Here is the Olentangy River Group’s Olentangy River Map Project Report
Roni’s beginning research – dam info, canoeing, river
Published April 26, 2011 Uncategorized Leave a CommentDelaware Lake was created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with the construction of a flood control dam in 1951 • The flood control reservoir was dedicated as a state park later that year
Fishing is allowed from boats and shoreline, in and along Delaware Lake. Ohio fishing licenses are required.
Delaware Lake is part of a system of dams that reduce flood stages in the Olentangy, Scioto, and Ohio River Basins; benefiting communities and agricultural lands between Delaware and the Gulf of Mexico. Delaware Dam and Reservoir is located 32 miles above the mouth of the scenic Olentangy River, a tributary of the Scioto River, near Delaware Ohio. Authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1938 for the purposes of flood reduction, low-flow control for pollution reduction and water supply, recreation and fish and wildlife management, the project was constructed between 1947 and 1951 at a cost of $ 4,307,000. The project was constructed and is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District. The Dam is a rolled earth fill type with a concrete gated spillway section. At a length of 3 ½ miles and a height of 92 feet, Delaware Dam controls a drainage area of 386 square miles through the use of five gated sluices and six 25 foot by 32 foot tainter/radial gates. Golden Age and Golden Access passports may be used for a 50% discount at all Federally operated areas where a fee is charged.
Delaware Lake was designed and built by the Huntington District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The project was first authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1938 as a unit in the larger comprehensive flood control plan for the Ohio River Basin. Dam construction was completed in July, 1948.
http://www.lrh.usace.army.mil/_kd/go.cfm?destination=Page&Pge_ID=1214
| CLASS II 4 miles |
http://www.riverfacts.com/rivers/12539.html
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Olentangy River, Delaware Recycling Plant to Chapman Road pull-off road map
Printable road map with the put-in and take-out locations clearly marked.
| QUICK STATS AW Class: II Length: 4 miles |
Putin Location Coordinates: Latitude: 40.28656 Longitude: -83.06361Takeout Location Coordinates: Latitude: 40.23817 Longitude: -83.06117 |
The Olentangy River has a drainage area of 536 square miles. Twenty-two miles of the Olentangy were designated a state Scenic River by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in 1973. The designation runs from the Delaware Dam, north of the City, to Wilson Bridge Rd in Worthington.
http://www.olentangywatershed.org/
http://www.olentangyriver.org/web/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=21&Itemid=35
http://www.delawareohio.net/Departments/Public_Utilities/Water_Management.aspx
http://www.delawareohio.net/UserUploads/CCR%20Web%20Version%20for%202010.pdf Water Quality Report for 2010!!! Good stuff
Equipment:
Canoe, paddles
Camera – DSLR but a little worried about water
PFDs
Maps of Olentangy
Dry Stuff Sacks
ou need to figure out when, how you
will break up the expedition (unless you plan to do it in one fell swoop),
where you will get canoes/kayaks, equipment needed (cameras? plastic coated
maps to use to collect data about what you find along the way?), etc.
Also: you need to collect other info about the river: studies of the water
and its quality, location of key things along the river, wildlife studies,
Before break: Decide categories and Decide who we need to get in contact with
March 14-28: Preliminary trips and Data research
Last week march/first of April: Expedition
April 1-7: Analyzing data, combining research data with expedition
April 8-14: Decided on map layout and Construct map
April 15-29: Construct map
Water
The City of Delaware’s primary source of water is the Olentangy
River. At its Water Treatment Plant, the city blends the
river water with groundwater from wells drilled more than
200 feet deep on treatment plant premises and from a nearby
well field. The plant pumps about 4 million gallons per day to
about 13,000 service connections. In doing so, the city’s compliance
with all federal and state drinking water laws remains
exemplary.
Mapping Out the Olentangy
Spring 2011
The project proposal can also be viewed as a .pdf file here.
Group members: Veronica Malencia (vamalenc@owu.edu); Ethan Perry (epperry@owu.edu); Everett Smith (ecsmith@owu.edu)
Question:
What type of issues are relevant to the Olentangy River through Delaware County, Ohio, such as low-head dams, pollution, development, animals and plants? Also, how navigable is the river by foot or canoe and what is its potential as “blueway”?
