Former U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky reflected Monday on the completion of the Little Calumet River Flood Control and Reduction Project, which has been nearly 30 years in the making.
“We will not have anyone else lose their life because the Little Cal flooded. I would anticipate we’re not going to have any more property damage because the Little Cal did not flood,” Visclosky said.
The Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission will continue its work, Visclosky said, through efforts like creating a collaborative to preserve the wetlands around the basin.
“This is not the end. This is just the completion of the first staff,” Visclosky said. “The commission understands if you do this next part well Northwest Indiana can be a place of great beauty, environmental significance and inviting to investment and job growth.”
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission and elected officials Monday commemorated the completion of the Little Calumet River Flood Control and Recreation Project.
Following major flooding in the late 1930s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began working on preventing flooding on the Little Calumet River, said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers District Commander Col. Kenneth Rockwell.
With the Flood Control Act of 1941, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers evaluated flood control measures and created a comprehensive plan, Rockwell said. The plan was presented to Congress in 1976, he said.
Congress authorized the plan in 1986 under the Water Resources Development Act to provide protection from flooding up to the 200-year level on the west branch of the Little Calumet River from the Illinois state line to Interstate 65, Rockwell said.
The project consists of more than 22 miles of existing levees and floodwalls, 17 miles of hiking trails, and more than 400 acres of preserved wetlands, Rockwell said. The project relocated seven miles of river channels to better improve water flow, by modifying highway bridges and installing a flood warning system, he said.
With its completion, the project protects more than 9,500 homes and business in Gary, Griffith, Hammond, Highland and Munster and prevents nearly $62 million in annual flood damage to those areas, Rockwell said.
The project cost more than $260 million, with the U.S. Army Crops of Engineers covering 75% of the cost and the Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission covering 25% of the cost, said Imad Samara, the project manager.
“This project is truly a monumental achievement for us to safeguard our communities, enhance our environment and showcase the federal government’s commitment to infrastructure development throughout the region,” Rockwell said.
In September 2008, the Little Calumet River flooded which resulted in fatalities and property damage in Munster, said U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan.
Following that flood, Mrvan recalled his father, then-State Senator Frank Mrvan, meeting with former Gov. Mitch Daniels and strongly advocating for a $8 million bridge loan to be able to complete the project.
“Gov. Mitch Daniels asking my father, in my presence, ‘How are you going to pay that back?’ and my dad literally looking him in the eye and said, ‘That’s not important right now.’ That doesn’t happen very often, and he got that $8 million,” Mrvan said.
The project exemplifies the resilience of the region and the partnership between different government agencies, Mrvan said. With the completion of the Little Calumet River Flood Control and Reduction Project, Mrvan said the commission will continue its work to maintain and preserve the areas around the river.
“We’re not done here. There are many more things that we have to do with the project,” Mrvan said. “The state legislature has given the funding to the commission to make sure that they have the resilience to go forward, that we use the expertise of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and that we do everything we can to protect homes, lives and business and properties here in Northwest Indiana.”
William Baker, chairman of the Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission, said it will continue meeting and working with government agencies to ensure a flood like the one in 2008 won’t happen again.
“Without their help, this is not going to be a successful project,” Baker said. “We continue to work forward and try to get better and better as we move forward and continue to try to make sure that this is a project that the community as a whole can be proud of.”