This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2020) |
The Miami Conservancy District is a river management agency operating in Southwest Ohio to control flooding of the Great Miami River and its tributaries. It was organized in 1915 following the catastrophic Great Dayton Flood of the Great Miami River in March 1913, which hit Dayton, Ohio particularly hard. Designed by Arthur Ernest Morgan, the Miami Conservancy District built levees, straightened the river channel throughout the Miami Valley, and built five dry dams on various tributaries to control flooding. The district and its projects are unusual in that they were funded almost entirely by local tax initiatives, unlike similar projects elsewhere which were funded by the federal government and coordinated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The 1913 flood has been ascribed[ by whom? ] in part to the 1912 eruption of Mount Katmai and its daughter volcano Novarupta in Alaska.[ citation needed ] In one of the greatest recorded volcanic events, Novarupta emitted enough fine ash into the atmosphere to block sunlight and cool the climate of the Northern Hemisphere that winter.
The success of the Miami Conservancy District helped to inspire the development of the much larger Tennessee Valley Authority during the Great Depression. The district was designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1972. [1]
The district manages five dry dams. They are hydraulic fill dams constructed from 1919 to 1922 using fill trestles.
Located near Englewood, Englewood dam is the largest of the dams maintained by the district. It regulates the flow of the Stillwater River into the Great Miami River. It consists of 3,500,000 cubic yards (2,700,000 m3) of earth, is 110 feet (34 m) high and stretches 4,716 feet (1,437 m). U.S. Route 40 crosses the top of the dam. The dam can contain 209,000 acre-feet (258,000,000 m3) of flood water over 6,350 acres (26 km2). It was constructed in 1919 and consists of as much earth as the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Located near Germantown, Germantown Dam regulates the flow of Twin Creek into the Great Miami River. It consists of 865,000 cubic yards (661,000 m3) of earth, is 100 feet (30 m) high and 1,210 feet (370 m) wide. The dam can contain 73,000 acre-feet (90,000,000 m3) of flood water over 2,950 acres (11.9 km2) (12 km²). It was constructed in 1920.
Located near Fairborn, Huffman Dam regulates the flow of the Mad River into the Great Miami River. It consists of 1,665,000 cubic yards (1,273,000 m3) of earth, is 65 feet (20 m) high and spans 3,340 feet (1,020 m). The dam can contain 124,000 acre-feet (153,000,000 m3) of flood water over 7,300 acres (30 km2).
Located north of Piqua outside the village of Lockington, Lockington dam regulates the flow of Loramie Creek into the Great Miami River. It consists of 1,135,000 cubic yards (868,000 m3) of earth, is 69 feet (21 m) high and spans 6,400 feet (2,000 m). The dam can contain 63,000 acre-feet (78,000,000 m3) of flood water over 3,600 acres (15 km2) (15 km²). It was constructed in 1919.
Located near Vandalia, Taylorsville Dam regulates the Great Miami River. It consists of 1,235,000 cubic yards (944,000 m3) of earth, is 67 feet (20 m) high and spans 2,980 feet (910 m). When full, the dam would inundate 9,650 acres (39.1 km2) (39 km²). It was constructed in 1919. US 40 also runs across this dam.
The Miami Conservancy District (MCD) actively promotes and develops recreational amenities throughout the Great Miami River Watershed. MCD owns and/or maintains an extensive recreation trail system (nearly 34 miles) throughout Montgomery County. The trail system is part of a network of 340 miles of multi-use, paved path [2] that connect Dayton east to Xenia and near Chillicothe and London, south to Franklin, west to near Greenville, and north to Piqua. [3]
MCD maintains several boat ramps to encourage recreation on the Great Miami River Watershed waterways. MCD also offers river recreation maps to the Great Miami, Mad and Stillwater rivers which make up the national and state-designated Great Miami River Watershed Water Trail – the largest water trail system in Ohio. The trail collectively offers 291 miles of waterway accessible to recreational boaters, fishermen and wildlife watchers.
Low dams: MCD owns three low dams. Only Two-mile Dam in Hamilton is part of the flood protection system. The other low dams create a pool of water upstream of each dam for recreation, including boating and fishing. The cities of Hamilton, West Carrollton, and Moraine pay an assessment for MCD to maintain the recreational dams.
RiverWalk: The Dayton RiverWalk runs along the levee-top between the Main Street Bridge and the Monument Avenue (Dayton View) Bridge on each side of the Great Miami River. The total length of the lighted, crushed gravel walkway loop, including the two bridges, is about 1 mile. The walkway is easily accessible from the end of either bridge.
All of these projects were constructed and are maintained by funds separate from flood protection or groundwater assessments. Assessments to cities – as well as grants and other revenue sources – pay for the construction and maintenance of MCD recreation amenities.
The Lake of the Arbuckles is a reservoir located in southern Oklahoma, 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Sulphur in Murray County. The lake covers 2,350 acres (950 ha) and is a principal water supply reservoir for the city of Ardmore, some 30 mi (48 km) to the southwest. It also supplies water to the cities of Sulphur, Davis, Wynnewood and a large oil refinery near Wynnewood. The lake also provides flood control, fish and wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities.
Keystone Lake is a reservoir in northeastern Oklahoma on the Arkansas and Cimarron rivers. It is located upstream about 23 miles (37 km) from Tulsa. It was created in 1968 when the Keystone Dam was completed. The primary purposes are: flood control, hydroelectric power generation, wildlife management and recreation.