The Olentangy River is often overlooked by citizens and visitors to Delaware, Ohio and we hope to bring attention to its importance to the community and the viability of using it as a possible attraction to Central Ohio for education and recreation.
Understand your Question:
We would like to research/learn the following from our project:
What is the purpose of the low head dams, what progress has been made in removing these dams, what resources (time and money) does it take to remove low head dams, what kinds of pollution are in the river ( garbage, industrial runoff, residential runoff…etc.) how do the dams and pollution affect the river environment, what can be done to reduce the impact from said hazards, Is the river heavily developed, is development encroaching or moving away, what kind of wildlife is there on the river, is any wildlife in danger or adversely impacted by dams/pollution/development?
Also, can the river be navigated by foot or canoe, is it safe for the community to explore the river, is it already explored by the community, how will the community benefit from this project, how will the river be affected by this project, how does the community currently feel about the river, does the community wish to see anything happen to the river?
To understand these questions we must explore the river, collect data, talk to the community and educate the community about this project.
Data: Data for the project is readily available and can accessed online and will be in the form of hydrological data collected by Delaware County or the Department of Natural Resources. There may also be other data collected by individuals for project or research that may be a source use.
Professors from Ohio Wesleyan University will be contacted for help with any biology, hydrology, and geography issues related to the project.
This PDF is an in depth study of the olentangy river system, it focuses on low head dams but contains data pertaining to the ecology of the river.
Analysis:
Generate an engaging map of the Olentangy River that would encourage Delaware residents and OWU members to explore, appreciate and/or understand more about the river that flows through our county. This will be accomplished by collecting data about important and interesting features, changes, and ways to engage with the river. A focus will be on the content and imagery arranged in an approachable manor rather than using an extremely precise measure of the location of these data points.
Present the results:
Our final product will be an 11” by 17” two sided map. This will enable us to increase the scale and see more detail of the river. There is also a possibility of an online version of our map. The map will include photographs that we will take during our expedition to give our audience a sense of the river. It will also include data points some of which will have a text box of additional information. We have yet to decide if these will be listed along the sides of the map in categories or as pop-out conversation bubbles from the data point.
Timeline:
Before break: Decide categories and Decide who we need to get in contact with
March 14-28: Preliminary trips and Data research
Last week march/first of April: Expedition
April 1-7: Analyzing data, combining research data with expedition
April 8-14: Decided on map layout and Construct map
April 15-29: Construct map
Project progress – trip planning, categories and resources
Published February 14, 2011 Uncategorized Leave a CommentResources:
- olentangyriver.org Olentangy Watershed Alliance
- Googlemaps Mashup of Olentangy River Watershed and Tributaries FLOW. also includes EPA studies, Watershed Action Plan, Watershed Inventory
Lowhead Dams Map PDF Dams 643, 642, and 639 have been removed…. Dam 638 is located below the Delaware State Park and will be the beginning of our excursion. If we plan to travel all the way down to the county line, we will need to avoid Dam 645
Exploration Details:
Means of Travel? Canoe seems best if we plan on traveling 30 miles
- Have access to a truck to transport Canoe
- Ask friends who live locally if anyone has a canoe. Next option is to contact recreation groups around here, including the ones that do the Scioto and Olentagy River Sweeps
- Access points for Canoe? FLOW Website
Planning for the exploration:
FLOW: explore talk to these people about their experiences/advice for traveling for Olentangy
Also possibly talk to Boy Scouts, Parks &Rec, Olentangy River Alliance to see feasibility of travel. Dangers? Best means? Advice?
30 Mile Trek. Will probably need to be multi-day? What to do in each segment? Proposed Water Trail Map
Go to connected recreation points/parks, access points, other points of interest beforehand to collect any data we may need
What else will we need to do beforehand?
Categories to Include:
- Access Points
- Recreation – Fishing, Hiking, Biking, Boating/Water Trail
- Parks and Outdoor Recreation Centers
- Wildlife – fish, birds
- Navigability
- Lowhead Dams
- Other ways to engage with the River
- Scenic Areas
- Polluted Areas
- Sewage
- Runoff Issues
- Water Quality
- Development
- Noise Levels?
