BTAA-GIN Blog

By  Ronda L. Sewald, Cartographic Resources Cataloger, Indiana     Lake Monroe Land Suitability Study Topographic Map, 1975 Topographic map of Lake Monroe accompanying the 1975 land suitability study. https://geo.btaa.org/catalog/e36066e5-5875-47fc-88c9-f751b8c89f69   Overview of Item Lake Monroe was formed in 1965 by flooding the Salt Creek Valley located in southeastern Monroe County, Indiana. The Wabash River Basin, which covers most of Indiana and adjacent portions of Illinois and Ohio, was highly prone to flooding before this time. A 1933 report by the United States House Committee on Harbors and Rivers estimated the annual average cost of flood damage in the basin at $2,000,000 (roughly equivalent to $60,000,000 today) (page 9). The creation of Lake Monroe formed part of a basin-wide solution.   Comparison of topographic map from 1975 study with the United States Geological Survey’s 1947 7.5-minute series topographic map of “Allens Creek Quadr