If you’ve ever parked on the top floor of the garage on Fifth Street, you’ve probably seen the trains roll through a bridge with a breathtaking view of a river on the horizon. That’s the Great Miami River. It borders Sinclair College and runs through most of the Greater Dayton area.
It is a tributary of the Ohio River, which itself is the largest tributary of the Mississippi. The Ohio River is a 981 mile body of water that flows through six states, including Kentucky and Tennessee.
In addition to the Gem City, it flows through Troy, Piqua, Hamilton and Sidney. The term Miami Valley refers to the economic-cultural region the Miami River creates through these cities.
The Miami River is named for the Algonquian speaking Native Indian tribe of the same name that lived here before white settlement. It has a course of 170 miles.
Later on, the Miami River and Lake Erie were combined into the Erie Canal in 1830. It became a major route of transportation from Toledo to Cincinnati for western Ohio until being replaced in the 1850s by railroads.
In the 19th century many industrial firms such as Armco Steel, Champion International Paper, Black Clawson and Fernaldin used the river as a method of waste disposal. It wasn’t until the late 1950s and 60s when action was taken to improve water quality and end pollution.
Following the devastating flood of 1913 (where the death toll ranged from 422 to 470 in Ohio), the Miami Conservatory District was established in 1915 to contain the 4,000 square miles of area drained by the river.
They operate and maintain five dry dams, 55 miles of levee protection and other flood protection features in the area. A flood of that magnitude hasn’t happened since.
Deeper in downtown Dayton, the Miami reaches the confluence known as the Mad River. This is what’s seen in the RiverScape MetroPark, with an array of six fountains shooting 2,500 gallons of water per minute into the air from seven different wells.
The jets coming from the central geyser rise up to 200 feet in the air, and covers an 800 foot diameter. This makes it one of the largest fountains in the world.
The fountain is equipped with directional wind sensors that prevent water from blowing onto city traffic.
The City of Dayton, the Miami Conservancy District and the Ohio EPA did research into the effects of using the fountain and found that aquifer’s of the region would not be affected due to there being plenty of groundwater in the region.
Some buildings constantly operate sump pumps to prevent water from getting into their basements. The amount of recycled aquifer discharge dumped into the body of the river each day from this pumping is more than what is used by the fountain.
In essence, there is enough aquifer surplus water to be propelled into the air just for the spectacle.
The fountain was built in 2001 to honor the abundance of water within the Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer, which is one of the U.S.’s most plentiful.
The Great Miami River has many access points in the area, and go through more than nine counties. Services such as Five Rivers Metroparks create recreational trails along the river for Ohioans to bike, run, walk or boat through.
Whether it is used for celebratory spectacles, drinking water or recreational activities, the Great Miami River is an integral part of the Gem City.
Henry Wolski
Executive Editor