USACE marks conclusion of Little Calumet River flood prevention effort

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) celebrated the conclusion of the Little Calumet River Flood Control and Recreation Project at a press event held Monday at Highland's Wicker Park Social Center.

The project, which has spanned nearly four decades, has been undertaken by the USACE in partnership with the Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission, a body created by the Indiana state legislature to serve as the project's local sponsor, as well as various local entities. The project's architects were tasked with protecting an area stretching from the Illinois State Line to Martin Luther King Drive in Gary from flooding up to the 200-year level.

The region's dire need for flood prevention measures was underscored in September 2008, when heavy rainfall caused the Little Calumet River to overflow its banks, killing two, displacing hundreds and causing $88 million in damage after a levee failed. At the time of the disaster, the flood prevention effort had partially stalled, and some levee sections constructed through it had fallen into disrepair. 

"It's unfortunate that it took that type of a situation to bring light to this project," Commission Chairman William Baker said at the event.

The little Calumet River Basin Development Commission took much of the blame for the flooding. During the following year's legislative session, then-Governor Mitch Daniels signed a bill authored by state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, allowing the governor to restructure the commission. Daniels tapped Baker to lead the body as part of the body's overhaul.

"This is an opportunity to help move this project forward," Baker recalled telling his father at the time. "And I sure as heck can't make it any worse than it is right now."

The flood control project has involved building 22 miles of levees and floodwalls along with nearly 17 miles of hiking trails. The USACE has also overseen the preservation of over 550 acres of wetland and the relocation of seven miles of river channel. Other flood prevention measures included modifications to highway bridges and a new a flood warning system.

Former U.S. Congressman Pete Visclosky, who represented Indiana's 1st Congressional District from 1985 to 2021 and was one of the project's key backers, told attendees of Monday's event that the work has made the region substantially safer.

"We will not have anyone else lose their life because the Little Cal flooded," Visclosky said. "I would anticipate we're not going to have any more property damage."

According to the USACE, the flood prevention project now shields more than 9,500 homes and businesses across Gary, Griffith, Hammond, Highland and Munster, and prevents nearly $11 million in average annual flood damages. The Commission, funded in perpetuity by the Indiana legislature, will continue to support maintenance of the project as needed.

"We're not done here," U.S. Congressman Frank Mrvan, Visclosky's successor, said in his remarks. "There are many more things that we have to do with the project."