I.D.

Potential Alternative

Remarks

Area benefited

Carried to shortlist of promising alternatives?

A

Elevate all affected roads in the study reach to grades above the 100-year flood elevations

This alternative would be very expensive due to the miles of road affected.  Raising the roads could also increase water surface elevations upstream if multiple culverts are not included through floodplain areas.

County roads

No

B

Control future floodplain development through accurate Flood Insurance maps for the City and the County and strictly enforce ordinances.

Would not reduce current damages but should prevent increased damages due to future development in the watershed.

residential

Yes

C

Floodproof affected structures

Could eliminate existing residential flooding but would not reduce frequency of street and property flooding.

residential

Yes

D

Buyout or relocate affected structures

Could eliminate existing residential flooding but would not reduce frequency of street and property flooding.

residential

E

Construct levees through City of Tipton that would protect areas behind the levees from the 100-year flood.

Would protect structures and streets from the 100-year flood.

residential

Yes

F

Construct bypass channel for Buck Creek within the City of Tipton from Adams Street to the park.

Would not lower flood elevations since Big Cicero Creek controls the elevation in Buck Creek at this point and there is very little fall along Big Cicero Creek to the park.

residential

No

G

Construct upstream detention pond that would lower the 100-year discharge to reduce water surface elevations below the lowest grade of the existing homes.

Potentially very expensive.  Would protect areas downstream from flood damages.  Would not affect upstream flooding.

Residential, agricultural

Yes

H

Construct a diversion/bypass from just downstream of CR 200W around the City of Tipton that would lower the 100-year water surface elevations below the lowest grade of the existing houses.

Based on aerial photos, there is no reasonable path for such a bypass channel in this area due to existing development.

Residential, agricultural

No

I

Construct a major channel improvement through the City of Tipton that lowers 100-year flood elevations below the lowest grade of the existing houses.

Potentially very expensive.  Would help Tipton residents, but likely provide little help upstream.

Residential, agricultural

Yes

J

Divert Buck Creek around the north end of town

Would not be a significant enough reduction in discharge to lower elevations below the lowest grades of structures.

residential

No

K

Participate in the NRCS Floodplain Easement Program.

Indiana has not received funds for this program for several years.  There are already several requests for the funds in areas designated as priority areas for the state.  The likelihood of funds being available for any property along Big Cicero Creek is very slim.

agricultural

No

L

Construct levees upstream of Tipton to protect agricultural areas from the 10-year flood

Would protect fields from flooding. Potentially expensive and a maintenance issue.  Draining fields behind levees would be an issue.

Agricultural, roads

Yes

M

Construct a large upstream detention basin that would reduce 10-year discharges to the channel capacity discharge.

Would have the effect of keeping channel at bankfull capacity for longer periods thus preventing drainage from tiles for a longer time.

Agricultural, roads

Yes

N

Construct several small detention basins to reduce the 10-year discharge to bankfull capacity discharge.

Would have the effect of keeping channel at bankfull capacity for longer periods thus preventing drainage from tiles for a longer time.

Agricultural, roads

Yes

O

Construct a diversion /bypass from near Garhart Ditch at CR 300 S to Recobs Ditch to reduce the 10-year discharge downstream to bankfull capacity

Would involve constructing 3 new road crossings and one RR crossing.  Would be expensive due to land acquisition costs on top of construction costs.  However, has the potential for reducing flood elevations

Agricultural, residential, roads

Yes

P

Straighten the channel between Main Street and CR 200W in order to reduce upstream elevations and allow water to drain faster.

This would remove the meander which would increase the channel slope and, therefore, velocity of flow.  There are many potential issues including land acquisition, potential erosion problems, and environmental issues.

Agricultural, residential

Yes

Q

Widen &/or deepen Big Cicero Creek channel upstream of the City of Tipton in order to confine the 10-year flood to the channel.

The goal here is to increase the conveyance capacity of the ditch through the farm fields west of Tipton.  This would reduce the frequency and severity of flooding.

Agricultural, roads

Yes

R

Regrade fields to provide “sacrificial swales” so flood waters flowing across fields are spread out over less area.

Does not lessen the frequency with which overbank flooding occurs but may lessen the damage caused by the flooding.  Does not lower flood elevations.

agricultural

Yes

S

Create a bypass channel from the tributary along CR 500W to Garhart Ditch to provide an overflow path that confines the 10-year flood discharge within its banks. 

This alternative would concentrate the flow from the Creek backing up into a channel instead of running across the fields.  It would require two new road crossings

Agricultural, roads

Yes

T

Remove abandoned interurban piers.

This would reduce potential for catching of debris and associated localized increases in flood elevations

Residential

Yes

U

Construct bypass channel from upstream of RR to downstream of Tobin Ditch confluence.

This would potentially allow for additional capacity to lower and remove flood waters from upstream properties faster.

residential

Yes

V

Remove CR 300 W

This would potentially remove an existing “bottleneck” to flow.

agricultural

Yes

W

Various combinations of above alternatives

Several alternatives presented above may not have a significant impact alone.  However, when combined with other alternatives, the result may help meet the technical criteria.

Roads, agricultural, residential

Yes