With its abundant supply of high quality groundwater, the buried valley aquifer system is the most important aquifer in southwest Ohio. MCD works to study and protect groundwater through testing, reporting, educating, and stewardship activities. Proper management of this resource will ensure the aquifer continues to support and ...

By Ben Casper, operations and maintenance manager Great Miami River cities don’t flood, though average annual precipitation has been increasing. The MCD flood protection system was designed to protect 47,000 properties and keep 1 million people safe. The number of annual high-water events at MCD flood-control dams have been trendin ...

By Mike Ekberg, manager of water resource monitoring and analysis Any community that needs to replace or build a bridge, culvert, stormwater system, or conduct a floodplain analysis must compute peak stream flows during the design process. Understanding peak stream flows ensures the infrastructure will be designed large enough to handle ...

By Mike Ekberg, Manager of water resource monitoring and analysis At MCD, we track water movement into and out of the Great Miami River Watershed over long periods of time, spanning decades. The records generated at precipitation stations, stream gages, and observation wells enable MCD staff to track long-term trends in water resource ...

By Don O'Connor, Chief Engineer While there is a persistent fear of flooding in cities around the world, people and businesses along the Great Miami River go confidently about their lives hardly giving flooding a thought. Since 1922, homes and businesses have been protected by MCD’s system of five dry dams, storage basins, 55 miles ...

By Sarah Hippensteel Hall, Ph.D., manager of watershed partnerships Soil. It’s under your feet. It’s in your garden. It’s on the farms that grow your food. And yet you probably don’t give it much of a thought. But maybe you should. Protecting soil is better for everyone. Our community gets cleaner rivers, cleaner air, a ...

By Sarah Hippensteel Hall, Ph.D., manager of watershed partnerships For many of us, enjoying prairies has been limited to what we saw on (or see in reruns of) TV shows like "Little House on the Prairie." That’s because by the middle of the 20th century, nearly all of the North American prairie grasslands had been destroyed by e ...

Whether you’re looking to learn more about the region’s water or searching for specific water information, the answers may be a click away. Miami Conservancy District (MCD) offers easy-to-access fact sheets, videos, live water data, reports and infographics—all about water—on our website www.mcdwater.org. We have resources for ...

By Don O’Connor, P.E., chief of construction and planning MCD is committed to keeping the dams and other flood protection structures operating safely and properly for your protection. To that end, we are nearing completion on a $2.61 million project to improve concrete at Lockington Dam. Over the last 13 months, MCD’s contractor h ...

By Mike Ekberg, manager of water resources monitoring and analysisIt’s the beginning of November and winter is just around the corner. What kind of a winter can we expect in the Miami Valley this year? Winter 2020–2021 might be wetter than normal with frequent storm events tracking across our region. Wetter than normal means above-av ...

By Sarah Hippensteel Hall, Ph.D., manager of watershed partnerships If you haven’t visited the Stillwater River firsthand, it is time you did. The Stillwater River is a special place to fish, paddle, or just enjoy some beautiful scenery. Ohio’s only National Water Trail and State Scenic River Designated as both a National Water Tra ...

By Sarah Hippensteel Hall, Ph.D., manager of watershed partnerships Before you head out on your next cycling or paddling adventure along the Great Miami, be sure to check out bike trail and river conditions. It’s always best to know before you go! The live BikeTrail and River Conditions Mapon the Great Miami Riverway website helps you ...

By Mike Ekberg, manager of water resources monitoring and analysis If you own a private well, do you have it tested at least annually? You should. Your family’s health depends on it. Just because your water tastes good doesn’t mean it is good. If you want to be sure your drinking water is safe, you need to have it tested. Test at l ...

By Sarah Hippensteel Hall, Ph.D., MCD manager of watershed partnerships Water is the Rodney Dangerfield of resources. Like Dangerfield used to say, it "don’t get no respect." Let’s face it. You can’t live without water. But I’ll bet you don’t think twice when you turn on the faucet. You just expect that good quality water will ...

By Sarah Hippensteel Hall, Ph.D., manager of watershed partnerships Could your land use plan be holding back your community? It could if you’re not utilizing the regional open space plan to safeguard the aquifer’s groundwater and be prepared for the future. Planning for changing climate This region is averaging about 5 more inches ...

By Sarah Hippensteel Hall, Ph.D., manager of watershed partnerships Sometimes it feels like the Great Miami River gets all of the attention. But the Mad River, with its scenic vistas, abundant fishing and paddling, and new rock climbing access, offers fun and unique places that can’t be found on other rivers. If you have paddled on t ...

By Mike Ekberg, manager of water resources monitoring and analysis One year ago, I wrote a blogpost summarizing the year 2017 as "another wet year." Now I’m summarizing water conditions for 2018, and I could pretty much copy and paste what I posted last year. And, with some minor changes, it would ring true.Last year reflects a contin ...

Like it or not, winter 2018 – 2019 is upon us. What kind of winter can we expect in the Miami Valley this year? Will it be cold and snowy, or mild and dry? It’s hard to say, according to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA). The go-to signs that often signal winter weather patterns are slow to give away their sec ...

Work on the removal of the Tait Station low dam is progressing nicely. At the end of October, the project was more than 75 percent complete and is expected to be finished by the end of the year. The Ohio Department of Transportationis fully funding the $1.75 million project to remove the Tait Station low dam. With the low dam removed, w ...

Did you know, wetlands in Ohio – and possibly in this region? -- are disappearing at an alarming rate? Since the late 18th century, most of Ohio’s wetlands have been destroyed or damaged through draining, filling, or other modifications. Only 10 percent of the original 5 million acres of Ohio’s wetlands remain, according to the US ...