Water Resources of Warren County, Indiana Authors: Introduction Jane R
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WAT-9 Water Resources of Warren County, Indiana Authors: Introduction Jane R. Frankenberger and Natalie Carroll, Water is a vital resource for all citizens of Warren County. Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering Water is essential for agriculture and industry, as well as for recreation and drinking. A healthy environment and economy requires clean water and healthy watersheds. This publication gives basic information about surface and ground water resources of Warren County, and discusses human activities that may be affecting those water resources. The population of Warren County was 8,419 in 2000. The county covers an area of 366 square miles or 234,413 acres. Elevation ranges from 480 feet to 830 feet. Warren County has an average monthly temperatures ranging from 24.7ºF in January to 74.5ºF in July. Warren County Watersheds A watershed is a region of land that drains into a lake, stream, or river. Watersheds are important because everything that is done on the land within a watershed can affect the lake or river into which it drains. The quantity and quality of our water is affected not only by what might be dumped into it, but by everything we do on the land in the watershed. Watersheds vary in size, depending upon the water body you are looking at. A few acres of land that drain into a pond form a watershed. If that pond drains into a stream, those acres, along with many others, are part of the watershed for the stream. Small watersheds are part of larger watersheds, just as small streams flow into larger streams. Warren County is in two major watersheds (Figure 2). Three- quarters of the county is in the Middle Wabash-Little Vermilion watershed that covers 2,267 square miles (in Indiana and Illinois). Opossum Run, Redwood Creek, Rock Creek, Big Pine Creek, Kickapoo Creek, and Little Pine Creek drain the Middle Wabash-Little Vermilion Watershed into the Wabash Figure 1. Major Watersheds of Indiana. Warren County River. The northwestern corner of the county is in the Vermilion Watershed, which covers 1,439 square miles (in is in the Middle Wabash-Little Vermilion and Indiana and Illinois). This watershed is drained by Jordan Vermilion Watersheds. Creek, of which Leak Ditch and Little Creek are tributaries. Jordan Creek then flows to the Vermilion River, which later joins the Wabash River. The Wabash River, which forms the southeastern county line, flows into the Ohio River, which flows into the Mississippi and eventually to the Gulf of Mexico. Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service 12345678 1234512345678 123412345675 8 123412345675 8 1234512345678 12345678 12345678 12345678 Figure 2: Stream and watersheds of Warren County. A watershed assessment (Unified Watershed Assessment, for is measured continuously in a stream or river. These four Indiana, was carried out for all watersheds in Indiana in 1998. stations are located in Little Pine Creek at Green Hill, Big The goal of this assessment was to use all available data to Pine Creek near Williamsport, the Wabash River at Covington, assess the present condition of the water in lakes, rivers and and Big Pine Creek Tributary near Pine Village. streams (surface waters) in Indiana. There was not enough data available to determine the condition of the Vermilion The monthly average discharge for the Wabash River and watershed. The Middle Wabash-Little Vermilion watershed Little Pine Creek are shown in Figure 3. Highest flows was determined to be in need of restoration – the water does generally occur during February to April while low flows not meet the designated uses or other natural resource goals usually occur in August through September, a pattern that is (25%, or more, of the waters assessed did not meet state typical for most streams in Indiana. Little Pine Creek has water quality standards). only been monitored for a few years, so there is not enough data to smooth out the spikes in the graph. Warren County Streams The values shown in Figure 3 are monthly averages. Maximum Discharge for a stream or river is the amount of water flowing daily flows during floods can be much higher, and low flows per unit of time. A typical unit for measuring discharge is during droughts can be much lower, than the discharge shown cubic feet per second (cfs). The U.S. Geological Survey in in Figure 3. Warren County runs four gauging stations, where discharge 2 Warren County Wetlands Wetlands are transitional lands between terrestrial and deep- water habitat that is generally covered with water or the water table is at or near the surface. The area must support water- loving plants and have mostly undrained hydric (e.g. peat or muck) soil. Wetlands help maintain the quality of surface and ground water by removing potential pollutants such as sediment, nutrients, and pesticides