Starting in 1998, in the interest of conserving and improving the water resources in Franklin County, Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District embarked on an effort to comprehensively map the streams and storm water systems of Franklin County. This process progressed with the passing of time from working on mylar plans in 1998, to digitizing boards, to heads-up digitizing and electronic data transfers today.
This project not only utilizes information from hard copy plans, but has also included extensive field work since 2001, when the then-current efforts, proved useful for meeting early National Pollutant Discharge and Elimination Systems (NPDES) requirements. Since that time, over 1,000 miles of streams have been walked by staff members and over 40,000 features have been identified, documented with pictures, and managed with a GIS.
GPS dataloggers are used for the inventory of features from October through April; these months yield more accurate mapping due to less interference from tree canopy. The resulting database of the storm water network consists of surface drainage (including streams and road right-of-way drainage), culverts, bridges, storm water pipes, drainage tiles, and other significant observations such as illegal dump sites, ponds, and pollution issues.
Flow direction is also determined for all of the features by using engineering plans, contours, and spot elevations from various sources. All of the features collected in the field are adjusted to match aerial photography for the county and each feature is linked to its corresponding photo from the field.
The collection of data in the field for the inventory of features is known as the Stream Verification Project. The larger initiative which includes the Stream Verification Data as well as the mapping and flow direction of subsurface piping is compiled in what is referred to as a Stream Resource Geodatabase.
Stream Verification/Drainage Mapping Project Participants:
Bexley, Blendon Township, City of Columbus, City of Dublin, City of Gahanna, City of Hilliard, City of Reynoldsburg, City of Upper Arlington, City of Westerville, Clinton Township, Franklin County Auditor’s Office, Franklin County Board of Health, Franklin County Commissioners, Franklin County Development Department, Franklin County Engineer, Franklin County Sanitary Engineer, Franklin Township, Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District, Hamilton Township, Jackson Township, Jefferson Township, Madison Township, MetroParks, MORPC, Greenways Steering Committee, Norwich Township, Perry Township, Plain Township, Prairie Township, Sharon Township, Washington Township, Village of Canal Winchester, Village of New Albany, Village of Obetz