April 7, 2025 – Major Flood Storage Event Ongoing Across the Great Miami River Watershed
A major high-water event is still underway across the Miami Conservancy District and Southwest Ohio. The Miami Conservancy District (MCD) dams—Germantown, Englewood, Lockington, and Taylorsville—continue to store floodwaters. While river levels still require careful monitoring by MCD staff, many areas have crested and are slowly receding.
Between March 31 and April 6, the watershed received 5 to 7 inches of rainfall—classified as a 5- to 25-year storm event. A 5-year event has a 20% chance of occurring in any given year, while a 25-year event has just a 4% chance.
In response, the Miami Conservancy District fully activated its flood protection system:
• All five MCD flood protection dams stored floodwaters.
• High river levels triggered management actions at multiple locations.
• MCD staff closed 17 floodgates and operated one pump station.
• Around-the-clock staffing was deployed throughout the system.
• At high-priority sites, MCD hydro technicians completed 21 streamflow measurements—some of the highest flows ever recorded within the MCD system.
• Assisted Huber Heights, Moraine, and Miamisburg with local stormwater drainage.
Peak water storage reached 68,950 acre-feet, or 22.5 billion gallons of water.
This flood storage event ranks as the 12th largest in MCD history and underscores both the strength—and the age—of the region’s flood protection infrastructure.
| Dam | Peak Water Level (ft) | Ranking Since 1922 |
| Germantown | 769.2 | 18th |
| Englewood | 819.7 | 13th |
| Lockington | 902.0 | 23rd |
| Taylorsville | 786.2 | 6th |
| Huffman | 793.2 | 32nd |
System Strong—but Reinvestment Is Needed
The Miami Conservancy District flood protection system has successfully safeguarded Southwest Ohio from catastrophic flooding for over a century. It has stored floodwaters more than 2,165 times. However, without critical reinvestment and rehabilitation, the risk of infrastructure failure—and disastrous flooding—increases significantly.
The Miami Conservancy District’s Capital Improvement Plan outlines essential upgrades, including:
• Concrete repairs to dam walls and spillways
• Levee and floodwall reconstruction
• Channel erosion control near critical infrastructure
• Foundation stability improvements at dams
As this major flood storage event reminds us, MCD’s century-old system continues to perform as designed—protecting lives, property, and economic vitality across the region. The benefits extend far beyond flood prevention.
“Every dollar invested in this system saves our communities many more in avoided damages and economic disruption,” said MaryLynn Lodor, General Manager of the Miami Conservancy District. “The direct protection to the river corridor is critical, but the indirect benefit to the entire region like public safety, uninterrupted business operations, and regional economic stability are just as important.”
With aging infrastructure and increasingly severe weather, reinvestment in this system is both urgent and essential.
