Tile Drains and the Celery
Bog
The Celery Bog is mainly
valued
for its rich peat soil during the
agricultural expansion of the United States. In order to utilize the
wetlands, tile drains were built to drain away the excess water so that
the land could be farmed. Tile drains are porous
(leaky) pipes that allow water within the soil to enter and flow away
through the pipes.
This prevents the soil from becoming waterlogged. The tile drains
used for the
Celery Bog were part of the Cuppy-McClure Ditch system (see map)
that took the excess water north to Hadley Lake. Some of
the
tile drains still function today, and the Cuppy-McClure Ditch
(currently being
renovated), still directs water towards the lake. The odd shape of the
eastern watershed boundaries are the result of stormwater drainage
structures that were designed to take urban runoff
away from residential and commercial areas under Northwestern Avenue
toward
Celery Bog.
Tile drains and stormwater
drains are not the only contributors of runoff to Celery Bog. Water
also enters the wetland via direct runoff
from adjacent areas such as: the Purdue North Golf Course,
Lindberg
Road, and the bordering residential communities. The surrounding
areas have an impact on both the water quantity and water quality
entering the marsh. The extent of the link between surface water and
groundwater in the Celery Bog is
uncertain; however, it is known that water in the aquifer beneath the
wetland takes five to ten years
to reach the Purdue University Wellfield (Pavey, 1983). Since our water
supply eventually comes from the aquifer beneath the watershed,
people in Lafayette and West Lafayette should have concern for the
quality of the water
that enters the Celery Bog.
