IGS Info > IGS Projects

Project Details

---

Project Information Sheet 2002-10

Watershed modeling tools and linkages to the Lake Rim geographic information system (GIS)

Funding Source:	Indiana Department of Environmental Management
Status:	completed — Definition of status type
Project Director:	Greg A. Olyphant and Sally L. Letsinger

Issue

The watersheds along the Indiana shore of Lake Michigan have been severely affected by industrial and agricultural activities. These watersheds are experiencing substantial water-quality problems, including fecal coliform bacteria, among others.

Objective

This project focuses on surface-water hydrology of the Trail Creek and Little Calumet Watersheds. We will provide the physical basis for studying surface-water flow and contaminant transport in the pollution of ground and surface waters of the Lake Rim area of northwestern Indiana.

Approach

All existing data on water quality within the watersheds will be incorporated into the Lake Rim GIS. We will then develop a series of hydrologic coverages for the Trail Creek and Little Calumet Watersheds that can be used in conjunction with coverages of soils, geology, land use, and potential contaminant sources. Together, these coverages and their associated data tables will provide the boundary conditions and constraints on a dynamic model for contaminant movement through the targeted watersheds.

Products

A streamflow model for routing flows through branching networks was developed specifically for the two watersheds. Soil and land-use coverages facilitated the calculation of runoff coefficients for each of the watershed subareas. User-friendly linkages were constructed that allow the user to move between the GIS database and the hydrologic analysis tools.

Benefits

Analyses conducted in this manner facilitate the assessment of primary pollution source areas within the watersheds and provide a basis for previewing or simulating the impacts of proposed remediation measures on downstream water quality.

Locations Affected:

Lake

LaPorte

Porter

Indiana House Districts Affected:

1 10 11

12 13 15

17 19 2

3 4 5

Indiana Senate Districts Affected:

1 2

3 4

5 6

8

Indiana Congressional Districts Affected:

Information Updated February 2, 2007

Copyright © 2009, The Trustees of Indiana University