Find Your Way With Free MCD Maps

by Jim Stuard

The Miami Conservancy District (MCD) was formed in 1915. This was done as a result of the deadly Flood of 1913 that occurred in and around Dayton. 360 people lost their lives and the modern equivalent of 2 billion dollars worth of damage was done to the local area. The Conservancy’s original charter was the mission of never letting flooding like that occur again. To that end they hired Arthur Morgan, a Memphis based engineer, to develop a plan to control flooding in the region. The result was five dry dams – Germantown, Englewood, Lockington, Taylorsville and Huffman – and levees that have protected the Miami Valley from flooding by the Great Miami River more than 1,500 times since 1922.

Since its inception, the focus of the MCD’s work has broadened to cover water purification of the local aquifers and exposing the vast recreation opportunities available to the residents in the Miami rivers watershed area. To that end, the MCD has come up with some wonderful maps of the local waterways and tributaries in the area. They lay out in detail, the entire path of a particular waterway, along with nearby roads, points of interest, and boating access. They don’t put little fishies on there to show you where to fish but that would take all the fun out of finding out for yourself. Suffice it to say that wherever you see a bridge, dam or boat access, there are probably decent fishing opportunities available there. Aside from the aforementioned features, the maps also list and locate canoe rentals, boat ramps, restrooms, as well as, picnic, camping and parking areas. Add to that, the fact that the maps are waterproof, and you get one heck of a bargain for the local fisherman who wants to detail out their favorite, local honey holes.

Waterproof printed maps are available free, by request, directly from the Miami Conservancy District website. You can also download the maps directly, as .pdf files or you can use the interactive maps on the site. Keep in mind that the interactive map can only be accessed by using Microsoft Internet Explorer. Firefox users will have to slum it! The three maps, all of great interest to fly fishers, are the Greater Miami, Mad and Stillwater rivers. They show nearby highways along with the roads that cross and avail themselves to the best stream access. The backs of the maps are loaded with safety tips for successful wading, boating and day tripping. You still pretty much have to get out there and fish the most likely spots to find your favorites but with a waterproof map that shows great detail of the area, it’s a snap to keep these three maps in your glove box for future reference.