Miller-Showers Park ponds to get mapped as prep for possible dredging

The mallard ducks and great blue heron that sometimes hang out at Miller-Showers Park, on the north side of Bloomington, could see some mechanical company sometime in the next week or so.

A company called Heartland Dredging will be pinging the depths of the waters, to chart out an underwater map of the sedimentation in the detention ponds.

The detention ponds at Miller-Showers Park are part of the city’s northside stormwater management infrastructure. Stormwater from more than 170 acres of the city drains into the Miller-Showers facility, and eventually farther downstream.

According to city of Bloomington utilities (CBU) spokesperson Holly McLauchlin, the bathymetric survey that Heartland will be conducting could be followed by dredging—removing sedimentation that has accumulated over the years.

Cleaning out sediment might be needed to put the ponds back to their designed capacity so that the stormwater system works properly, according to McLauchlin.

Responding to an emailed B Square question McLauchlin wrote, “The ponds were designed as a way to detain stormwater and clean it out before it hits the creek.”

McLauchlin’s statement continued, “The amount of water in the pond is an important factor in making that system work well. If there is a lot of sedimentation in the pond, it will hold less water than it is designed to hold.”

Any dredging would take place next year, according to McLauchlin.

One way for members of the public to stay up to speed on possible dredging work at Miller-Showers would be to keep tabs on the agendas of the utilities service board (USB).

Any dredging work would need a separate contract between CBU and Heartland. The $1,530 agreement between CBU and Heartland for the bathymetric survey was approved at the USB’s Nov. 8 meeting as a part of the consent agenda.