Confluence Consulting, Inc.

Stabilization of Deer Creek at the Michigan City Municipal Golf Course

   Confluence Consulting in association with J.F. New & Associates designed and constructed a new channel for Deer Creek at the Michigan City Municipal Golf Course. Prior to our work, Deer Creek flowed through approximately 500 feet of decaying culvert and an additional 500 feet in an undersized, straightened, and eroding channel. Restoration designs called for daylighting Deer Creek by taking the stream out of the culverts and constructing a new, meandering open channel.

Left: Aerial view of the Deer Creek channel and floodplain restoration in progress. Note the meandering alignment and bioengineered banks with a portion of the old channel in the foreground. Right: Deer Creek prior to restoration. Note eroding banks and failing culverts.

   The new stream configuration consists of a low flow channel within a larger floodway designed to accommodate the 100-year flood. Banks along the low flow channel were constructed using bioengineering techniques and stabilized with native sedges. Areas adjacent to the floodway were lined with drainage tiles to improve site drainage and re-seeded with fairway grasses. Culverts from the old channel were recycled and the remainder of the old channel was filled and revegetated.

   Construction of this project was completed in November 1997, with oversight services provided by Confluence and J.F. New. The stream now serves as habitat for fish and other aquatic organisms, in addition to providing a water feature and visual amenity for the golf course.