Cicero Creek Watershed and Morse Reservoir

• Watershed and Setting
• Reservoir History and Role in Drinking Water Supply
• Morse Reservoir – At a Glance

Watershed and Setting

            Morse Reservoir is located in Noblesville, Indiana. Morse Reservoir drains a portion of the Eastern Corn Belt Plains Ecoregion in the State. The watershed drainage area of Cicero Creek upstream of the dam is reported as 227 mi² by the Indianapolis Water Company and as 214 mi² by the USGS (Wilson et al., 1996; Heisel et al., 1972). The Cicero Creek watershed is centered in Tipton and Hamilton Counties with small areas in Boone and Clinton Counties (Fig. IV-17).  The watershed of Cicero Creek is a bit unusual for Indiana with headwaters starting in Boone County and flowing north east before turning to flow south toward the reservoir. The watershed upstream of the reservoir is made up of 11 smaller subwatersheds (Fig. IV-17; Table IV-3). The reservoir is formed from the damming of Cicero Creek, which flows through the reservoir. The major tributary streams of Cicero Creek are Buck Creek, Campbell Ditch, Dixon Creek, Crum Ditch, Bacon Prairie Creek, Busher Ditch, Tobin Ditch, Christy/Kigin Ditch, Cox Ditch, Rearce/McKinzie Ditches and Weasel Creek. Little Cicero Creek is comprised of Bennett Ditch/Taylor Creek and Teter Branch. Bear Slide Creek and Hinkle Creek discharge directly into Morse Reservoir. Cicero Creek flows from the reservoir at the southern tip and empties into the White River, approximately 4.8 miles downstream. 

            The land use is dominated by agriculture with small patches of developed land (Fig. IV-18) occurring mostly in and around Morse Reservoir and the towns of Tipton, Arcadia, Cicero and Sheridan. Land use is discussed in more detail in the Land Use Characterization section of this report (Section VIII).

            Upland soils in the Cicero Creek watershed are dominated by the Crosby-Treaty-Miami Association and Patton-Del Ray-Crosby Association. The valleys are predominantly Miami-Crosby-Treaty Association (Fig. IV-19). Crosby upland soils are somewhat poorly drained, while Miami soils are well drained. Patton soils are poorly drained. Miami and Crosby soils are developed in loess and the underlying calcareous glacial till, while Patton soils are formed in silty, water-laid sediments. The entire Cicero Creek drainage area is located on till (Fig. IV-20) and in some locations, sand and gravel are situated below the top layer of till (Heisel et al., 1972).  The bedrock underlying the unconsolidated glacial sediments consists of Paleozoic dolomites, limestone and gypsum (Fig. IV-21). 

            Monthly precipitation normals for Noblesville, IN based on the period 1971-2000 show January and February as having the lowest precipitation (both average 1.93 inches) and July having the highest precipitation averaging 4.36 inches.  The average annual precipitation for Noblesville, IN for the period 1971-2000 was 37.11 inches (PAMG, 2003).  A USGS gauging station near Arcadia, IN (U.S. Geological Survey stream flow gauge station 03349500) measured discharge from 1954-1976.  Mean monthly averages for this period (Fig. IV-22) show April as the month of highest discharge with an average of 224 ft³/s and September as the month of lowest discharge with an average of 26.9 ft³/s (USGS, 2003). There are currently no active USGS stream gauging stations in Cicero Creek Watershed upstream of the Morse Reservoir Dam.

Figure IV-22

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Reservoir History and Role in Drinking Water Supply 

The Indianapolis Water Company (IWC) first envisioned the development of the Morse Reservoir (MR) between 1923 and 1945. Actual construction did not begin until 1953. Construction was completed on the MR in 1956. The primary purpose for its development was to generate a more consistent source of water supply to the IWC’s White River water treatment facility, which is located approximately 15 miles south - southwest of the MR adjacent to the White River on Aqueduct Drive. The White River treatment plant is serviced by the White River Canal, which extends approximately seven miles north of the treatment plant to its origin on the White River. The MR (Fig. IV-23) is located near Noblesville, IN. Starting in 1971, IWC began a program of real estate development surrounding the reservoir. Today, the MR has significant home development, which completely covers its 32.5 miles of shoreline. The MR provides a recreational resource to this community for swimming, boating, and fishing. The City of Indianapolis purchased MR in 2002 and now owns this water resource. The utilization of the MR as a water source for the White River treatment facility involves a number of parameters. Cicero Creek essentially feeds the MR, and then continues below the dam to a confluence with the White River. Historically, during periods of low precipitation, a valve at the MR dam is controlled/opened to maintain a flow to meet the demand at the White River treatment plant. Flow from the MR to the White River is released to maintain a minimum flow over the low head dam at Broad Ripple, which is located just below the origin of the White River Canal. The flow over the Broad Ripple Dam is monitored by way of a USGS gauge, which is installed above the dam. The referenced USGS gauge is critical to the MR dam valve control. Complicating this control is an approximate 48-hour cycle from an event at the MR dam to the Broad Ripple dam. Further complicating the water release from the MR (again, during periods of low precipitation) is the subsequent addition of the White River North (WRN) treatment facility, which was built in 1991, and located approximately seven miles south of the MR, immediately adjacent to the White River. The WRN facility has a direct intake in the White River and is rated to treat water in excess of 24 MGD.  Due to the eutrophic nature of MR, there have been significant historic taste and odor compounds in the reservoir. While the White River and WRN treatment plants are not technologically equipped to address the levels of taste and odor compounds resulting from algae blooms in the MR, there are mitigating elements available to both treatment operations. These include a significant volume of groundwater for blending, and powdered activated carbon.  

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Morse Reservoir – At a Glance1 

·         Ownership – The City of Indianapolis

·         Original purpose – Water supply

·         Date into service – 1956

·         Water surface area – 1500 acres; 1800 acres¹

·         Maximum depth – 42 feet

·         Watershed area above dam – 227 square miles

·         Storage capacity – 8.3 billion gallons

·         Dependable water supply yield – 62.6 MGD

·         Rated capacity of the White River plant – 96 MGD[1]

·         Rated capacity of the WRN plant – 24 MGD[2]

·         Permanent pool elevation – 810.0 feet M.S.L.

·         Overall dam length – 2962 feet

·         Dam height above valley – 57 feet

·         Water depth at dam – 42 feet

·         Type of embankment structure – Earthen fill

·         Type of outlet structure – Open Crest Spillway

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