Indianapolis Daily Photo #8: The White River

We've had a lot of rain recently and the White River is swollen. The river crested at 4.28 feet in this area about 15 hrs before I shot this picture. Certainly not a record, but pretty high. I'll come back here this summer when the river is much lower and take photos of the other side of the bank -- a pumping station that is a common graffiti site.

When I was in school, we were taught that Indianapolis is the largest city in the US not on a navigable body of water. Don't know if that's true, but I do know that the White River isn't navigable. Even with a canoe, portage is necessary in some areas. Here is what the Indiana Waterways web site states about navigability on the White River: "Navigable from its junction with the Wabash River for 49.5 river miles to where it branches into the East Fork of the White River and the West Fork of the White River." That's the last 49 miles of the river of a 307 mile river (East Fork).

Interesting links:
Friends of the White River
Indiana Waterways
USGS White River Basin Study