Location

Richfield, Ohio

IMPACT

These inundation limits were created so they could be used by the developer to avoid developing within the potential flood path so the classification of Kirby Lake Dam would not change once development occurred. If these inundation limits were not developed, ODNR may have changed the classification of the dam from Class II to Class I based on a potential downstream hazard.

Kirby Lake Dam Break Analysis

Environmental Design Group performed a simplified dam breach analysis for Kirby Lake in Richfield, Ohio. The results of this dam breach analysis were utilized to develop inundation limits on a vacant property that was adjacent to the dam and planned for future development.

This change in classification to a Class I dam may have required significant updates of the dam’s emergency spillway and would have required that the dams Emergency Action Plan (EAP) be updated with a full dam breach inundation study. The simplified analysis and inundations limits were reviewed and approved by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Dam Safety.