By Mike Ekberg, manager for water monitoring and analysis Last year was a wet one for the Miami Valley region, continuing a trend we’ve been seeing for a while now. The chart below shows how the 30-year average annual precipitation for the Great Miami River has changed since 1945. Note the upward trend, especially since about 1995. ...

There’s nothing like a tall, cool glass of water when you’re hot and thirsty (despite this week's cold, you will be hot again). But, do you know where your drinking water comes from? If you live in the Miami Valley, chances are your water comes from the buried valley aquifer. When it comes to water, our region’s buried ...

By Sarah Hippensteel Hall, manager for watershed partnerships You turn the on the faucet and good quality water comes out it, right? But what if it didn’t? Imagine a day without water. In the first hour alone, you couldn’t flush the toilet, brush your teeth, take a shower or make a cup of coffee. Beyond your personal needs, f ...

By Kurt Rinehart, MCD Chief Engineer With the heavy rains of recent hurricanes, especially Hurricane Harvey’s 50 inches, people are wondering how much precipitation can the MCD flood protection system handle? The system is designed for the greatest reasonably expected storm but not the largest scientifically possible storm. In o ...

By Mike Ekberg, MCD manager for water resources monitoring and analysis MCD staff recently found artificial sweeteners in five of 12 groundwater samples. The samples were collected from monitoring wells installed in the buried valley aquifer. This is further proof that many of the chemicals we flush down a toilet, rinse down a sink, or a ...

By Sarah Hippensteel Hall, Ph.D.,Manager for Watershed Partnerships Last month we discussed how green development can reduce flooding, save money, reduce energy use, and improve public health. This month we want to key in on a few of the more popular green development practices and their incentives. Rain gardens filter out pollutants a ...

  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, ...

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 Ri ...

  By Angela Manuszak, Special Projects Coordinator Many everyday items that make life easier were invented in the Dayton region. The airplane. The pop-top can. The cash register. Dayton is also home to some pretty amazing, more natural creations, too, namely, our rivers – and the hiking and biking trails near them. And whil ...

  By Mike Ekberg, MCD manager for water resources monitoring and analysis There may a silent killer lurking in private wells used for drinking water. Recent groundwater studies in our region show that drinking water in up to 20 percent of private wells contains high levels of arsenic. Long-term exposure to arsenic through dr ...

By Mike Ekberg, MCD manager for water resources monitoring and analysis You may have heard me say this before—southwest Ohio is water rich. We have abundant, high-quality, water when compared with other parts of our country and the world. Yet, our region is not without challenges in managing water. Here are five water trends that m ...

El Niño gone/ La Niña here Winter 2016-2017 is upon the Dayton region, and from the looks of things it’s likely to be very different winter than winter 2015-2016. A major reason for the change is the strong El Niño conditions which persisted throughout winter 2015-2016 are gone. La Niña conditions have t ...

  By Mike Ekberg,Manager for Water Resources Monitoring and Analysis None of us wants to throw thousands of dollars down the drain or put our family’s health at risk. But if you have a septic system and don’t maintain it, you could be doing just that. It costs only $250 to $300 every four years to maintain your septic ...

By Sarah Hippensteel Hall, Manager for Watershed Partnerships Have you ever tried to live a day or even a half day without water? No morning shower, no morning coffee, no washing your clothes. Those are the simple inconveniences. But it’s more than that. No water for the doctor to wash her hands before treating you. No water f ...

By Mike Ekberg,Manager for Water Resources Monitoring and Analysis In my August 1, blogpost, "Climate Change: Is It Real?" we noted that our climate is always changing. Some people want to debate the cause, but that’s not nearly as important as planning for the changes that are expected. A warming trend will amplify the extremes in ...

By Mike Ekberg,Manager for Water Resources Monitoring and Analysis Is climate change for real? Is the world getting warmer, or is all this talk about a warming climate just a bunch of hooey? Let’s consider some recent findings. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), June 2016 was the warmest June ev ...

By Mike Ekberg,Manager for Water Resources Monitoring and Analysis Do you like to canoe, kayak, or row on the Great Miami River? Have you ever flipped your boat and ended up soaked with a mouthful of river water? Did you worry about getting sick? River users frequently ask me, "Is the water safe?" The answer is yes, in most cases.  ...

By Mike Ekberg, Manager for Water Resources Monitoring and Analysis Groundwater levels in the aquifer beneath downtown Dayton fluctuate throughout the year. Locally, groundwater levels often peak in winter or spring and decline to their annual low in the fall. However, we’re seeing changes to the normal up-and-down cycle of groundw ...

  El Niño contributed to a mild winter in the Miami Valley By Mike Ekberg, water resources monitoring and analysis manager If you thought the region got off easy this winter, you’d be right. And you can thank El Niño.  El Niños produce drier and warmer than normal winters El Niño affec ...

Groundwater is a better drinking water sourceWater quality crises are becoming more common, from algal toxins in Toledo to lead in Flint, Michigan; Sebring, Ohio and other communities. Could those crises happen here? It’s possible—but not likely—because this region pulls almost all of its drinking water from groundwater ...