Miami Conservancy District

The Miami Conservancy District is a political subdivision of the State of Ohio established June 28, 1915, under the provisions of the Conservancy Act of Ohio (Ohio Revised Code Sections 6101.01et seq.). The District exists for the purpose of maintaining flood control works in the Miami Valley which the District built during the period 1918-1922, with eight additions to the flood control works since that time. Since the 1950's, the District has also been involved in water conservation projects and was, for many years, involved in the monitoring of water quality throughout the District on the Great Miami River, the Stillwater, the Mad and several other tributary streams. The District takes in the drainage area of the Great Miami River and includes portions of nine counties, namely: Montgomery, Miami, Shelby, Clark, Greene,Warren, Preble, Butler, and Hamilton.The power to organize a district is vested in a court made up of one common pleas judge from each county within a district. The executive direction is in the hands of a three-member Board of Directors, appointed by the Conservancy Court and reporting and directly responsible to such Court.

The Great Miami River drains the southwestern portion of the State of Ohio. In the past, the Miami River Valley had been subject to periodic serious flooding, and more or less inadequate levees had been built up around its towns. However, until the flooding of 1913, no comprehensive plan for making the valley safe had been considered.

In late March of 1913, an unusually heavy rainstorm moved into the Miami Valley region. It rained steadily for five days and the streams of the valley rose rapidly. By the third day of the downpour, levees were over topped and many towns and farms suffered disastrous flooding. Dayton, situated at the confluence of the Mad, Stillwater, and Great Miami Rivers was especially hard hit. Parts of the city including the downtown area lay beneath as much as 13 feet of water and thousands of people were marooned for three days and nights on rooftops and in attics.

When the flood waters receded, tons of mud and debris covered the streets, homes, businesses, and factories of Piqua, Troy, Tipp City, Dayton, West Carrollton, Miamisburg, Franklin, Middletown,and Hamilton. The death toll stood at 361, 65,000 were forced to leave their homes temporarily, and property damages ran to well over $100,000,000.

While wreckage was still being cleared from the streets, a vigorous movement for flood protection was begun in Dayton. A group of prominent businessmen and civic leaders, led by NCR's John H. Patterson, formed the Dayton Citizen's Relief Commission. The Relief Commission quickly raised a $2 million Flood Prevention Fund and employed the Morgan Engineering Company of Memphis to work out a flood protection plan for the City of Dayton. After some preliminary survey work, Morgan's engineers concluded that effective flood protection was too large an undertaking for one community and would require the co-operative action of the entire Miami Valley.

Many plans were studied and theories reviewed until a plan that involved the construction of five dams and retarding basins as well as significant channel improvement and levee construction was adopted as the "Official Plan." The dams and retarding basins were to be located as follows: one north of Piqua at Lockingtonon Loramie Creek, a second at Taylorsville near Vandalia on the Great Miami, a third at Englewood on the Stillwater, Huffman Damon the Mad River just northeast of Dayton, and Germantown Dam on Twin Creek southwest of Dayton.

Since Ohio did not have a law that would permit a regional co-operative undertaking of this nature, the Conservancy Act of Ohio was prepared and passed by the legislature on February 18,1914. Under its provisions, a conservancy district could become a public corporation armed with all the necessary powers to levy taxes, borrow money, condemn land and do the necessary work to accomplish flood protection. The day after the signing of the Conservancy Act by the governor, a petition was filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County asking for the establishment of The Miami Conservancy District.

A long battle followed. Farmers in the counties to the north of Dayton whose rich agricultural lands were to be flooded by the Conservancy dams rigorously opposed the plan. They challenged the constitutionality of the Conservancy Act in the courts and attempted to amend and repeal it in the legislature, It was not until June 28, 1915 that the Miami Conservancy District was finally established.

In August 1915, appraisers appointed by the Miami Conservancy Court began to determine for property owners and communities the benefits which would result from the construction of the flood protection works. In addition to the establishment of benefits, the damages caused by the proposed works were also set by the appraisers. Rights of way were obtained as well as easements to flood lands in the retarding basins. A construction organization was then built up, equipment purchased, and on January 1, 1918, the construction period started.

The actual work consisted of the construction of five dams and retarding basins, levee and channel improvement at nine villages and towns, the relocation of four railroad lines and many highways and wire lines, the removal of one village, the lowering of water and gas mains, and many minor pieces of work. It was decided to do the construction work with the District's own forces, so a large labor force was recruited. The maximum number employed at any one time was 2,000 and the minimum was 750. Most of the workers were housed at five labor camps, built and maintained by the District, which were located at each of the five dam sites.

The last dam was completed on December 31, 1921, and the various channel improvement jobs were finished within the next year. One of the most unusual aspects of the Miami Conservancy District was that over 90% of the funds donated to the Citizens Relief Commission were returned to the donors.