LITTLE MIAMI RIVER WATER QUALITY STORY MAP

Visit our interactive Little Miami Water Quality Story Map  to learn more about the Little Miami River in a visual format.

 

 

 

 

LITTLE MIAMI RIVER WATER QUALITY REPORTS

MSD monitors water quality and aquatic habit in the Mill Creek, Little Miami River, and Muddy Creek & other tributaries every four to five years, partnering with the Midwest Biodiversity Institute (MBI) to perform comprehensive biological, chemical, and physical sampling and analysis. A benchmarking (baseline) round of sampling was conducted in 2011-2014. A second round of sampling was conducted in 2016-2019. The third round of water quality sampling was conducted 2021-2023.

 

Please see the water quality reports for the Little Miami River below:

 

• Little Miami (2022)
• Little Miami (2017)
• Little Miami (2012)

 

 

 

VIEW THE LITTLE MIAMI RIVER WATERSHED

SUMMARY OF 2022 LITTLE MIAMI STUDY

Here are the highlights from the most recent (2022) water quality study of the lower Little Miami River:

 

• 36 sites were sampled along the lower Little Miami River mainstem and tributaries including Sycamore Creek, Polk Run, Duck Creek, East Fork of Duck Creek, Little Duck Creek, and Clough Creek. Of that total, 72% of the sites were in full or partial attainment for their aquatic life use designation. Additionally, out of 28 miles in the mainstem study area, about 88% were in full attainment.
  • Exceptional Warmwater Habitat (EWH), 13 sites along the mainstem: 85% or 11 sites were in full attainment, 1 site was in partial attainment, and 1 site (in close proximity to Duck Creek) was in non-attainment.
  • Warmwater Habitat (WWH), 17 sites along various tributaries: 64% or 11 sites were in full or partial attainment, with six sites in non-attainment.
  • Limited Resource Waters (LRW), 6 sites in Duck Creek: 50% or 3 sites were in full attainment, with three sites in non-attainment. This is a slight improvement over 2017 (gain of about 1 mile in full attainment).
• Most of the Little Miami River and its tributaries are impaired by E. coli bacteria for Primary Contact Recreation (PCR) or Secondary Contact Recreation (SCR).
• The lower reach of the East Fork of Duck Creek was recommended to be changed from Limited Resource Water (LRW) designation to a Warm Water Habitat (WWH) designation.
• The fish IBI and especially the macroinvertebrate ICI scores in Duck Creek showed improvement since 2017.

 

MSD hosted a public Water Quality Forum on November 8, 2023, to present the results of the 2022 water quality study. For more information, please view the resources below:

 

View the 2023 Little Miami River Presentation

View the 2023 Water Quality Forum Meeting (2 hours)

 

 

VIEW THE ATTAINMENT MAP