Groups study creeks to improve Wabash

TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - Local scientists hope a new study of Tippecanoe County's streams can shed some light on the condition of the Wabash River.

Purdue University and the Wabash River Enhancement Corporation are using a $400,000 grant from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to study three sites that flow into the Wabash River and two sites on the river itself.

Ronald Turco, Indiana Water Resources Center Director, said the group hopes to find factors that affect the condition of the river by studying changes in the county's watersheds at site like those at the Little Wea Creek and the Elliott Ditch.

"The goal here is to tie all this together so we can have a better holistic look at the watershed in terms of what we're doing," he said.

Turco says the group started taking samples about three months ago. He says the study will continue for two years. After that time the group hopes to study the Wabash River in other counties upstream. The United States Geological Study is placing microwave radar at the sites to transmit data concerning water height and flow.