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On Jun 15, 2013, at 3:46 PM, Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> We visited the Columbus Upground Reservoir in NW Delaware County
> yesterday, and because it's still under construction couldn't get near
> enough to see much. Current plans are to flood it this fall. As an
> upground reservoir it does not sit on a natural watercourse, and will be
> filled by water pumped from the nearby Scioto River. It will eventually
> be joined by two other reservoirs nearby in time to come.
>    The plans encourage birding as an activity, with prairie species in
> addition to migrant waterfowl, etc. See official statements at
> http://www.columbusupgroundreservoirs.com/pdfs/Upground2012.pdf  and
> http://www.columbusupgroundreservoirs.com/  .
>    If I understand correctly, this is the first of a trio of
> reservoirs which will store water pumped out of the Scioto, from which
> water will be pumped back to the river in times of the city's need. This
> first one covers 843 acres. It won't be connected to the existing
> reservoirs (except to O'Shaughnessy, which is pretty much only widened
> Scioto River downstream). Still, it will be one more large body of water
> in central Ohio; it should be up and running by the fall waterfowl
> migration. Apparently natural water supplies are not convenient for
> greening up the golf courses and lawns of the capital city.
>    I'm guessing levels in this reservoir will be changing as it is
> artificially filled and drawn down, so water depth and extents of
> mudflats will change on a very different schedule than those of a place
> like upper Hoover Reservoir. So perhaps it will offer habitats to
> water-loving migrants such as shorebirds when other bodies of water do not.
>    In the first years after Hoover Res was flooded in the mid '50s,
> reports of up to 30,000 waterfowl present at once were heard. As Hoover
> has silted up and suffered from increased chemical contamination, these
> numbers have declined steadily. The Hoover spillway, not the upper
> reaches, seems to have been the reservoir's first shorebird mecca, with
> many records of rarities in the first five years or so, but no more.
> Still, choosy visitors like royal tern and long-tailed jaeger have
> visited there in recent years.
>    The new reservoirs up in NW Delaware County will be unique in the
> state--at least as far as I know--with giant grass-covered berms (as yet
> unmowed!), no dams or natural inlets or outlets, and a water-level
> regime that will depend more on browning grass in the Columbus suburbs
> than on natural influences. If nothing else, it should provide some
> unique habitat on a unique schedule, and we could learn a lot about
> birds by keeping an eye on it. It's only about half-way to Killdeer
> Plains from Columbus, and should have water this fall.
> Bill Whan
> Columbus
> 
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