Table Rock Lake is an artificial lake or reservoir in the Ozarks of southwestern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas in the United States. Designed, built and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the lake is impounded by Table Rock Dam, which was constructed from 1954 to 1958 on the White River.
Jennings Randolph Lake is a reservoir of 952 acres (3.85 km2) located on the North Branch Potomac River in Garrett County, Maryland and Mineral County, West Virginia. It is approximately 8 miles (13 km) upstream of Bloomington, Maryland, and approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Elk Garden, West Virginia.
Dworshak Dam is a concrete gravity dam in the western United States, on the North Fork of the Clearwater River in north central Idaho. In Clearwater County, the dam is located approximately four miles (6 km) northwest of Orofino and impounds the Dworshak Reservoir for flood control and hydroelectricity generation. By capacity, the reservoir is the largest in Idaho and fourth-largest in the Pacific Northwest.
Pineview Dam is located in Ogden Canyon, 7 miles (11 km) east of Ogden, Utah, United States.
Wilson Lake is a reservoir in the U.S. state of Kansas, on the border of Russell County and Lincoln County. Built and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood control, it is also used for wildlife management and recreation. Several parks are located along its shoreline, including Wilson State Park.
Summersville Lake is a reservoir located in the US state of West Virginia. The lake is formed by a rock-fill dam on the Gauley River, south of Summersville in Nicholas County. It is the largest lake in West Virginia, with 2,700 acres (1,100 ha) of water and over 60 miles (97 km) of shoreline at the summer pool water level. Its maximum depth is 327 feet. Part of the northern shore of the lake is managed by the West Virginia State Park system.
The Great Dayton Flood of 1913 resulted from flooding by the Great Miami River reaching Dayton, Ohio, and the surrounding area, causing the greatest natural disaster in Ohio history. In response, the General Assembly passed the Vonderheide Act to enable the formation of conservancy districts. The Miami Conservancy District, which included Dayton and the surrounding area, became one of the first major flood control districts in Ohio and the United States.
The Central Utah Project is a US federal water project that was authorized for construction under the Colorado River Storage Project Act of April 11, 1956, as a participating project. In general, the Central Utah Project develops a portion of Utah's share of the yield of the Colorado River, as set out in the Colorado River Compact of 1922.
Senecaville Lake is a reservoir in Guernsey and Noble Counties, Ohio. It is located approximately 13 miles (21 km) southeast of Cambridge near the village of Senecaville, Ohio. The lake is popular among recreation and fishing enthusiasts. It is often referred to locally as Seneca Lake.
Scofield Reservoir is a 2,815-acre (11.39 km2) reservoir impounded by Scofield Dam, in Carbon County, Utah. Located on the Price River, a tributary of the Green River, Scofield Reservoir is adjacent to the northernmost boundary of the Manti–La Sal National Forest. The reservoir sits at an elevation of 7,618 feet (2,322 m), on the northern edge of the Wasatch Plateau. Utah State Route 96 runs along the western shoreline.
John Redmond Reservoir is a reservoir on the Neosho River in eastern Kansas. Built and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, it is used for flood control, recreation, water supply, and wildlife management. It borders the Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge to the northwest.
The Rio Grande Project is a United States Bureau of Reclamation irrigation, hydroelectricity, flood control, and interbasin water transfer project serving the upper Rio Grande basin in the southwestern United States. The project irrigates 193,000 acres (780 km2) along the river in the states of New Mexico and Texas. Approximately 60 percent of this land is in New Mexico. Some water is also allotted to Mexico to irrigate some 25,000 acres (100 km2) on the south side of the river. The project was authorized in 1905, but its final features were not implemented until the early 1950s.
Santa Fe Dam is a flood-control dam on the San Gabriel River located in Irwindale in Los Angeles County, California, United States. For most of the year, the 92-foot (28 m)-high dam and its reservoir lie empty, but can hold more than 45,000 acre-feet (56,000,000 m3) of water during major storms. During the dry season, the basin behind the dam is used for groundwater recharge, as well as various recreational activities.
Pactola Dam is an embankment dam on Rapid Creek in Pennington County, South Dakota, about 10 miles (16 km) west of Rapid City. The dam was completed in 1956 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to provide flood control, water supply and recreation. Along with the nearby Deerfield Dam, it is part of the Rapid Valley Unit of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program. U.S. Route 385 runs along the crest of the dam. The dam forms Pactola Lake, which at over 1,200 acres (490 ha) is the largest and deepest body of water in the Black Hills.
Council Grove Lake is a reservoir on the Neosho River in east-central Kansas. Built and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, it is used for flood control, recreation, and water supply.
Angostura Dam is an embankment dam across the Cheyenne River in Fall River County in southwestern South Dakota in the United States, about 75 miles (121 km) south of Rapid City. The dam consists of an earth-fill embankment with a concrete spillway section, 193 feet (59 m) high and 2,030 feet (620 m) long; it withholds the 195,121-acre-foot (0.240678 km3) Angostura Reservoir. The dam was conceived as early as 1913, but it was not until the 1930s when a regional drought caused crop failures that the project received widespread support from farmers. Built from 1946 to 1949, the dam is part of the Angostura Division of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, and is operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
Mississinewa Lake Dam is a dam in Miami County, Indiana, just outside the town of Peru, in the central part of the state.
The Mojave Forks Dam, most often known as the Mojave River Dam, is an earth-fill dry dam across the Mojave River in San Bernardino County, California in the United States. Completed in 1974 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the dam is located at the confluence of the West Fork Mojave River and Deep Creek, and can store approximately 179,400 acre⋅ft (221,300,000 m3) of water.