People really want to get in the White River, city planners have learned

Brad Beaubien has learned something special about the people of Central Indiana. They really want to get in the White River, to paddle it in a canoe or kayak or to walk along its shores.

“They want to touch it,” said Beaubien, the city's administrator of long range planning who is helping to lead the White River Vision Plan.

The purpose of the plan is to identify ways to "activate" the White River, 58 miles of which flow through Marion and Hamilton counties. Other cities, including Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, have leveraged their waterways into destinations for tourism and recreation.

"We're a little behind every other city," Beaubien said, "but that also means we can learn from them."

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More than 150 community members attended three meetings for the first phase of the White River Vision Plan, which wrapped up earlier this fall.

Recreation featured prominently in those discussions, in addition to healthy development, water access, nature and trails.

"If we don’t have a river that we can think about getting in or near, then you’ve not taken the most important thing that people have expressed and given it the attention it deserved," said Jill Hoffman, who is on the steering committee for the plan and is the executive director of the White River Alliance.

It may sound like quite the departure for a river that has more of a reputation for something you shouldn't touch, but the river has come a long way from the days when slaughterhouses washed blood and entrails right into the river.

One major success story is the DigIndy tunnel, a Citizens Energy project that now prevents millions of gallons of sewage from flowing into the river every time it rains.

The White River still has challenges, Beaubien noted — runoff from farms and cities, leaking septic tanks and the remaining combined sewer systems in other cities — but he looks at the White River Vision Plan as an opportunity to address some of the ecological challenges.

"I will let nothing in this plan get through, within my power, that will not improve the ecology of the river," he said.

This next phase will invite residents to make specific suggestions about what to put along the river.

"We'll ask them, now that you’ve had those big level things to think about, where on the ground would you actually do some of these things?" said Beaubien.

The first meeting of the "envision" phase will be held Tuesday, October 24 in Carmel. Two more meetings will be held on Wednesday, October 24, in Indianapolis.

Those who cannot attend are encouraged to respond to an online survey, accessible at mywhiteriver.com.

In the next phase of the plan, Beaubien said they are training "White River Guides," which he hopes will help the city get information to traditionally excluded communities.

That challenge may be a steep one, as evidenced by the first meeting of the river guides last week. Of the about two dozen people who attended, almost all were white.

"As I look around this room, I see we still struggle with that," Beaubien said at the meeting.

Beaubien said that he is still on the lookout for more river guides. Those who are interested can sign up at the plan's website.

The White River Vision Plan is a joint effort of the city of Indianapolis and Hamilton County Tourism, Inc. The $1.5 million planning process is funded by both groups as well as philanthropic sources. As of October 17, about 73 percent of the funds had been secured. 

A final plan is scheduled to be released after April 2019.

Emily Hopkins covers the environment for IndyStar. Contact them at 317-444-6409 or emily.hopkins@indystar.com. Follow them on Twitter: @_thetextfiles. 

IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

White River Vision Plan public meetings

Tuesday, October 23 from 6-8 p.m.
Founders Park/Wilfong Pavilion
11675 Hazel Dell Pkwy, Carmel

Wednesday, October 24 from 12-1:30 p.m.
Rhodius Park
1729 W. Wilkins St., Indianapolis

Wednesday, October 24 from 6-7:30 p.m.
ROWPort: Edison School of the Arts
777 S. White River Pkwy, Indianapolis