Drought wreaking havoc around central Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The effects of the severe drought in central Indiana continue to take their toll, even closing a reservoir beach and prompting one water company to speed up improvements for one area community.

At Morse Reservoir – where a boater ran aground last weekend in unexpectedly shallow waters – the beach has been closed for the rest of the season, Hamilton County Parks and Recreation Department announced.

Citizens Water, which draws from the reservoir, estimates water levels there were down more than five feet as of Monday. Conservation officers have posted warning signs on shallow water around the area, hoping to prevent accidents like the one that happened Sunday.

Jeff Clinton, Noblesville, was running a 19-foot ski boat in an area where the water is normally eight feet deep, DNR said in a news release, when his boat ran aground. The impact with the lake bottom smashed the propeller through the boat’s hull, causing estimated damage of more than $5,000, officers said. He told officers he’d never seen water levels so low.

Conservation officers warned earlier this month that such an unexpected hit can throw drivers or passengers from the boat, and they emphasized the importance of wearing life jackets at all times.

In Westfield, one of many communities with mandatory water usage bans in place, officials said Monday that the ban had helped bring usage down by 21 percent last weekend from the previous weekend. Restrictions remain in place, however, as drought conditions are expected to continue.

And some communities are backing up water usage bans with citations. In Marion County, the Department of Code Enforcement reported Monday that since the ban went into effect Friday, four citations have been mailed because of violations of the ban: one to a residence, one to an apartment complex, and two to businesses.

Officials in Fishers, where a water usage ban went into effect Monday, said several warning have already been issued.

And in nearby Noblesville, high water usage brought on by the drought prompted Indiana American Water to speed up a project to provide more water capacity.

A new well should be online by the end of the month, the water company said. That portion of the project was accelerated. A new treatment facility and new transmission mains will be in place by next summer, the company said. Altogether, that will provide about 30 percent more capacity for the area.

“These conservation efforts, which we are asking our customers to continue for the time being, have really paid off,” said Indiana American Water President Alan DeBoy. “The decreased demand has provided some breathing room while we complete work on these capacity improvements.”

Much of the state is under a severe drought designation. Some areas, including Indianapolis, are considered under extreme drought. The official rainfall tally in Indianapolis on Monday tied the record for the longest dry spell, at 45 days. That record was set in 1908.

And as drought conditions continue to affect area agriculture, Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Undersecretary Michael Scuse will travel to Indiana on Wednesday and Thursday to tour drought-stricken farm fields in Allen and White counties in northern Indiana and Johnson County south of Indianapolis, Executive Director Julia Wickard of the Indiana Farm Service Agency said Monday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.