Army Corps of Engineers monitor Alum Creek flooding
DELAWARE COUNTY, Ohio (WCMH) — With the recent rainfall, actions were taken at a dam in Delaware County to help communities far south of that area.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Alum Creek Lake was higher than usual -- about three feet above its normal summer level, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The dam is on the south end of the lake.
“Its main purpose is flood damage reduction and that's come into play the last few days here,” USACE Resource Manager Sylvia Chelf said. “Last week we had heavy rains that really impacted how we operate.”
The dam has been closed to hold recent rainwater which fell north of the dam. With how waterways are connected, Chelf said doing so helps communities south of it, some more than 100 miles away.
“Our main focus has been controlling water downstream to help reduce flooding," she said.
The USACE is always keeping an eye on the gauges south of the dam to determine what steps should be taken; it also keeps in touch with the district office and operations of other dams.
“The goal is to prevent damages from floods; in 2024 alone, we prevented $8 million worth of damages,” Chelf said. “Overall since the dam was built, it's $327 million in damages prevented. This damn works in conjunction with others to affect the Ohio River, so when there’s major flooding on the Ohio River, the Huntington district office will use all the different flood control projects they have to help improve conditions on the Ohio."
At the USACE's Alum Creek Lake visitors center is an exhibit that illustrates how the dam works.
“We’ll watch for gauges in Columbus and Circleville, Chillicothe, things like that, to keep an eye on what's happening,” Chelf said. “So if we start seeing downstream gauges get close to level, we will close our dam down to our minimum level so we’re just releasing a little bit of water and we’ll hold back what we can until things downstream improve.”