Hamilton dam modifications would connect Great Miami River from Hamilton to Middletown
The city of Hamilton and Miami Conservancy District announced a $2.5 million state grant, starting the design phase to largely remove two dams.
HAMILTON, Ohio —
Hamilton is set to replace a low dam on the Great Miami River with the help of a $2.5 million state grant, aiming to enhance safety, improve fish habitats, and create new recreational opportunities.
The low dam, constructed in the late 1980s, was designed to slow and warm the water for motorized boating but has since caused lower oxygen levels, harming native fish species. Additionally, the Miami Conservancy District points to multiple drownings, including one during the Fourth of July weekend 2025.
“We have buoys to alert people (of) danger ahead, we have signs along the river, but sometimes people are just in the moment and they don’t see those things,” said MaryLynn Lodor, general manager of the Miami Conservancy District.
The new design will likely include riffles, or rows of rocks, to create a gradual slope. This approach would increase oxygen levels, support healthier fish populations, and allow kayakers and floaters to carry boats across rock steps instead of encountering a wall of water.
“We’re going to wind up probably putting a riffle on top of it, but we got to cut down some of the elevation,” Lodor said.
“I can’t even tell you how much benefit is going to come to the region from this,” she added.
The project also includes plans to modify the Two Mile Dam, located three miles upstream. This modification would create more than 30 miles of continuously flowing water on the Great Miami River, connecting Middletown, Hamilton and Cincinnati.
“You can’t look at the Little Miami River, in any of the cities, and not see 10, 15 kayaks coming through in an hour or something like that. You don’t see that on the Great Miami River because of all the low head dams that we have,” Lodor said.
The Miami Conservancy District tells WLWT the Army Corps of Engineers gave them the green light to move forward modifying the dam without risk of flooding.
Work on the lower dam replacement could begin as soon as 2028.