Author: FFP Ai Bot

FINDLAY- The four-part flood plan now under construction in and around Findlay could cost up to $138.5 million when it is finished, and it is expected to lower flooding on Main Street by about three feet in a 1-in-100-year storm, according to a new recap of the Eagle Creek Storage Basin groundbreaking from 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, Oct. 16. Organizers called it the result of nearly 20 years of work that began after the 2007 flood. The Fostoria Free Press first reported on the groundbreaking the day it happened.

When all of the improvements are done, about 1,830 parcels and 1,400 acres are expected to come out of the regulatory floodplain, the economic development office said. Those figures match the estimates published by the Hancock County Flood-Risk Reduction Program, which is run by the Maumee Watershed Conservancy District.

Four projects, one goal

The ceremony marked three pieces of work: construction of the Eagle Creek basin, Phase II “benching” along the Blanchard River in downtown Findlay, and the widening of the Norfolk Southern Railroad bridge downtown. Phase I of the downtown benching is already finished, according to Findlay-Hancock County Economic Development.

The basin is the centerpiece. 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 flood-risk program. 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% in a 100-year storm and lower flood levels by about 2.2 feet near where Eagle Creek meets the river downtown, the program says. The roughly three-foot drop on Main Street cited by the economic development office is for the whole four-part plan.

Miller Brothers Construction of Archbold won the basin contract with a low bid of $32,075,000. Work began around Sept. 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, according to the program. Once it is 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.

“Finally rewriting that history”

Hancock County Common Pleas Judge Jonathan Starn, who also serves on the Maumee Watershed Conservancy Court, said the project keeps a promise to people who have lived in fear of rising water.

“The people of Findlay and Hancock County have all too often looked at a heavy rain forecast and known the feeling of dread that then falls over them,” Starn said. “We have lived through the history of the Blanchard River and Eagle Creek breaking their banks, damaging homes and disrupting lives. Today, we are finally rewriting that history.”

“As we put these shovels in the dirt today, let it signify the end of the old anxieties and the beginning of a safer, more prosperous and deeply united, Northwest Ohio,” he said.

Findlay-Hancock County Economic Development Director Matt Gilroy, who attended with Assistant Director Katie Hite, thanked the leaders who worked on the project over the past two decades.

“Now our office has the opportunity to think about the future and what that might mean, not only for the basin but also for downtown Findlay and the rest of Hancock County,” Gilroy said.

A long road

Speakers remembered the 2007 flood, the second worst in Findlay's history. It caused more than $100 million in damage and affected nearly 1,900 properties, 13abc reported. Flooding has been a repeated problem in the city since at least 1913, the economic development office noted, and leaders described a hard path through approvals, disagreements, land purchases, design and funding.

The event was hosted by Blanchard River Watershed Solutions, the Hancock County Commissioners, the City of Findlay, the Maumee Watershed Conservancy District and Findlay-Hancock County Economic Development.

Other speakers included Findlay Mayor Christina Muryn; Hancock County Commissioner Bill Bateson; Tim Mayle of Blanchard River Watershed Solutions; downtown Findlay investor Mike Mallet; John Menninger, vice president at Stantec; Dave Heppner, chief strategy officer and senior vice president, and David Blatnik, manager of state government affairs, both of Marathon Petroleum Corp.; Myron Lewis, CEO of Blanchard Valley Health System; Tony Burger of Miller Brothers Construction; Shane Helms, CEO of Helms & Sons Excavation; and George Ropp, a past board member of the Maumee Watershed Conservancy District.

More project details, maps and updates are available from the Hancock County Flood-Risk Reduction Program and Hancock County.

Illustration by FFP.

Sources

• Findlay-Hancock County Economic Development, “Groundbreaking of Eagle Creek Storage Basin Ushers a New Era for Findlay-Hancock County,” by Sarah Mayle (Oct. 26, 2026): https://findlayecondev.com/groundbreaking-of-eagle-creek-storage-basin-ushers-a-new-era-for-findlay-hancock-county/
• Hancock County Flood-Risk Reduction Program (Maumee Watershed Conservancy District), Eagle Creek Flood Basin: https://hancockcountyflooding.com/eagle-creek-flood-basin
• WFIN, “Groundbreaking held for flood mitigation at location of Eagle Creek Storage Basin” (Maumee Watershed Conservancy District release, Oct. 16, 2026): https://wfin.com/local-news/groundbreaking-held-for-flood-mitigation-at-location-of-eagle-creek-storage-basin/
• 13abc, “Findlay breaks ground on major flood project after 2007 disaster” (Oct. 16, 2026): https://www.13abc.com/2026/10/16/findlay-breaks-ground-major-flood-project-after-2007-disaster/