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2007 02 23

Random Rippling

Converted from paper version of the Broad Ripple Gazette (v04n04)

Saving our water, preserving beauty - Williams Creek Dam

posted: Feb. 23, 2007

By Ashley Plummer

If a person sat down with Broad Ripple area resident Stewart Dewitt, he or she could count on conversing about one thing-the old Williams Creek Dam and the new Williams Creek Dam.

To many, it may seem almost confusing-why is this man so engulfed in the way the dam works? Or why is it that he is basically a walking, breathing information source of something most of us just glance at on our bike rides or walks down the Monon Trail? Because honestly, that's what most of us view the dam as: something that provides scenery to our excursions through the Broad Ripple area of the Monon.

However, if it was not for this man, not only would that beautiful waterfall-like scenery cease to exist, but the canal that runs through the heart of the village would also have dried up about a year ago and 60 percent of the residents in the city of Indianapolis would have been without drinking water until a new dam could have been built.

Dewitt, whose backyard faces the dam located at 72nd Street and Westfield Boulevard, has lived at his current location since 1991. He said the minute the property went on the market, he was sold without even looking at the house itself.

"I knew I wanted to live somewhere on the river," he said. "I have lived in the Broad Ripple area since my high school days, and when I moved to this location, I began playing hooky just so that I could go fishing in my backyard."

It was his years of observing the river, the dam and the flow of the water that helped him realize in January of 2005, when driving his wife to work, that there was a serious problem with the flow of the water over the dam.

"We were driving over the bridge (located at 72nd and Westfield) and I looked over at the dam and noticed deep-green colored water flowing over the south side of the dam," he said. "I immediately knew something was not right."

Dewitt continued by explaining that the deep green color meant that the spill was coming from much deeper water than usual. He called the water company, and it turned out he was correct-there was a 16-inch hole in the dam. The water company worked day and night dumping large boulders, gravel and rock in an attempt to cease the flow from the White River.

"If the dam had failed, the entire White River channel would have been empty," Stewart said.

At this point, the dam, which had been built in 1975 specifically to keep water in the White River, had been pushed to its limits by the flooding that took place in 2005. Water had begun to erode the sheet metal, and it was apparent that the entire dam would need to be rebuilt.

In 2006, engineers and the city of Indianapolis took on a $1.4 million project to assure that the residents of Indianapolis would have drinking water. The map above displays the location of the Williams Creek dam, located at 72nd Street and Westfield Boulevard.

Click here to switch to Flip Photo Album mode

The Department of Water Works immediately began planning what eventually became a $1.4 million project to rebuild the dam and assure that Indianapolis residents would have drinking water. This dam, ten inches higher than the low-head dam at Broad Ripple, provides the needed pressure to force a portion of the White River to flow down the canal. The canal provides drinking water for the majority of the city's water customers.

Dewitt catalogued the entire construction project on the river.

"As soon as I got home from work everyday, I would walk down and watch the construction," Dewitt said. "I would put my hard hat and boots on and take photos and video of the construction."

Dewitt managed to document everything from the beginnings of the damage to the spillway, including an event where 37,000 pounds of construction equipment got caught in the river, through the rebuilding of the dam, when workers virtually stopped the water from flowing. He also documented the addition of an 18-inch pipe requested by The Friends of the White River that provided a path around the construction project to benefit the river's wildlife.

The overall construction process was finished in mid-December of 2006.

"My neighbors all told me that I spent too much time on the river," Dewitt said. "But if I didn't know that river like I did (and still do), I would have never recognized there was a problem from the beginning.

"I just love the river, and I can honestly say that I know they did a great job with the rebuilding of the dam."

Residents of Broad Ripple can now rest in peace. Thanks to Dewitt, we can still ride our bikes and take our walks through the village and down the Monon, and enjoy the scenery of both the canal and the dam-things that many of us probably take for granted entirely too often.

Thanks Stew.

the damage from the storm