Posted on December 14, 2015
Designs for a diversion channel that would route high water from the Blanchard River northwest of the Village of Ottawa are nearly complete.
The Maumee Watershed Conservancy District gave an update on the project Wednesday at a meeting of the Blanchard River Mitigation Coalition held in Ottawa.
Construction of the channel could start by the summer or fall of next year.
The diversion channel and modification of the embankment for the Putnam County I-9 bridge in Ottawa were recommended by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to control flooding in the village. The bridge work is nearly complete, with the reconstructed roadway to be surfaced and marked in the spring. Officials said warning signs will also be installed to notify drivers when the bridge is closed due to high water.
The bridge is expected to drop the flood level in Ottawa about 3 to 4 inches during an 100-year flood. The diversion channel could reduce floodwater by up to 10 inches.
The diversion channel has been opposed by a Glandorf group called Concerned Citizens.
The group is primarily concerned about the diversion channel and its effect on Ottawa farms and communities downstream. It was not opposed to the I-9 project.
The group has petitioned the conservancy district to consider alternatives to the diversion channel. Its ideas include mandating the use of cover crops to increase the water-holding capacity of farmland, lowering water release rates for retention ponds, and widening the river’s banks.
Concerned Citizens also wants the Army Corps to extend its study of the river downstream of the I-9 bridge.
