Mill Creek Basin

Each year, the Lick Run Greenway eliminates about 800 million gallons of combined sewer overflows (CSOs) into the Mill Creek from the CSO 5 outfall. CSO 5 is the largest overflow (by volume) in MSD’s service area.

The Lick Run Greenway - in combination with storm sewers, bioswales, and restored stream channels - collects rainwater from across the Lick Run watershed and carries it directly to the Mill Creek. This keeps it from mixing with sewage in the combined sewer system and causing sewer overflows.

The Lick Run watershed covers about 2,900 acres and includes South Fairmount and portions of East Price Hill, West Price Hill and Westwood. The Lick Run Greenway is helping improve water quality in the Mill Creek and is also providing opportunities for neighborhood revitalization in South Fairmount.

There many ways to explore Lick Run. For a walking tour, explore the map on the right or go to the  Lick Run Heritage Trail website .

View a video of the Lick Run Greenway during a drone flyover in October 2021.

With its location at the very top of the Cooper Creek Watershed, the restoration activities implemented in the Demonstration Watershed will benefit the entire creek, all the way down to where it flows to the Mill Creek. The Cooper Creek Collaborative is implementing several restoration initiatives.

In the Cooper Creek Watershed, large portions of the most densely developed areas drain through detention basins. Design regulations have typically focused on mitigating floods rather than dampening erosive flows in local streams. The Collaborative’s goal is for the detention basins to serve both functions. By collaborating with local business owners, the Collaborative hopes to retrofit detention basins so that runoff is released more slowly during storms that do not result in flooding. This will help prevent erosion and preserve aquatic wildlife habitat.

In early 2020, a rain garden was installed at Deer Park High School. This rain garden not only reduces the impact of the school’s footprint on Cooper Creek, but also serves as an educational tool for students to learn about hydrology, ecology, and how human activities can impact our local environment. Through work with local property owners, the Collaborative plans to implement other green infrastructure practices within the watershed, such as permeable pavers, bioretention, rainwater harvesting, and green roofs.

The Cooper Creek Collaborative has given away 340 ​​trees to be planted by residents and local parks within the Demonstration Watershed.​ Among the trees planted, there were 17 different species of large size trees that will provide maximum storm water runoff reductions upon maturity, increased biodiversity, and a variety of other community and environmental benefits.

By the end of 2027, the Collaborative endeavors to restore wood along nearly 10,000 feet of Cooper Creek. A demonstration project within Bechtold Park (and two additional downstream parcels) has already been completed. The wood structure installations serve as critical components of stream ecosystems by providing carbon (food supply) and habitat. The structures also absorb high water flows that can lead to erosion and induce deep pool habitat that support fish populations during dry periods.

The facility, originally constructed in 2008, provides storage and rapid treatment of high flows collected from the East Branch sub-basin in order to reduce the overflows to the Mill Creek from outfall #700 (SSO-700).

A comprehensive hydraulic and water quality sampling effort characterized the in-stream conditions and supported the development of models that showed the facility had reduced bacteria levels in the Mill Creek by 70%, and that more could be accomplished.

As a result, storage was expanded, and additional disinfection treatments was added to the facility.

It is typical during precipitation events to have rain falling in parts of MSD’s territory while no rain is falling in other locations, or to receive heavy rains in certain locations and minimal rainfall in others. In the past, some portions of MSDs system would be beyond maximum capacity and overflowing while storage and conveyance capabilities in other parts of the system were not fully utilized.

With Smart Sewers, MSD knows in real time how much demand is being placed on each component of its system, and real time controls governed by automated decision matrices are used to maximize the system’s response to each unique storm’s challenges. MSD is now capturing 33% more flow at its wet weather facilities.

MSD, in partnership with the Cincinnati's Office of Environment & Sustainability (OES) and the Mill Creek Alliance, mitigated two low-head dams on the Mill Creek in fall 2017.  These dams were originally created to protect sewer pipe crossings. Two other low-head dams were previously mitigated along the Mill Creek and several more remain along the Mill Creek.

Low-head dams alter natural habitat and impair a stream’s ability to support a functional ecosystem. Adverse effects of low-head dams include the following:

• Blockage of upstream movement of fish and other species, impacting their reproductive cycle.
• Impairment of water quality by creating conditions favorable to algal growth, trapping sediment and nutrients, and depleting oxygen in the water
• Creation of recreational hazards by impeding safe navigation on waterways

To mitigate the low-head dams, rock riffles were constructed downstream of each low-head dam to raise the water level and submerge the dam during most flow conditions. In addition, boulders were placed on the downslope side of the riffle area to introduce additional habitat patches and serve as a fish ladder of sorts, allowing fish to hide, or rest, while swimming upstream, over the riffle.