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 Are PFAS compounds present in our rivers and if so at what levels or concentrations are they present? Recent river water sampling by the Miami Conservancy District (MCD) shows some Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) compounds present in all of the major rivers. The results … Continue reading PFAS Part IV – PFAS in Major Rivers of the Great Miami River Watershed
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 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 … Continue reading More than 4 feet of precipitation in 2018!
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 focusing on balancing water protection with land development. This region is averaging about 4 more inches of precipitation per year than it did 30 years ago. Stronger storms, heavier rainfalls and … Continue reading Green development could mean green backs for your community
By Mike Ekberg, MCD manager for water resources monitoring and analysis Did you know MCD tracks precipitation, groundwater levels, and flow in rivers and streams? This information helps MCD and its partner agencies with flood forecasting, groundwater quantity monitoring, and understanding water movement into and out of the Great Miami River Watershed. Here’s what we … Continue reading MCD has its eye on water
By Mike Ekberg, MCD water resources manager Stories about droughts, water shortages, and aquifers drying up are in the news with regularity these days, especially in places throughout the western United States. What are the chances that our aquifer could run dry? Are the water levels in the Great Miami River Watershed and its buried … Continue reading Region’s water levels more stable than other parts of the U.S.
Blog of the Miami Conservancy District 