BIG CICERO CREEK FLOOD CONTROL STUDY
FINAL REPORT

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report presents the Big Cicero Creek Flood Control Plan developed by Christopher B. Burke Engineering (CBBEL) for the Big Cicero Creek Joint Drainage Board (Board).  The report presents alternatives formulated to mitigate known flooding problems along Big Cicero Creek.  The focus of this study was the flooding issues from County Road 500 West downstream through the City of Tipton.

The Big Cicero Creek watershed area is approximately 80 square miles at the confluence with Buck Creek in the City of Tipton and 135 square miles at the upstream limit of Morse Reservoir.  Most of the watershed is in Tipton County.  Flooding often lasts up to several days at a time in the agricultural areas and backwater from Big Cicero Creek affects several residences along Buck Creek on the west side of town.  Big Cicero Creek also floods streets and roads in Tipton and in the county.
 
Several alternatives were identified during the public information meeting, discussions with local officials, and during CBBEL’s analysis.  The alternatives were evaluated using the project performance criteria presented in Chapter 3.  This evaluation narrowed the list to 34 promising options or combinations of options that were evaluated in detail.  For the detailed evaluation, CBBEL staff developed hydrologic and hydraulic models of the watershed and modified the computer models to analyze the promising options.  The detailed evaluation resulted in the selection of a set of recommended plan components as most appropriate for meeting the established performance criteria.  Those recommended plan components are presented below.  A limitation on available funding was an important factor in selecting the recommended plan components.  Therefore, should additional funding become available in the future, the various options documented in this report should be considered again in light of the additional available funding.

RECOMMENDED PLAN COMPONENTS

  1. Extend the hydraulic modeling downstream to evaluate the downstream impacts of the recommended plan.  Include 500-year profile and floodway calculations allow for direct inclusion in the future update of the countywide Flood Insurance Study (FIS) mapping for Tipton County. The estimated cost of this component is about $60,000.

  2. Complete a channel improvement project by constructing a 30-foot wide overbank shelf at an elevation 3-feet above the existing channel invert.  The channel improvement would extend from about 2800’ downstream of Tobin Ditch up to County Road 400 South.  The estimated cost of this component is about $ 2.6 million.

  3. Provide a copy of floodplain mapping and expected water surface elevations developed during this study to local planning officials and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) to assist in guiding future development away from areas of flood risks. 

  4. Amend existing floodplain and stormwater ordinances to include “no net loss floodplain storage” requirement and updated, on-site detention requirements, and strictly enforce these and other requirements in the updated ordinances.  If runoff volumes are increased or present storage and flow capacity are not maintained, the benefits derived from other recommended plan components will be lost.  Another component of the amended ordinances would be to require that all bridge construction/replacement be designed such that the 100-year and more frequent flood elevations are not increased.

  5. Coordinate with the USGS to maintain the existing stream gage located in the vicinity of Arcadia and to add two additional gages along Big Cicero Creek and one on Prairie Creek.  The estimated cost of this component would be about $30,000 for the installation of three new gages and about $15,000 per year for ongoing maintenance costs.  This estimate assumes USGS funding 50% of the annual maintenance costs and no USGS funding for installation.


 

 

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