Project Green Spot

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Comment by Jerry Hay on June 18, 2009 at 8:58am

June 18, 2009 UPDATE! ANOTHER NEW ISLAND

Marc Hawley took the following photos of yet another cut formed at Mackey Bend this month. This one cuts across at a point upstream from the cut made last year. The first photo is taken looking toward the Wabash at the source of the cut. This means that there are now two Islands and Marc says that it appears that these new channels and the old bend are all stable and will likely continue to flow with no sign that they will close up in the near future. Not only that, there are additional cuts forming in the same area. The second photo was taken of a third cut forming that will likely find its way through during subsequent high water, forming yet a third island. Marc says that other cuts are forming. This could eventually mean that there will be a maze of islands in this section of the lower Wabash River. Fascinating stuff! I will return the this area by boat as soon as possible and also hopefully obtain some aerial photos. There is now well over 2,000 acres of land that has been cut-off by the river and formed new islands. Additional updates coming soon.

Comment by Jerry Hay on April 3, 2009 at 2:44pm

GOOD NEWS....NO, GREAT NEWS!!
I just spoke with Michael McGovern, Public Affairs Specialist with the USDA. He informed me that the new island is being included in a federal stimulus program to compensate farmers with flood damaged land. What does this mean? The landowners will be paid to no longer farm the land and it will be allowed to returned to a natural state by nature. The land will continue to be owned by the present landowners but there will be many restrictions on the land use including farming, tree harvesting and excavations. This will be a permanent easement that will stay with the land if it is sold.

I have assumed all along that since island access is difficult that it would no longer be used for agriculture and therefore have a natural restoration, however, my concern was that someday the old bend may fill in creating way to build a road to the land and resume farming it. The beauty of this program is that the restrictions will continue, even if that happens.

This is an example of something very good resulting from a flood. It also demonstrates the positive affect of collective efforts and the success of this web site. I was told that "agreenerindiana.com" and "indianawaterways.com" web sites were important tools for their research on this program.

I want to thank all of you for your support in this project. We will have our "Green Spot" in southwest Indiana. I'm not sure whether there is a need to continue this group but I will keep it up for a while, in case there are comments. Let's celebrate!

Comment by Derek Reuter on January 30, 2009 at 9:34pm

The path of least resistance at its best....or worst....

Comment by John Blair on January 30, 2009 at 8:24pm

Here is a photo from April 30, 2008 primarily of the John Myers Dam on the Ohio River but in the background you can see that the channel had not yet been completely cut and was void of water. There is a depression where the channel will be as see in the picture at the top.

For the correct orientation, my picture shows is looking west, northwest from Indiana. The picture above is looking near directly south from Illinois.

the next time, my work takes me over the area, i will pay more attention to the whole area and get some really good images that we could use in our efforts to create an island preserve.

Comment by Ellen Ley on November 6, 2008 at 9:02am

As a friend of the Wabash for the 21 years I lived in the Tippecanoe area, just hearing about the Mighty Wabash brings back all the majestic moments of just being on that river, how it can change in a heartbeat. Leave the rivers to be, as they have always been!

Comment by Jerry Hay on August 20, 2008 at 8:38am

I just got a trip report from Mr. Howard who visited the site during low water. It is as follows:
Just returned from another trip through the "New Wabash" on Sunday late afternoon. Did many depth measurements and took 125 new pictures. Lots of new surprises once the level dropped to its present depth. A lot of new sandbars plus a major shift of the deepest channel in the New River. A very large sandbar on the south side of Mackey helping to divert the current through the New River. This current has definitely cut new depths in the area with currents of approximately 5.5 knots and carrying lots of silt. Downstream of the mouth of the New River, on the older section of the original Wabash, an island nearly dams the River. Even if the Wabash drops another five feet during the late Summer, the New River will continue carrying a lot of the total flow. Looking at the present channel, one can visualize changes that will occur beginning with the next high water. There is even extensive damage to Wabash Island directly opposite the mouth of the Wabash River. These conditions may very well change a great deal of that portion of the Ohio River, especially the west bank(Illinois) downstream beyond Wabash Island. James Bickett has purchased the Wabash Island earlier this year and he will probably be watching the currents closely. His brother and nephews own the Illinois side opposite the Island. Pictures on a CD or DVD will be sent later.

Comment by Jerry Hay on August 18, 2008 at 4:24pm

UPDATE
I had an interesting conversation with one of the landowners today that was very helpful. Some of the land on the island already has a flood plain easement by the Federal Emergency Watershed Act and the owners are trying to get this for the entire property. There are some mineral rights issues that may make this difficult but it would be another way to preserve the land.

He also indicated that selling the land to a conservation group or the state is of interest. I am mailing letters to the other landowners that I have addresses for to get additional input. As mentioned earlier, the important first step is for the landowners to be willing to sell or in some way make the island a preserve. At this point it would seem to be the case, but I will post more when I hear from other owners.

Comment by Jim Moers on August 9, 2008 at 3:15pm

I talked with Mike and he sent me this response:
Yes. I have a farm there that I put into a perpetual easement with the DNR about 12 years ago. I have planted 24000 trees on it. I lease it for hunting, but apart from that I just gave it back to the earth.

Comment by Jerry Hay on August 8, 2008 at 10:18am

Jim, Contacting the owners is in the works. In a new development, I was contacted by Professor Bruce Rhoads, head of the Dept of Geology at the University of Illinois. They are very interested in the dynamics of the cut-off and have applied for a grant from the National Science Foundation to make a study of the area. The USGS Water Science Center will also be involved with this project. They will be visiting the site next week to do some recon work. Though this project has no direct impact on the issues that we are interested in regarding the future of the island, I think this is important from the standpoint of public awareness. Many people do not understand the significance of the cut-off and new island. I will collaborate with them to the extent of our sharing information. The more we know about the morphodynamics of this site, the better position we will be in to understand what may be in the future for this land.

Comment by Jim Moers on August 7, 2008 at 3:40pm

Point Island is a great name. Solid ownership from the Nature Conservancy is probably a doable thing but they have lots of rules. And of course the farmer would have to be into selling.
Does any one know them? Or have they been approached or contacted about this project.

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