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SYRACUSE - With an eye toward water quality improvement, the Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation is seeking funds for several projects.
Last week Beth Padera, environmental engineer from Harza Engineering Co., Chicago, reported the results of an engineering study conducted for the WACF.
Padera said her company tried to determine feasibility, prepare for design phases and plan for successful completion of water quality enhancement projects.
Harza provided site selection and project identification, preliminary engineering, drawings and hydrologic modeling, environmental assessments and cost estimates.
In all the projects, the goal was to reduce either sediment or nutrient flow into Lake Wawasee.
Harza engineers toured the lake and identified suitable project sites.
The sites selected were:
• Enchanted Hills (east side of Lake Wawasee).
• Dillon Creek wetland (east side).
• Martin Ditch (west side).
• Leland Addition (west side).
• South Shore Golf Course (west side).
• Bayshore (southwest corner).
In Enchanted Hills, engineers recommended grade and bank stabilization along channels.
This could be achieved by use of fiber rolls and vegetation, stone and sheet piling along the banks of the channels.
The engineers identified 5,300 lineal feet of eroded channel bank that needs attention.
This project could reduce the amount of sediment entering the channels by 60 percent, Padera said.
Cost estimate for grade and bank stabilization in Enchanted Hills is $2.67 million.
The engineers also suggested enhancing the wetland on Dillon Creek. A sheet piling dam would be used to enlarge an existing pond. Erosion control of banks around the pond could be achieved by wetland plantings.
Cost is estimated at $93,000, and a 50 percent reduction in sediment load could be realized, Padera said.
For erosion control in Leland Addition, engineers suggested five check dams on Martin Ditch. Cost was estimated at $29,000.
At South Shore Golf Course, Padera said engineers were concerned with a high level of nutrients flowing into the lake.
Construction of a "bioretention facility" near the parking lot of the golf course was suggested.
A biorentention facility uses mulch and plants to filter nutrients out of runoff before it flows into an existing drainage ditch.
This method achieves a 60 to 70 percent reduction of nutrients and sediments. Cost is estimated at $179,000, Padera said.
At Bayshore, engineers suggested a sediment trap in the channel. Cost estimate was $69,000.
WACF has applied for two federal grants - for the Enchanted Hills project and the bioretention facility.
The group also has applied for Indiana Lake and River Enhancement funds through the Department of Natural Resources for the balance of the projects.
Padera noted that the Harza study is in the draft phase and that changes are likely.
DNR officials at the meeting said they look at the technical, social and economic feasibility of each project before approving funding.
