As one of the fastest growing communities in Indiana, the population of Fishers has more than doubled since the 2000 Census. With an estimated population in 2008 of 66,948, Fishers has become the largest community in Hamilton County. In addition to the significant population growth, for the third time in the past four years, Money Magazine has named Fishers as one of the “Best Places to Live” nationwide. In 2008, Fishers moved from 33rd (ranking as of 2006) to the 10th best place to live. 

Managing the stormwater infrastructure to support the phenomenal growth and quality of life that Fishers’ residents expect requires a thorough understanding of the issues, well-crafted ordinances, and superior planning. In an effort to render more effective options regarding environmental and flooding concerns due to urbanization, the Town of Fishers retained Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd. (CBBEL) to develop a Stormwater Master Plan. This Plan studies each of the watersheds that drain portions of the Town of Fishers. It will effectively assist the Town by identifying and analyzing stormwater management concerns as the Town continues to develop, and provide a recommended plan to manage those concerns so that new stormwater problems are not created and existing problems can be understood and addressed. The Town of Fishers boundary for this Master Plan is based on the Town’s planning and zoning jurisdiction bordered by White River (west), 146th Street, 141st Street and I-69 (north), Atlantic Road (east), and 96th Street (south). 

Exhibit 1-1
Watershed Boundaries

The Town of Fishers drains into nine 12-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) watersheds. As illustrated on Exhibit 1-1, these include: Mallory Granger Ditch-White River Watershed, Vestal Ditch-White River Watershed, Carmel Creek-White River Watershed, William Lehr Ditch-Stony Creek Watershed, Sand Creek-Mud Creek Watershed, Headwaters Mud Creek Watershed, Thorpe Creek-Geist Reservoir Watershed, Flatfork Creek-Fall Creek Watershed, and McFadden Ditch-Lick Creek Watershed. The land area that drains to each watershed varies considerably from as little as 1 percent to as much as 50 percent of the entire watershed.  Five of the watersheds are urbanized with various densities of residential and commercial land uses. The remaining 4 watersheds are in transition from agriculture to urban uses. The majority of the waterways in the Town of Fishers are regulated drains and under the Hamilton County Surveyor’s jurisdiction. Details on the individual watersheds is discussed in Chapter 2 of this Master Plan.

Potential residential rain garden to treat stormwater runoff.

Typical flooding along Georgia Road

The purpose of this Master Plan is to present findings and observations, and provide recommended alternatives based on the results of detailed analysis that will:

1. Prevent future damages,
2. Solve existing flood/drainage problems,
3. Preserve the natural and beneficial function of the drainage system, and
4. Preserve and enhance stormwater quality.

The scope included identifying the stormwater management issues throughout the Town of Fishers, both existing and anticipated, that could arise with continued growth and development. These issues include flooding, drainage, and stormwater quality issues.

To evaluate flooding and drainage issues, data was gathered from public input, local agency input, and review of previous studies to analyze the impacts of current detention/retention policies within each watershed. Potential alternatives were evaluated including local and regional detention/retention basins and low impact infiltration practices to meet current flooding and drainage problems as well as the potential impacts of new development within the urban, rural, agricultural, and other undeveloped areas of each watershed.

The water quality issues were identified by completing an evaluation of the stormwater quality in target watersheds throughout the Town of Fishers. This included collecting and analyzing biological, physical, and chemical water quality data. This analysis will serve as a base line for evaluating the effect of water quality enhancement measures as they are implemented in the future. Related to the evaluation of water quality is the evaluation of the NPDES Phase 2 stormwater issues and how the work completed for this Master Plan fits in with the requirements of the State of Indiana Rule 13 requirements.

Specific activities included identifying alternatives for effective stormwater management, evaluating the alternatives for their technical effectiveness, economic feasibility, institutional/social acceptance, environmental impacts, and recommending a plan of action based on these evaluations. The scope of the study is reconnaissance in nature, offering project features with a planning-level of detail. The estimated project costs are provided only for the purpose of comparing alternatives and providing a cost range. They are not detailed, design-level cost estimates that would be required for initiating the funding of specific projects.

This report is divided into several chapters with appendices of backup data. A brief summary of the contents of each chapter is presented below:

• Chapter 1:  Project Overview - presents the purpose and scope of the Master Plan and a brief description of the watersheds.

• Chapter 2:  Existing Conditions and Concerns - describes the current condition of each watershed and summarizes the extent and severity of surface water quantity and quality concerns based on information gathered from public input, local agency input, review of previous studies, data collection, and further analysis. This Chapter also includes an examination of the impacts of land use and its changes over time, regulations, regulated drain projects or maintenance activities, and general activities in the watershed on wetlands, floodplains, stream channel morphology, and stormwater runoff quality and quantity.

• Chapter 3:  Future Conditions and Associated Concerns - describes the anticipated future land uses and regulations or projects. It also identifies the severity and extent of problems that could arise as a result.

• Chapter 4:  Watershed Goals and Performance Criteria – describes the goals for the Master Plan in terms of water quality improvement, flood reduction or prevention, etc. Also discusses the criteria used to evaluate potential solutions in order to meet these goals.

• Chapter 5:  Recommendations for Improvements and Addressing Concerns - describes the alternatives investigated as solutions to the noted problems and provides information regarding each alternative’s expected positive and negative results. A detailed explanation of findings is provided for those solutions that were promising. An explanation of the recommended alternative(s) is then provided. Costs and potential funding sources are also discussed.

• Chapter 6:  Implementation Plan - provides a summary of conclusions of the study and a prioritized list of actions to be followed in order to implement the recommended plan components.

• Chapter 7:  References – lists information sources.