We visited the Columbus Upground Reservoir in NW Delaware County
yesterday, and because it's still under construction couldn't get near
enough to see much. Current plans are to flood it this fall. As an
upground reservoir it does not sit on a natural watercourse, and will be
filled by water pumped from the nearby Scioto River. It will eventually
be joined by two other reservoirs nearby in time to come.
     The plans encourage birding as an activity, with prairie species in
addition to migrant waterfowl, etc. See official statements at
http://www.columbusupgroundreservoirs.com/pdfs/Upground2012.pdf  and
http://www.columbusupgroundreservoirs.com/  .
     If I understand correctly, this is the first of a trio of
reservoirs which will store water pumped out of the Scioto, from which
water will be pumped back to the river in times of the city's need. This
first one covers 843 acres. It won't be connected to the existing
reservoirs (except to O'Shaughnessy, which is pretty much only widened
Scioto River downstream). Still, it will be one more large body of water
in central Ohio; it should be up and running by the fall waterfowl
migration. Apparently natural water supplies are not convenient for
greening up the golf courses and lawns of the capital city.
     I'm guessing levels in this reservoir will be changing as it is
artificially filled and drawn down, so water depth and extents of
mudflats will change on a very different schedule than those of a place
like upper Hoover Reservoir. So perhaps it will offer habitats to
water-loving migrants such as shorebirds when other bodies of water do not.
     In the first years after Hoover Res was flooded in the mid '50s,
reports of up to 30,000 waterfowl present at once were heard. As Hoover
has silted up and suffered from increased chemical contamination, these
numbers have declined steadily. The Hoover spillway, not the upper
reaches, seems to have been the reservoir's first shorebird mecca, with
many records of rarities in the first five years or so, but no more.
Still, choosy visitors like royal tern and long-tailed jaeger have
visited there in recent years.
     The new reservoirs up in NW Delaware County will be unique in the
state--at least as far as I know--with giant grass-covered berms (as yet
unmowed!), no dams or natural inlets or outlets, and a water-level
regime that will depend more on browning grass in the Columbus suburbs
than on natural influences. If nothing else, it should provide some
unique habitat on a unique schedule, and we could learn a lot about
birds by keeping an eye on it. It's only about half-way to Killdeer
Plains from Columbus, and should have water this fall.
Bill Whan
Columbus

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