HAMILTON, Ohio — The Great Miami River and its tributaries swelled above action stage into minor flooding status as heavy rains blanketed the Tri-State area into Thursday afternoon.
The Miami Conservancy District (MCD) activated flood gates in places like Middletown and Hamilton and announced that area dams were working to store flood waters for slow release to protect communities downriver.
Mike Ekhberg, MCD water monitoring and analysis manager, said the five dams located on their system from Piqua to Hamilton could store a significant amount of what would otherwise be floodwater.
WATCH: We talk flood protection with leaders along the Great Miami River
"That'd be about 274 billion gallons of water, I mean, the numbers are just astronomical numbers," he said. "We have basically the largest lakes in Ohio behind each of those dams."
The 55 miles of levees along the system, like those along the widened portion of the river through Hamilton, also helped protect the downtown areas hugging the river.
The system was created in response to the historic floods of 1913 that destroyed hundreds of structures and killed more than 300 people, according to Ekhberg.
"Since 1913, none of the downtown areas that we protect have been flooded," he said.
The district stressed the need for additional funding for infrastructure upgrades when we covered their property valuation increases in 2024. District officials backed off implementing cost increases after backlash from customers along the river.
Sean wants to hear from you. You can contact him here:
Still, Ekhberg said funding is important so the river flows through communities, not over them.
"It's critical," he said. "The Miami Conservancy District just increases our region's resiliency around things like floods."
