News

Officials to Let Buckeye Lake Rise to Usable Level Amid Dam Work

By:
Posted on:

< < Back to

Update 11:50 a.m.

MILLERSPORT, Ohio (AP) – Officials will let the water level rise in central Ohio’s Buckeye Lake after keeping it low for over a year as a precaution because of a deteriorated dam.

Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources said Thursday it will let the lake fill enough to accommodate boating and recreational activities this summer. That’s welcome news for area businesses that suffered as low water deterred visitors.

Buckeye Lake’s 4.1-mile earthen dam is nearly 180 years old. It’s been weakened by several hundred homes, docks and other structures built into it, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concluded the dam was at risk of failing.

Workers have constructed a stability berm along the water, and locals had hoped the lake level could be raised while the new dam structure is built by 2019.


MILLERSPORT, Ohio (AP) – Officials are ready to provide an update on work to replace a deteriorated dam at central Ohio’s Buckeye Lake as area residents and businesses wait to learn whether the water might be raised to a level more conducive to boating.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources scheduled an update Thursday in Millersport.

The 4.1-mile earthen dam is nearly 180 years old and was weakened by several hundred homes, docks and other structures built into it. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concluded the dam was at risk of failing, and the state has kept the water level low as a precaution.

Workers have built a stability berm along the water. Officials previously said once that’s done, the water level might be raised while the new dam structure is built.