- Quarries
- Conservation Projects
Working Title: Olentangy River Map Project
Group members: Veronica Malencia (vamalenc@owu.edu); Ethan Perry (epperry@owu.edu); Everett Smith (ecsmith@owu.edu)
Question: What type of issues are relevant to the Olentangy River through Delaware County, Ohio, such as low-head dams, pollution, development, animals and plants? Also, how navigable is the river by foot or canoe and what is its potential as “blueway”?
The Olentangy River is often overlooked by citizens and visitors to Delaware, Ohio and we hope to bring attention to its importance to the community and the viability of using it as a possible attraction to Central Ohio for education and recreation.
Data: Data for the project is readily available and can accessed online and will be in the form of hydrological data collected by Delaware County or the Department of Natural Resources. There may also be other data collected by individuals for project or research that may be a source use.
Professors from Ohio Wesleyan University will be contacted for help with any biology, hydrology, and geography issues related to the project.
Showing Data: The focus of the project will be first hand pictures and experiences on and near the Olentangy River but the map will also feature points of interest detailed on the map of run-off and depth or flow measurements tying into the hazards or positive features of the river for human use/development.
Goal/Impact: Our goal is to explore issues relating to the Olentangy River and to bring our findings to the attention of the public so they can be informed of the river that impacts so many of them. Informing them will hopefully get them to explore the local gem and be more likely to raise participate in river activities with their new found awareness. Also, our findings will be useful for the continuation of future projects involving the Olentangy River.
Timeline: The nature for the map (the projects end result) must be roughed out first. Then data will be found and analyzed and applied to map. The map will be ongoing as opposed to pulling it together at the very end. The expedition will be planned out and necessary elements gathered for the trip(s). Once springtime hits we will be hitting the trails and getting wet to discover the river ourselves, taking pictures and collecting observations of the river firsthand. Afterward, that will be applied to the map to create a finished project.
We still must decide what we wish to do with the map be it distributing to the community or putting it on our mother’s refrigerators.
Note: All other initial brainstorming and informational links on research thus far can be found on the post “Brainstorming”.
Project: Olentangy River Project
Group: Veronica, Everett, and Ethan
Ideas:
Goals – Use this map to inform and engage.
Audience – The audience is Community members/older OWU students/OWU staff and faculty
Categories – ??
Photographs – Veronica
Potential Collaborators:
- Professors in the natural sciences that have done research on things like water quality in the Olentangy
- Everett did a lot of research on the dam removal along the Olentangy so that information will also be useful
- People we meet along the way or know that recreate (fish, bird) in the river
Uncertainties:
-Gathering information about changes to the river (species, water flow, water quality) before and after the dams. None of us are biology/ecology majors so we will have to rely on others for the information
Links:
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/10/19/delaware-sees-success-in-taking-out-low-head-dams.html?sid=101
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/mwce/docs/ce/mhc_curricular_trail_guide_1b.pdf
This shows the location of dams on the Olentangy and when and where old dams have been removed.
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/ContentApproval/GWPPMetaDataButtonScript3227/DamSafety/lowhead_dams/CountyPages/delaware/tabid/3399/Default.aspx
This shows real time data on discharge and gate for the Olentangy and goes as far back as 4 months.
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=03225500
Here are a couple documents on the hydrology of the Olentangy and peoples impact on it:
http://www.olentangywatershed.org/files/Inventory/Inventory_section4.pdf
http://www.olentangywatershed.org/files/Inventory/Inventory_section6.pdf
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/watercraft/streams/olentangy/tabid/2450/Default.aspx
Lists access to Olentangy River in Delaware County. Mostly road access like Mingo Park. These would be legal entry points without trespassing.
http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61690&page=1
Discussion on if canoeing or wading is legal. If “navigable” it appears okay and maybe even okay to portage on rough parts.
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/water/pubs/fs_st/stfs02/tabid/4158/Default.aspx\
There is no constitution on water in Ohio, or the U.S. If it is navigable for trade or travel, and more loosely for recreation, then it is open to the public and not owned by an individual or the state. Cites the Act of 1796.
