August 25, 2015 - Mayor Tom Henry joined residents, river supporters and City Utilities’ staff to celebrate a significant milestone of reducing combined sewer overflows (CSO) to no more than one per year on the St. Joseph River. The achievement complies with federal mandates and shows the number of combined sewer overflow events on the river is down to only one in a typical year – an accomplishment that is four years ahead of schedule.
Since entering into an agreement with federal and state regulators for compliance with clean water mandates in 2008, City Utilities has met every deadline. Today’s celebration recognizes a win for neighborhoods near the St. Joseph and for all residents of Fort Wayne as we focus on renewed interest in the value of our rivers and how they can improve quality of life and lead to economic growth.
“This is a tremendous accomplishment to achieve as we continue to work together to make a meaningful difference for residents, neighborhoods, and businesses. Our commitment to being good stewards of the environment and our rivers sends a strong message that we value being a leader in providing excellent services and enhancing the quality of life we enjoy in Fort Wayne,” said Mayor Henry.
Over the past eight years, City Utilities has invested more than $12 million in neighborhood projects along the St. Joseph River. These efforts have protected nearly 500 homes from basement backups and street flooding and reduced the number of overflows on the river in a typical year from 13 to one. These efforts have kept 16 million gallons of overflow out of the river and the investments have created and supported nearly 300 jobs.
“Cleaner rivers are not only a mandate they are the right thing to do. The community values our rivers and that’s evident by the renewed interest to re-connect and look for new opportunities to incorporate our rivers in our daily lives. We are seeing that unfold with plans to develop along the rivers downtown. Our staff is committed to being good stewards of our resources by protecting them and understands that they are vital to our future,” said Kumar Menon, Director of City Utilities.
The Federal Consent Decree required Fort Wayne to achieve the one overflow per typical year status on the St. Joseph River by 2019. Through careful, “big picture” planning and coordination, City Utilities was able to accomplish this earlier allowing planned sewer projects in the Lakeside area and Morton Street to address overflows on the Maumee River and sewer separation in the Bloomingdale neighborhood that impact the St. Marys River, to begin several years ahead of schedule.
The milestone reached on the St. Joe is significant, but there is still work to be done on the Maumee and the St. Marys rivers. In addition to neighborhood projects to separate sewers and reduce the risk of sewer backups, a deep rock tunnel will be the largest public works investment in the City’s history. Engineering design of the five-mile long tunnel is already underway with construction expected between 2017 and 2023. The tunnel is the culmination of CSO reduction efforts on the St. Marys and Maumee rivers, and along with the investment of more than $50 million already made at the wastewater treatment plant, will reduce CSO events on those rivers to just four in a typical year.
While we have invested in our resources there is still work to be done by all of us. Residents can help by picking up waste from their pet and making sure to not overspray with fertilizer or weed products. It’s important to prevent runoff into our waterways which have a direct connection to our storm drains. For our part we will continue to work closely with farmers and other interested parties upstream who are part of the St. Joe Watershed Initiative.