Clear Creek (Salt Creek)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Clear Creek is an American creek in
Monroe County, Indiana Monroe County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. In 1910 the US Census Bureau calculated the nation's mean population center to lie in Monroe County. The population was 137,974 at the 2010 United States Census. The county seat is Bloomin ...
. Flowing in the general south-western and southern direction, it is a tributary of Salt Creek, which in its turn flows into the East Fork of Indiana's White River. Clear Creek drains about 2/3 of the city of Bloomington (most of the city, except for its northern part, which drains to the north, into
Griffy Lake Griffy Reservoir, commonly known as Lake Griffy, is a reservoir in the city of Bloomington, Indiana. Created by a dam on Griffy Creek in the 1920s, the reservoir used to serve as the main source of drinking water for Bloomington for several decade ...
and
Beanblossom Creek Beanblossom Creek is a stream in Monroe County, Indiana, Monroe and Brown County, Indiana, Brown counties, Indiana, in the United States. The creek drains roughly 91.97 square miles into the two counties of south central Indiana. History Beanblos ...
). Clear Creek flows roughly in the west-south-westerly direction across the campus of
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...
, passing in front of its major landmark, the
Indiana Memorial Union The Indiana Memorial Union (IMU) is a student union building at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-la ...
. On campus, the creek was formerly known as the Jordan River, named so after
David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Univer ...
, the seventh president of Indiana University and later the first president of
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
. Following controversy surrounding Jordan's support of
eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...
, the "Jordan River" was renamed to the Campus River in 2020 by the IU Board of Trustees along with several buildings on campus. Clear Creek crosses downtown Bloomington via underground pipes. It emerges to the surface near the southern edge of the downtown and flows south across the southern half of Bloomington ( Perry Township). After leaving the city limits, the creek flows through Clear Creek Town, and Clear Creek Township, both of which (as well as various objects and institutions in the area) are named after the creek. Despite its name, Clear Creek Town is not in Clear Creek Township, but in the neighboring Perry Township. Clear Creek flows into Salt Creek near the southern border of Monroe County, south of
Harrodsburg Harrodsburg is a home rule-class city in Mercer County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 9,064 at the 2020 census. Although Harrodsburg was formally established by the House of Burgesses after Boonesbo ...
and a short distance downstream from the dam of Lake Monroe ().


Tributaries

Clear Creek's main tributaries are Jackson Creek, Sinking Creek, and West Fork Clear Creek. Jackson Creek drains the south-eastern part of Bloomington. West Fork Clear Creek flows along the west side of Bloomington, joining the "main" Clear Creek on the south side of the town. A dam was constructed on the West Fork Clear Creek early in the 20th century, forming a small reservoir known as the Wapehani Lake or Weimer Lake. The Lake was originally constructed as a water source for Bloomington's water supply system, but it does not have that function any more, because two much larger reservoirs, Lake Monroe and
Lake Lemon Lake Lemon is a reservoir located in southern Indiana approximately northeast of Bloomington, Indiana. It is bounded by private and public property in Monroe County and Brown County, with the eastern end of the lake in Brown County. The surfa ...
, elsewhere in Monroe County have been used for this purpose since the 1950s.Water Basics: Stream
(City of Bloomington)
Now the area around the Wapehani Lake is designated as Wapehani Mountain Bike Park. The dam, however, was demolished in 2018, and the lake was drained. It is the West Fork Clear Creek and not the "main" Clear Creek, along which Bloomington's Clear Creek Trail runs. The trail following the "main" Clear Creek (along the former
Monon Railroad The Monon Railroad , also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railway from 1897 to 1971, was an American railroad that operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana. The Monon was merged into the Louisville and Nashville Ra ...
route) is called the
B-Line Trail The B-Line Trail is a 3.1 mile multi-use trail in the United States, connecting the downtown area of Bloomington, Indiana, to an outlying neighborhood. The trail connects with the Bloomington Rail Trail which in turn runs into the planned Limestone ...
(the northern, paved section) and the
Bloomington Rail Trail Bloomington Rail Trail is a 2-mile multi-use gravel path in Bloomington, Indiana. It connects with the B-Line Trail at Country Club Drive and Clear Creek Trail at Church Lane. Benches and a drinking fountain are located at the intersection with Cou ...
(the southern, unpaved section). Bloomington Rail Trail crosses the West Fork Clear Creek over a 150-feet-long wrought-iron bridge, which was originally built in
Warren County Warren County is the name of fourteen counties in the USA. Some are named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War: * Warren County, Georgia * Warren County, Illinois * Warren County ...
in 1887, and re-installed at its present location () on August 1, 2003. Sinking Creek does not flow into Clear Creek on the surface all the way; instead, it disappears in the ground in the
karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
terrain west of Bloomington, and its water then reappears in a number of springs in the area known as Leonard Springs and Shirley Springs. The
Leonard Springs Reservoir Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek Λέων ("lion") through the Latin '' L ...
existed in that area in 1915–1943.


Water quality issues

Besides the street runoff from Bloomington, Clear Creek also receives the
effluent Effluent is wastewater from sewers or industrial outfalls that flows directly into surface waters either untreated or after being treated at a facility. The term has slightly different meanings in certain contexts, and may contain various pollut ...
from the city's Dillman Road Wastewater Treatment Plant. Unincorporated Monroe County Storm Water Quality Management Plan. Part B. April 2004
/ref> After an outbreak of
Legionnaires' disease Legionnaires' disease is a form of atypical pneumonia caused by any species of ''Legionella'' bacteria, quite often '' Legionella pneumophila''. Signs and symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, high fever, muscle pains, and headaches. Naus ...
in the
Indiana Memorial Union The Indiana Memorial Union (IMU) is a student union building at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-la ...
in 1978,
CDC The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...
bacteriologists discovered a new bacterial species in a sample of water taken from the "Jordan River" in front of the IMU. They named it '' Legionella jordanis'' after the river. Later, the bacterium was found at other sites in the country as well.


See also

*
List of rivers of Indiana This is a list of rivers in Indiana (U.S. state). By tributary Lake Erie *Maumee River ** St. Marys River ** St. Joseph River *** Cedar Creek **** Little Cedar Creek **** Willow Creek *** Fish Creek Lake Michigan * St. Joseph River (Lake Michig ...


References

{{IUB Rivers of Monroe County, Indiana Rivers of Indiana