MCD hosts “Dam Good Tour” at Taylorsville

VANDALIA- Members of the public received a rare behind-the-scenes-look at Taylorsville Dam on Wednesday, Aug. 20, during the special “Dam Good Tour” hosted by the Miami Conservancy District (MCD).

Approximately 170 guests attended the event, which featured displays of equipment ranging from a small, remote-control watercraft used for measuring river conditions to a robotic mower used to safely mow Taylorsville’s large hill. The tour also included an open house with stations staffed by MCD employees, demonstrating the dam’s history and function, and representatives from Five Rivers Metro Parks and The Great Miami Riverway. The event also included a presentation by MCD Chief Engineer Don O’Connor.

The MCD was founded in 1915 following the 1913 Flood, O’Connor said, and construction of the district’s flood protection system was completed from 1918 through 1922. “Recreation has been an important part of this system from the beginning,” O’Connor said. “It was important to the founders that this be used and be enjoyed.” “It protects our communities from flooding, but it also builds community itself,” he said. Taylorsville Dam is a dry dam, with no gates or other moving parts, O’ Connor said.

“People talk to us a lot about closing and opening the gates at the dams,” he said. “We have never closed gates at this dam, or any of these dams. There are no moving parts at any of these dams.” Designed and built by local engineer Arthur Morgan, the MCD’s flood protection system includes Taylorsville Dam and four other large dry dams, along with 55 miles of levies, 37 miles of improved river channels, and thousands of acres of reserve flood plain. “All of those things work together to make this system work to prevent catastrophic flooding from happening again,” O’ Connor said.

“These dams were designed and built when the Model T was the best-selling car in America,” he said. “It’s as innovative today as it was then.”

O’ Connor also discussed maintenance of the MCD’s dams, which are currently due for major concrete repairs. The last concrete repairs at Taylorsville Dam were completed in the 1970s, he said. “There was a major concrete repair fifty years after the original construction, so that was in the 1970s,” O’ Connor said. “Some of that is literally falling off.”

“Some of these walls, as they were designed then, may not be as stable as we’d like,” he said. “Some of them are a little close for comfort, so as we do the concrete repairs, we’re also analyzing.” Concrete repairs are also needed at MCD’s other dams, O’ Connor said. “We have a major need for concrete work at all of our dams,” he said. “We started some work at Lockington Dam, and we’re in the analysis and design process for all of our dams.”

“We know it needs to be done,” O’ Connor said. “The problem is the money; we have at least $140 million worth of improvements to do on the dams and the levy systems, that’s conservative.” “We’re currently bringing in about $3 million per year,” he said. “That’s not enough.” MCD is currently searching for state or federal funding to help offset the repair costs, O’ Connor said." “The system has been almost entirely funded by local assessment dollars since the beginning,” he said. “There’s been hardly any state or federal money; it’s all been paid by the people who live along the river.” “The way these things are funded today has changed,” he said, “so we have been, and will continue to search for state funding and federal funding to help.”