Did you know, wetlands in Ohio – and possibly in this region? -- are disappearing at an alarming rate? Since the late 18th century, most of Ohio’s wetlands have been destroyed or damaged through draining, filling, or other modifications. Only 10 percent of the original 5 million acres of Ohio’s wetlands remain, according to the US ...

By Mike Ekberg, manager for water resources monitoring and analysis The old saying, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," rings especially true if you have a septic system. Consider this: It only costs about $300 every four years to maintain your septic system. But it can cost $7,000 to $10,000 or more to repair or replace ...

By Mike Ekberg, manager of water monitoring and analysis Drastically reducing nutrient discharges from wastewater treatment plants won’t be enough to further improve water quality in the Great Miami River from Troy to just downstream of Fairfield, Ohio. That’s what a study,funded by 15 regional wastewater treatment plants and cities, ...

By Sarah Hippensteel Hall, Ph.D., manager for watershed partnerships The project to remove the Tait Station low dam begins today. Here are the latest details on the project. Q: Why is the Tait Station low dam being removed? The low dam is being removed for several reasons: To improve the quality of the river and make better habitat ...

By Elizabeth Connor, Riverway Coordinator Nothing can ruin a good ride along the Great Miami River Recreation Trail like discovering midway that the trail is submerged from a recent storm. But that’s about to be a thing of the past. You can now Find Your Way a whole lot easier with the Great Miami Riverway’s new website, featuring a ...

By Sarah Hippensteel Hall, Ph.D., manager of watershed partnerships Spring weather has FINALLY arrived! You are probably thinking about getting outside to enjoy a bike ride on the trails or launch your kayak in the beautiful river. Before you go, did you know MCD provides maps, trail conditions, day trip recommendations, safety guideline ...

By Sarah Hippensteel Hall, Ph.D., manager for watershed partnerships Most of us go to some lengths to protect our health. We may have an annual physical to catch issues early because we know how hard it can be to fix something once it’s broken. The same is true of our aquifer – the underground source of this region’s drinking wate ...

By Mike Ekberg, manager for water monitoring and analysis Groundwater may seem mysterious. You can’t see it. You can’t hear it. You can’t touch it. Yet, it may be the most important resource we have because, quite simply, we can’t live without water. While this region has plenty of good quality groundwater, we can’t take it for ...

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 ...