from the water. Wetlands have many other benefits including providing habitat for wetland flora and fauna, providing services to humans such as aesthetics, hunting, fishing, and recreation, and reducing peak flood flows. Approximately 85 percent of Indiana wetlands have been lost since the 1700s. In Warren County there are 5,439 acres of wetlands, according to the National Wetlands Inventory from the 1980s. This is equal to about 2.5 percent of the total area in the county. Figure 3. Average monthly discharge for Warren County Two well known Warren County wetlands are Kate’s Pond Streams. (about 2 acres, near 200 N) and Cranberry Marsh (about 77 acres, near 500N). Floodplains are low areas adjacent to river or stream channels. Floodplains exist because river channels are rarely large enough to contain major floods. These areas have flooded in the past and will flood again in the future. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has delineated floodplains for Warren County. A very general map of floodplains is shown in Figure 4. The Warren County Zoning Office (762-6311) at the Courthouse has a floodplain map which should be viewed before planning any development that may coincide with a floodplain. Figure 5. Warren County Precipitation Precipitation The average yearly precipitation in Warren County (rain, snow, sleet, and hail) is approximately 37 inches a year. Precipitation varies from about 1.5 inches to 5 inches per month, as shown in Figure 5. Average monthly precipitation is about 3 inches, but monthly highs and lows can vary considerably. The bars show average monthly precipitation, while the lines show the wettest year and driest year expected once in 5 years. The amount of precipitation in a single storm can be an important factor in causing flooding. Precipitation records Figure 4: Floodplains in Warren County (and neighboring over many years have been analyzed to assess the probability Fountain County). of various storms occurring. Precipitation probability for a single storm is generally expressed in terms of a return period. The return period is the expected number of years between 3 storms of a given size. A “5-year storm” has a 20% chance of Table 1. Major Water Users in Warren County occurring in any one year, so it is likely to occur about every 5 years on the average. Probability doesn’t tell how often a Owner Water Use* storm will occur, however. It is possible for a 5-year storm Interstate Sand 333.9 to occur many years in a row or even several times in a City of Covington 109.2 single year. A 100-year storm has a 1% chance of occurring Town of Williamsport 77.1 in any year. The 100-year storm is particularly important, RE Billings 76.5 because the area that is expected to be flooded by the 100- Town of West Lebanon 36.7 year storm is generally considered to be the “floodplain” Hubner Farms 10.8 shown in Figure 4. Permission from the Indiana Department Wabash Gravel 1.14 of Natural Resources (IDNR) is required before constructing United Methodist Church 0.4 any building in the area that will be flooded by a 100-year Total 645.8 storm. Figure 6 shows the expected 24-hour rainfall for * Water Used is in millions of gallons per year Warren County for various return periods. Warren County Drinking Water In Indiana, 60% of citizens use ground water for drinking, while 40% use surface water. In Warren County, the entire population uses ground water for the source of their water (there is no surface water used within the county). Most of the water comes from wells, but some residents use water from springs (water that flows naturally to the ground surface so no pumping is required) or artesian wells (water that is under pressure and does not need pumping). Springs have a high risk for contamination because the water is close to the surface. According to the 1990 census, 34% of Warren County households use water supplied by one of two public water systems: Williamsport Water Utility (serving 2,140 people) or West Lebanon Water Works (serving 674 people). Figure 6. Rainfall expected in 24 hours for low- These two community systems, like all water suppliers using probability storm events. ground water in Indiana, are required to develop a Wellhead Protection Plan to protect water quality. Each system must identify the area that provides recharge to the wells (the Warren County Ground Water wellhead protection area), identify potential sources of Ground water availability is good throughout most of Warren contamination within this area, and develop a management County. The entire population in Warren County relies on plan to minimize risks of contaminating drinking water. Some ground water for drinking, washing, and other needs. Parts examples of potential contamination sources include storage of Warren County, especially the areas just north of the tanks, areas where chemicals are applied to the land, septic Wabash River, need deep wells to reach water.