Document Type

Article

Abstract

The City of Terre Haute has faced growing concerns over the increasing frequency and intensity of riverine flooding along the Wabash River, alongside risks associated with urban inundation. To create more safely floodable areas – specifically by locating wetland areas using GIS and researching government ordinances on development in those areas – the City of Terre Haute sought to better understand flood patterns and identify viable floodwater diversion strategies. The project was formally titled as “Pattern of Flooding along the Wabash River in Vigo County and Scenarios for Floodwater Diversion”. Faculty and students from Geospatial Intelligence Lab, Department of Earth and Environmental System, collaborated with city staff and officials of the Terre Haute City Council, who helped shape the research direction, to investigate these challenges through a data science and spatial analysis framework. To fulfill the city’s goals, the research team collected and integrated multi-scale data from publicly available sources at the global, state, and municipal levels. Time-series analysis of approximately 500,000 in-situ flood measurements from USGS Stations 03341499 and 03341500 was conducted to assess flood frequency and intensity from 1750 through 2026. Spatial analyses were performed using FABDEM elevation data, Sentinel-2 land cover maps, and LiDAR-derived Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) to map flood susceptibility and identify candidate areas – including wetlands, bare ground, and vegetated land – for potential flood water diversion. Key findings indicate that while flood frequency was notably higher during the 2010-2016 period, flood intensity has remained relatively moderate in recent years, with maximum gage heights ranging from 20.38 to 22.94 ft between 2018 and 2026. Flood modeling scenarios were developed using thresholds of 19.05 ft, 22.94 ft, and 27.27 ft. Results show that most of Terre Haute’s urban core is projected to remain unaffected under all three scenarios; however, West Terre Haute is particularly vulnerable, with inundation estimates ranging from approximately 32.5 acres at the lowest scenario to 147.6 acres at the highest. North Terre Haute and Prairieton face additional flood exposure. Critically, much of the Wabashiki Wetland is itself subject to inundation under modeled scenarios, limiting its suitability as a diversion area. The study recommends that flood control and water diversion planning extend beyond Vigo County, requiring coordinated collaboration among the City of Terre Haute, Prairieton, and Livingston in Clark County, Illinois. Future research should employ more advanced modeling tools such as HEC-RAS, incorporate updated datasets, and more thoroughly address urban inundation from heavy rainfall. Any future water diversion planning should also engage local communities and carefully weigh environmental and socio-economic trade-offs.

Publication Date

Spring 6-1-2026

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