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 trending up for the past three … Continue reading Behind-the-scenes with MCD’s staff during high-water
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 rainfall and runoff. In … Continue reading Are you building for yesterday’s storm, or tomorrow’s?
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 resources. Water enters … Continue reading The Year 2021: Redefining “Normal”
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, retarding basins, 55 miles of levees, and … Continue reading This year marks 100 years of flood protection by MCD
By Mike Ekberg, manager of water resources monitoring and analysis It’s the beginning of November and winter is right around the corner. What will winter 2021–2022 be like? Will the Miami Valley experience a mild winter or can we expect frigid temperatures and lots of snow? Here are some predictions based on MCD’s research and … Continue reading What will winter 2021-2022 bring?
According to the measurements taken by MCD over the last 35 years, the water supplies in the Great Miami River Watershed are in what’s called a “steady state.” That means the amount of water that flows into the watershed is roughly equal to the amount of water that flows out. In other words, the amount of water stored in the 4,000 square miles of land that drains into the Great Miami River is relatively constant over the last 35 years. Most of the water stored in the Great Miami River Watershed is in aquifers and lakes.
By Mike Ekberg, manager of water resources monitoring and analysis MCD flood protection dams are storing water more often than at any other time since the dams were completed almost 100 years ago. That’s because the Miami Valley’s climate is getting wetter. Can the flood protection dams handle more rain? A rising 30-year average precipitationAverage annual … Continue reading MCD dams storing water more often than ever before
By Mike Ekberg, manager of water resources monitoring and analysisNote: At MCD, we track water movement into and out of Great Miami River Watershed over long periods of time, spanning decades. The records generated by our observer precipitation stations, stream gages, and observation wells allow MCD staff to examine long-term trends in water resources. Water … Continue reading 2020 Precipitation: Up, Down and All Around
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 has removed … Continue reading Dam concrete repair necessary to ensure future performance
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-average winter … Continue reading What Will 2020-2021 Winter Bring?
News and Stories from the Miami Conservancy District 