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A new dam and supporting berms near the Chapman Lakes levee have been pegged as the No. 1 environmental project in the state, according to Congressman Mark Souder.
Souder visited and boated around the Chapman Lakes area Thursday, announcing that a $375,000 request for a dam project is included in the Energy and Water Appropriations bill that passed the House last week. The legislation moves to the Senate where, Souder said, it has every hope of passage.
"As a practical matter, the $100,000 we (House members) designated for construction is both real money and kind of a congressional seal of approval," Souder said Friday morning. The Army Corps of Engineers could dedicate the money, but they try to get direction from Congress regarding priorities."
The Louisville District of the Army Corps of Engineers has jurisdiction over the Ohio River basin and any water bodies, like the Chapman Lakes, that eventually enter the Ohio.
"It really is a strip of ground," said Dan Lee, president of the Chapman Lakes Foundation and long-time resident of the area. The dam is at the southernmost tip of Little Chapman. "It's made of muck and marl, built by the Indiana Department of Natural resources in the 1970s.
"Mark Souder's efforts in this instance will be the hingepin to getting a very important project completed."
With engineering plans and environmental studies complete, a new dam will be built of "cellular concrete" to the south with berms built to the west.
"They won't even touch the existing levee," Lee said. "The old one is so precarious, they can't remove it without draining the wetlands."
The levee is backed by nearly 300 acres of wetlands, which extend 1,500 to 1,800 feet west and northwest of the dam.
Souder expects Senate approval of the appropriations bill. And "once it is started and designated, the government isn't going to leave it half done. It is one of the few water projects designated for funding.
"There are 700 homes on these lakes. They shouldn't have to wait for a disaster, and it will be a disaster if that levee breaks. We don't want it to be an emergency fix but a solution."
As a relative newcomer to the Kosciusko County lakes area, Souder said he was fascinated by the tour.
"I enjoyed seeing what it looks like as opposed to just reading about it," Souder said of the lakes and the levee. "It actually sits behind reeds and lilly pads with the wetlands behind that. If it doesn't get fixed, it will reduce the level of the lakes dramatically.
"What's unusual about Chapman Lakes is the wetlands space. There aren't that many areas so open. Pokagon and Chain Of Lakes state parks have open space, but they're so heavily used and there's a little bit of wetlands around Wawasee. It's hard to get additional ground for wetlands.
"There's a real need to preserve the open space we have. The wetlands are important to irrigation, to fish and wildlife and as a scenic resource for the community."
Souder said the best time for dam construction is August to October. He expects construction to begin next fall.
About 12 acres of land adjacent to the wetlands needs to be purchased yet, according to Lee. He doesn't see that as a problem, as the property owners are well aware of the importance of the wetlands ecosystem.
Lee said the state has taken an interest in the project too, and emergency funding may be available.
