Corp of Engineers to approve of such. Isn't there someone from the city that could approach both the Corp of Engineers and the state DNR two ask if a dam and/or this hardedge would be remotely acceptable? I think it would be wise to get their reply in writing for all to review.
An issue few have mentioned is Fort Wayne has an old dump located right on the banks of the Saint Mary's river. Before being a dump it was gravel pit that had a deep hole dredged into it. Both the public and commercial companies used this totally unregulated dump. Barrels of chemicals used by the wire industry, motor manufacturers, gas pump manufactures, utilities and whoever else wanted to dump anything added to the contents of the dump.
The pit was always full of water and bull dozers kept pushing the stuff into the hole until all the water was forced out of the hole and into the river. When the hole was finally filled, after years of use, it was closed and the owners moved to a new site.
Several years ago the dump was topped with clay and became a small park with baseball diamonds and tennis courts. It is located to the east of South Calhoun Street along Tillman Road. One has to wonder, is this former landfill leaking into the Saint Mary's and anyone coming into contact with the slow moving water of summer could face rashes, mild illness, or maybe long term health problems?
The Allen County Board of Health would be required to take daily samples of the river water and to check if people visiting the area should even come in contact with the water. With E-coli present and any number of other chemicals that would be in the water may quickly require the steps to be closed off. Would anyone ever be allowed to use the hardedge to set with their feet in the water? Would any children splashing along the edge face getting sick or have other health issues from coming into contact with this water?
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3 comments:
Interesting!
It is good to see an evaluation of the issue of improving the St. Marys River. I live at the intersection of Thieme Drive, Nelson Street, and West Berry Street. I as well as several other homes nearby are affected by floods.
Our basements are the only area of the homes that, to this point, have been impacted. The water that does enter comes from ground seepage through the walls, not the river itself. And even then, no appreciable amount of water is involved.
I support the Association of State Flood Plain Managers' position of "no adverse impact." My concern is that any time you talk about changing the dynamics of one section of river, you impact the dynamics somewhere else, whether upstream or downstream.
I doubt that a dam would ever be approved simply because the trend has been away from creating dams to removing them in many locations.
The City does work with the Corps on many projects; however, the latest projects located in Woodhurst, Park-Thompson, and Berry-Thieme are being constructed without the use of federal funds (at least that is what has been stated even Mark Souder claims to have earmarked about $7,000,000 for these flooding projects).
Let me be clear where I stand on tinkering with the St. Marys River - I oppose anything that will destroy the natural environment and create additional flooding issues. Those who know me know that I take this position.
You gave an overview of the St. Marys and its origins; however, one other consideration in all of this is that Fort Wayne lies at the end of what was once known as the "Great Black Swamp", a huge swamp that ran 120 miles east to west and 40 miles north to south (about the size of Connecticut). The swamp covered 12 counties in northwest Ohio and terminated at Fort Wayne.
The characteristics of the land and its soil base make the area prone to holding water. The Indiana GIS maps show that this area runs from medium to high in clay soil density. Given the combination of the soil characteristics and flooding propensities, I believe it will be difficult to construct too many attractions at the edge of the St. Marys River.
I am surprised the "WALLS" they are going to build out south has not seen the Decatur people jumping up and down. By containing any river it only pushes the river level higher further back upstream and takes longer to drain down.
As for comments about about water seeping into your basements is a concern I have and the City SHOULD HAVE! They had better figure out where it is coming from!
If this water is flowing towards or from the river means little. What it is saying there is a path the water has found to move one direction or other. With high water there will be additional pressure on this water as it seeks it own level. This could end in dike failure as the retaining wall would be underminded. It could put many many people in danger.
My comments about a dam is that it is only way the St. Mary's in downtown will be a body of water deep enough during summer low levels to use. To explain that would take some time.
The Great Black Swamp is a subject I have learned a great deal about as I have studied my family history. It is hard to believe what this area was like 160-175 years ago.
Thanks for posting and hope you stop back again. I enjoyed your comments.
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