A four-part flood plan now under construction in and around Findlay could cost up to $138.5 million when finished and is expected to lower flooding on Main Street by about three feet in a 1-in-100-year storm, according to a recap of the Eagle Creek Storage Basin groundbreaking published October 26 by Findlay-Hancock County Economic Development.
About 130 people turned out for the ceremony at the basin site in Eagle Township, south of the city, on Friday, October 16. Organizers called it the result of nearly 20 years of work that began after the 2007 flood, the second worst in Findlay’s history, which caused more than $100 million in damage and affected nearly 1,900 properties.
The basin is the centerpiece of the plan. An earthen dam will form a dry storage area of roughly 765 acres between Township Road 76 and U.S. 68, about four miles south of downtown, according to the Hancock County Flood-Risk Reduction Program, which is run by the Maumee Watershed Conservancy District. Eagle Creek flows through normally most of the time, and the basin only fills when heavy rain pushes the creek past about 650 cubic feet per second.
On its own, the basin is expected to cut the Blanchard River’s peak flow by about 16 percent in a 100-year storm and lower flood levels by about 2.2 feet near where Eagle Creek meets the river downtown. The roughly three-foot drop on Main Street is the expected result of the whole four-part plan, which also includes Phase II benching along the Blanchard River downtown — Phase I is already finished — and widening of the Norfolk Southern Railroad bridge downtown.
Miller Brothers Construction of Archbold won the basin contract with a low bid of $32,075,000. Work began around September 1 and is expected to take 18 to 24 months. The basin is paid for with a State of Ohio grant administered by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and a Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Mitigation Assistance grant administered by the Ohio Emergency Management Agency. Once built, the land will be turned over to the City of Findlay, which expects to spend about $100,000 to $150,000 a year to maintain it.
When all of the improvements are done, about 1,830 parcels and 1,400 acres are expected to come out of the regulatory floodplain, according to the economic development office and the flood-risk program — a change that matters for homeowners and businesses that have carried flood-insurance costs and rebuilding risk for generations in a city with flooding problems dating to at least 1913.
Hancock County Common Pleas Judge Jonathan Starn, who also serves on the Maumee Watershed Conservancy Court, told the crowd the project keeps a promise to people who have lived in fear of rising water, saying residents have too often looked at a heavy rain forecast and known the feeling of dread that follows. Economic Development Director Matt Gilroy said the office can now think about the future for the basin, downtown Findlay and the rest of Hancock County. Project maps and updates are posted by the Hancock County Flood-Risk Reduction Program.