Meeks Lake is Site #1 for Margaret Creek Conservancy District (MCCD). This site is the furthest upstream flood control structure of the five structures on Margaret Creek and is located 1 mile east of Albany, Ohio and eight miles southwest of Athens. Site #1 has a floodwater-retarding dam of compacted earth fill constructed in 1972. This structure is classified by ODNR as a hazard Class I dam. It is 31.5 feet high and controls the runoff from 3.4 square miles. A permanent pool of 17 surface acres provides sediment storage. The principal spillway is a reinforced concrete pipe system, which maintains the normal pool level and regulates the passage of flood flows. It consists of an NRCS standard covered top riser with trash rack, a 36-inch diameter reinforced concrete pipe, and a concrete impact-stilling basin as an outlet structure. The emergency spillway is 120 feet wide and is designed to safely pass 6.75 inches of rainfall occurring in a 6-hour period. The dam was also designed to pass 13.0 inches of rain occurring in a 6-hour period without overtopping the dam. A 12-inch diameter lake drain allows the lake to be lowered for emergencies or maintenance.

In addition to the sediment storage, the dam provides 404 acre-feet of floodwater retarding volume below the auxiliary spillway crest. The National Inventory of Dams (NID) number is OH00960.

NRCS completed a Rehabilitation Assessment Report for Site #1 in September 2010. Meeks Lake was originally designed and constructed as a “significant” hazard structure. It originally protected agricultural floodplain and has a country road about 0.6 miles downstream and two railroad crossings within another 0.8 miles. No loss of life was envisioned if the dam were to fail.

Due to development in the downstream floodplain, ODNR Division of Water, Dam Safety Engineering re-classified the dam in 1990 to a high-hazard Class I structure. ODNR and NRCS criteria require high-hazard structures to safely pass 100% of the Probable Maximum Flood (PMF). In its existing condition the PMF would over top the dam for 1.3 hours at a maximum depth of 1.9 feet.

In order to rehabilitate Meeks Lake dam to meet current criteria the general rehabilitation work would include:

• Modify the dam and auxiliary spillway to safely pass or contain the larger runoff from the rainfall required for design of a high hazard structure. This may consist of raising the dam and/or widening the emergency spillway, adding a roller compacted concrete (RCC) chute spillway through the dam, or combinations of these.
• Ensure that appurtenant structures (riser tower, internal drains, etc.) meet current NRCS and State Dam Safety criteria
• Ensure that the sediment pool has a minimum sediment storage capacity that matches the rehabilitated evaluation life period.

MCCD is eligible for NRCS assistance authorized under the Rehabilitation provisions (PL 106-472) of the Small Watershed Program. Costs for the rehabilitation of this site would be shared at a rate of 65% through PL 106-472 and 35% provided by the local sponsor.

The District is currently in the process of determining a method to bring this site into compliance with ODNR and NRCS regulations.

Drainage Area........................................2,234 Acres


Total Storage............................................552 Acre Feet


Floodwater Retarding Storage........................404 Acre Feet


Water Surface Area..............................17 Acres


Height Of Dam.....................................31.5 Feet


Volume Of Fill..................................................36,400 Cubic Yards

Built in 1972 under The Watershed Protection And Flood Prevention Act by Margaret Creek Conservancy District
, the 
Athens County Board of Commissioners and the 
Athens Soil and Water Conservation District
 with assistance of 
Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Dept. Of Agriculture
.

Constructed under PL566