A lake north of Marion would ease flooding

Having lived within sight of Indian Creek in Marion for more than 45 years, I have witnessed a steady increase in flash flooding as development in the watershed continued. I would like to suggest that any new study of the problem include a serious look at the feasibility of a lake north of Marion.

The Indian Creek watershed consists of about 93 square miles. Let's say half of that was upstream of the proposed lake. If the lake had an area of about one square mile (640 acres) and it was designed with a head space of 3 feet between the normal outflow level and the spillway, it would be able to store about 1,920 acre/feet of water during excessive rainfall. The 45 square miles upstream of the lake, during a rain such as we had last week (8 inches), would catch about 19,200 acre/feet of water. Assuming that about half of that soaked in, and half ran off, this would amount to about 9,600 acre/feet of runoff. Thus the lake might hold back about 20 percent of the runoff, a considerable improvement offsetting years of development.

In addition, the lake would slow the rise of the creek and stretch out the flow, lowering the maximum rise. This, along with the obvious recreational benefits (fishing, boating, etc.), would seem to make the lake a subject for serious study.

Arnold Alcott

Marion