First Posted: 4/2/2015
OTTAWA — There is no one reason why the Blanchard River floods, so that makes it difficult to find one solution.
Residents from Putnam County gathered Thursday to discuss the issues with the river — what the habitual flooding does to their homes, crops and lives — and ways to alleviate the problem.
As residents voiced their opinions, emotions ran high.
Solutions to the flooding problem include re-engineering the Road I-9 bridge; diversion channels that would carry water through bridges quicker before the river reaches flood levels; and, if funds were available, the village would buy as many flood-prone properties as were available.
Two engineering firms have been enlisted to help with the I-9 bridge and diversion channel projects.
The I-9 Bridge Project would include lowering the north embankment approach to the I-9 bridge. The objective of the project is to lower the roadway embankment about five feet and nine inches, said Gregory Bockrath, owner and manager of the engineering firm Bockrath & Associates, who is in charge of the project.
A diversion channel is a man-made channel that re-routes water around an oxbow, or bend, in the river.
The proposed diversion channel would run through Alan and Theresa Kuhlman’s farm.
The farm has been passed down to farmer Alan Kuhlman, and he plans to pass the farm to his children.
“I didn’t get (the farm) to be giving it to you guys,” he said. “Who is going to pay my income, or my family’s income, when my farm is taken away?”
“I can’t answer that,” said Steve Wilson, project manager for the Lower Blanchard River Reduction, representing the Maumee Watershed Conservancy District.
The conservancy district has the authority to take property from landowners for a public cause through eminent domain. Landowners are paid for property, but settling on a fair price is tricky. Nothing has been made official from the conservancy district, however.
The conservancy district was approached by the village of Ottawa several years ago and was asked if it would help the village with its flooding issues, said Clark Lynn Army, general manager for the Maumee Watershed Conservancy District. Army said the village created an investigation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to create a study.
Army said the Corps of Engineers believed the solutions from the study could be carried out by the conservancy district and the village in partnership. A memorandum of understanding was created between the two entities. For the project, $8 million has been secured with the help of Representative Lynn Watchmann, Army said.
