Miami Conservancy District - MCD

09/06/2026

🚧 Work continues at Germantown Dam!

If you’ve been near the dam lately, you’ve probably noticed plenty of activity. Contractors are making progress on Miami Conservancy District's rehabilitation of the auxiliary spillway, with earthwork, concrete work and other construction underway across the site.

The auxiliary spillway provides a secondary path for water during very large flood events. This project will repair and improve aging components of the spillway, including replacing and extending stone protection, improving drainage, and replacing concrete weirs.

Like Miami Conservancy District's other dams, the Germantown Dam auxiliary spillway is more than a century old. Regular maintenance and rehabilitation projects like this one help keep our flood protection system ready for the future.

Crews will continue working at the site over the coming months, with safety a priority throughout construction.

Take a look at some of the work underway! 👇

09/04/2026

We’re proud to see the Great Miami Riverways impact getting attention! The numbers tell a powerful story: visitors spent $728.3 million in the Riverway region in 2025, generating $1.2 billion in total economic impact and supporting more than 11,000 jobs. Our rivers and river communities are more than great places to visit — they’re an important part of our region’s economy.

A tourism study has found that visitor spending in the counties along the Great Miami River grew since 2023, generating a total impact of more than a billion dollars and supporting more than 11,000 jobs.

09/03/2026

Have you ever wanted to see Huffman Dam up close? Here’s your chance.

Join the Miami Conservancy District for a special afternoon at Huffman Dam on Thursday, September 17, from 2–5 p.m.

We’re bringing together flood protection, aviation, geology, parks and recreation for an afternoon exploring one pretty remarkable corner of our region.

💧 Tour Huffman Dam and talk with MCD engineers while overlooking the dam. Ask questions, learn how the dam works during high water, and hear how we continue to care for this nearly century-old structure.

🦕 Meet “Pete.” See a cast of the enormous trilobite discovered by MCD crews while excavating Huffman Dam in 1919—a fossil so remarkable it eventually went to the Smithsonian and helped inspire the effort to make Isotelus Ohio's official state fossil.

✈️ Explore the Wright Brothers Memorial with the National Park Service and learn about the place where Wilbur and Orville Wright perfected controlled, powered flight.

🌳 Meet some of the organizations that help care for and connect people to this special landscape, including Five Rivers MetroParks, Greene County Parks & Trails and more.

🚐 We'll shuttle registered guests between stops so you can explore the area and its stories.

And keep an eye on the sky. We may have one more surprise in store. 👀

📅 Thursday, September 17, 2026
⏰ 2–5 p.m.
🎟️ FREE — registration is required
📍 Exact parking and arrival instructions will be sent to registered participants before the event.

Register here: https://www.facebook.com/share/1DgK4fxAQe/

09/02/2026

We were sorry to hear of the passing of Wendell Berry — farmer, poet, novelist, essayist and a lifelong advocate for the land, for communities, and for taking care of the places we call home.

Berry had a way of saying big things simply. One of our favorites comes from his essay “Watershed and Commonwealth”:

“Do unto those downstream as you would have those upstream do unto you.”

It’s hard to think of a better way to describe what it means to live in a watershed. What we do with our land and water affects our neighbors — sometimes miles away and years into the future.

We were fortunate to be there in 2013 when Berry came to Dayton to receive the Dayton Literary Peace Prize’s Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award. Hearing him speak that evening was something special.

Berry spent a lifetime reminding us that caring for the natural world and caring for one another really aren’t separate things.

We’re grateful for his words, his example, and especially this simple reminder:

Be a good neighbor to those downstream.

From a dear friend who reminded me that we all live downstream.

09/01/2026

Teachers in our river communities — we need you! 🌊📚

We’re looking for fourth-grade teachers to pilot test the new Great 1913 Flood Curriculum, and we especially want participation from schools in communities along the Great Miami River and throughout the Miami Valley.

Piqua. Troy. Tipp City. Vandalia. Dayton. Moraine. West Carrollton. Miamisburg. Franklin. Middletown. Hamilton. Fairfield. And communities throughout the watershed.

The Great Flood of 1913 is your community’s history — and this new curriculum will help fourth graders understand what happened, how the region responded, and how the flood protection system built afterward continues to shape and protect the Miami Valley today.

Developed in collaboration with the Miami Conservancy District, the curriculum connects this remarkable local story with numerous Ohio fourth-grade science and social studies standards.

We need teachers to help us make it great.

Selected pilot teachers will review and test three lessons, provide feedback, and receive a $125 Amazon gift card upon completion.

Pilot tester training will be held Thursday, September 17, from noon–3/3:30 p.m. at the Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center — and it includes a tour of Huffman Dam.

Interested? Contact [email protected] to schedule a brief phone or video interview.

And when the curriculum is finished? It will be FREE for educators, including homeschool families.

👩‍🏫 Tag a fourth-grade teacher in one of our river communities. We’d love to have their students help us bring this important piece of Miami Valley history to a new generation.

08/30/2026

We've shown you a lot of powerful water lately.

Here's 20 seconds of peaceful water.

No flood update. No numbers. No explanation. Just the Great Miami River doing what rivers do.

Consider this a little cleanse for your feed. 💧

Sound on.

08/29/2026

Don't forget to register for the Clean Sweep of the Great Miami River - Tuesday, September 1st is the last day to be guaranteed a t-shirt!

08/28/2026

Picture Acton Lake at Hueston Woods. Now picture almost two of them.

That's approximately how much water MCD's dams temporarily stored at the peak of the August high-water event: 5.8 billion gallons.

But there's an important difference: MCD's reservoirs aren't lakes. They're normally dry. During high water, the dams temporarily hold back runoff and then gradually release it as river conditions improve.

During this event, four MCD dams created enough temporary storage to hold the equivalent of nearly two Acton Lakes.

That's what regional flood protection can look like when the water rises.

08/27/2026

Please watch this video from Cambridge City Indiana. They show the devastating impact the recent floods had on their community. Instead of getting ready for their annual festival, they are now focused on cleanup. It's going to take awhile. This is exactly why the Miami Conservancy District was created, and why we are so passionate about our mission to protect Southwest ohio. Our thoughts are with the communities trying to recover during this hard time.