A Local Treasure Transformed: the comeback of the Little Miami River and the role that GCSED played in its recovery

The Little Miami River (LMR) has transferred trillions and trillions of gallons of water from the Southwest Ohio region to the Ohio River and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi since the beginning of recorded time. It has seen this region move from exclusive Native American natural uses to the pioneer days, then the industrial booms and now into a mixed-use form that we see today.?Over this time, its regulation and oversight have also evolved from a pristine state before development to a highly-threatened state during the industrial age before the Clean Water Act and the institution of the Environmental Protection Agency to today’s highly-coveted and protected natural treasure that it is!

“A river is more than an amenity, it is a treasure. It offers a necessity of life that must be rationed among those who have power over it.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes

The LMR Drains approximately 1,757 square miles across Clark, Montgomery, Madison, Greene, Warren, Butler, Clinton, Clermont, Brown, and Highland counties. Each day, the LMR discharges around 800 million gallons per day from this area to the Ohio River. After severe wet weather events, this rate can swell to over tens of billion gallons per day. The LMR’s headwaters are located in South Charleston, Clark County, and the discharge is at the Ohio River located in California, a Cincinnati suburb. There is a 705-foot decrease in elevation from these headwaters to the mouth, which moves the flow along.

In the late 1960s, the LMR was targeted as a local treasure and garnered the attention of many area environmental stakeholders, including Glenn Thompson, Arthur Morgan, Corwin Fred, and many others. Later this culminated in the formation of Little Miami Incorporated (now the Little Miami Conservancy), an organization dedicated to the preservation of the LMR. In 1968, The LMR was named as Ohio’s first National Wild and Scenic River, and the following year became the state’s first Scenic River.

The LMR is host to at least 87 species of fish and many variations of snakes, turtles, birds, frogs, mammals, and invertebrates. It also boasts some of Ohio’s most scenic trails and parks adjacent to its banks, including the Little Miami Scenic Trail that runs 78 miles across 5 counties. The LMR is also home to some of the best canoeing and fishing opportunities within this region.

In 1998, the Upper LMR was placed on Ohio‘s 303(d) list of impaired waterbodies due to nutrient enrichment, low instream dissolved oxygen, excessive sedimentation, and habitat degradation. If allowed to exist across time, these conditions can greatly affect the health of the stream and the inhabitants that call this environment home. As a result of this designation, the Ohio EPA developed a TMDL or Total Maximum Daily Load report. TMDLs carefully study a waterbody, including all its contributions and sources, to determine what needs to be done to get it back into shape.

In 2002, the Upper LMR TMDL was published, causing various agencies and stakeholders to take action. A series of corrective measures were implemented as a result of the TMDL, including better stormwater and septic system management, improvements in agriculture and riparian corridors, increased public education, and most notably point source (wastewater treatment plant) improvements.

Nutrient discharges (mainly Phosphorus in this region) from point sources tend to fuel algae growth (and eventual decomposition), strip dissolved oxygen from the water, and starves out oxygen from the fish and bugs especially during lower, summer flows. Conventional wastewater treatment processes do not include nutrient removal unless a receiving stream, like the LMR, warrants. As a result of the TMDL, the major wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the Upper LMR basin, including GCSED’s Beavercreek, Cedarville, and Sugarcreek facilities, were required to install nutrient controls ahead of effluent discharge. These improvements required significant investments at the WWTPs for engineering, construction, implementation, and annual operations / maintenance demands. In addition to the point source controls, GCSED participated in a number of habitat and restoration projects aimed at reducing the amount of runoff from local waterways. These improvements were and continue to be funded by GCSED’s sewer rates.

Since the 2002 TMDL report, agencies and stakeholders have continued to support the ongoing efforts towards improving and stabilizing the condition of the LMR. The Ohio EPA published a report in 2014 about the LMR stating, “These reductions, owing in large part to phosphorus removal at six of the major WWTPs in the watershed, have aided in the full attainment of biological criteria at 53.23 miles of the upper Little Miami River mainstem. Only 19.89 miles were in full attainment in 1998.” The Ohio EPA sampled the Upper LMR again in 2020, but those results have yet to be published.

“The Little Miami River contains some of Ohio’s most scenic and diverse habitat and is a popular recreational resource. Since the 1990s, Ohio EPA staff has conducted surveys of the river and its tributaries,” said Bonnie Buthker, Chief of Ohio EPA Southwest District Office. “We are fortunate that a diverse group of local stakeholders, representing urban and agricultural interests, are working together to protect this resource and address issues needing improvements. Ohio EPA collected new data from the Little Miami in 2020, which we are evaluating and anticipate will reflect water quality improvements that have resulted from the communities’ efforts.”

Needless to say, it is an honor and a privilege to play a role in the continued transformation of the LMR. We are excited to see the results of the 2020 data, and we will continue to work with local stakeholders and the Ohio EPA to improve the LMR and maintain this local treasure for generations to come!

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