He has reason to worry.
Years of rapid development upstream along the upper Mill Creek in Butler County and northern Hamilton County at a time when flood-control measures have stalled are spawning more damaging floods from Interstate 275 south to Evendale.
Twenty years ago, a storm that dumped as little as 3 or 4 inches of rain would have created only puddles in parking lots. Today, a comparable storm could raise the Mill Creek a foot higher, sending water into homes and businesses. And that's just a small storm.
The prediction has some officials worried. "I'm obviously concerned," said Al Ledbetter, director of safety services in Sharonville."I think anyone along the Mill Creek - Evendale, Sharonville, Reading - would be."
Growing fears of flood damage in the northern reaches of the Mill Creek Valley are pegged to a confluence of four issues: development, dollars, debris and turf wars.
Turf wars: Butler County leaders are critical of a proposal to convert valuable development sites in Union Township to a large wetlands area that would handle most of the additional runoff. They say Hamilton County should have done more to protect Sharonville, Evendale and other Mill Creek towns.
To solve the problem, the Corps of Engineers begins a $2 million, two-year study this month on how to complete its flood-control project on the Mill Creek. The effort - which could range in price from at least $150 million to $300 million in federal dollars - will protect the hundreds of homes and businesses in northern Hamilton County.
State and local taxpayers also will be needed to kick in money, experts say.
Storms such as the one April 16 that sent water rushing into Sharonville and Evendale prove the work is critical, said Laurence Curry, a Corps of Engineers official. He is chief of the hydraulics design section for the Corps of Engineers in Louisville and part of the Corps team working on flood-control measures in the Mill Creek Valley.
The threat of the Mill Creek rising by 12 inches should have everyone worried, he said.
"That one foot could mean the difference between flooding your driveway or flooding your house," he said.
Office parks or a swamp?
The unprecedented development some blame for increased flood damage may wipe out the Corps of Engineers' plan before it even begins.
To reduce the danger of flooding, the corps wants to establish a 50-acre wetlands area in Butler County's Union Township, one of Southwestern Ohio's fastest-growing suburbs. The grassy, marsh-like setting would act as a giant sponge to absorb runoff water when it rains.
Supporters say it also could be used as badly needed recreation space for boating and hiking trails.
But the township land that federal officials covet lies just west of a new $24 million interchange at Interstate 75 on Union Centre Boulevard. It may soon be covered with office buildings. Leaders in Butler County, which refused to join the corps' project 20 years ago, scoff at the thought of turning valuable property into a swamp. Butler County officials say Hamilton County should have done a better job of restricting development in its own share of the Mill Creek flood plain.
"Certainly I would like our township to do its part," said Union Township Trustee Tom Hayden. "But we're being asked to pay the price because others haven't done responsible development."
That thinking is irresponsible, said John Dowlin, Hamilton County commissioner and former Sharonville mayor.
"Everyone knows that the water starts upstream," he said. "The guy on the top of the hill doesn't flood, but they are responsible for flooding downstream."
More than 20 years ago, Sharonville and local businesses pitched in $110,000 to help the Corps of Engineers improve sections of the creek to relieve flooding, said Rex Baysore, the former Sharonville director of safety services for 31 years.
The situation is worse now because debris has continued to build up.
And of course there's been a lot of development since then in Butler County."
Already about 2,000 acres of industrial property have been developed near the Union Centre Boulevard interchange. Almost all that land is in the flood plain, planners say.
While the debate goes on and the Corps of Engineers study takes shape, Mr. Caston is still mopping up at Cincinnati Pool and Patio in Evendale.
Heavy rains in April brought almost 2 feet of muddy creek water into his shop, caking patio furniture and ruining computer equipment. It's the second such damaging flood he's endured in two years. Prior to that, the store had not been flooded in 31 years.
"The mental and physical aspect of trying to deal with this is tremendous," he said."It literally takes years off your life."
Faced with tens of thousands of dollars in damages, no flood insurance and the prospect of losing his business, Mr. Caston is desperate for the corps to take action - now.
"What do I do in the next two years?" he asked bleakly. "Doing something with the Mill Creek is what has to be done to solve my flooding problems."
A troubled past
When the first settlers moved to Cincinnati more than 200 years ago, the Mill Creek was a valuable water source and site of rich farming soil. Its 28 miles of muddy water from Liberty Township in Butler County to the Ohio River now reflects decades of residential and industrial pollution.
For years, businesses and homeowners pushing north along its banks used it as an open sewer until it became one of America's most polluted streams.
But the health of the Mill Creek is not what brought the Corps of Engineers here more than 25 years ago. It was the beginning of a growing flood threat.
A 1959 flood caused by a heavy storm triggered about $3 million in damage, stirring Cincinnati and seven other affected communities in Hamiliton County to seek more flood control along the Mill Creek.
In the years after World War II, industrial growth had started to boom in the Mill Creek flood plain in northern Hamilton County, where flat farmland provided level sites for new businesses.
Factories and parking lots covered flood-prone land. Where storm water once soaked into farm ground, it now ran swiftly off asphalt and concrete into the Mill Creek.
What's more, developers digging into the flood plain and filling it with concrete foundations took away natural storage space for storm water.
Like dropping a ball of clay in a glass of water, builders pushed the rainfall elsewhere - into the Mill Creek.
By definition, a flood plain is an area that fills with water during a flood. Because of development since the 1970s along the Mill Creek, Mr. Curry of the Corps of Engineers said, both runoff and the flood plain in parts of Evendale and Sharonville have grown by 10 percent.
That could force more businesses to buy flood insurance, he said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency does not make everyone in the flood plain carry insurance, which is readily available. But those in the flood plain cannot obtain bank loans without it.
Pointing fingers
As emotions rise in the wake of growing flood damage, the search for a solution is more difficult than the search for a scapegoat.
Jeff Gauger, business manager of Kenworth of Cincinnati truck dealership in Sharonville, says he and other businesses are considering a class-action suit against Butler County.
Mr. Gauger wants to stop further development upstream in Union Township unless large tracts of land are set aside for storm-water retention.
He suffered damage between $50,000 and $100,000 from the flood of April 16, which the Corps of Engineers blamed on intense localized rain in a short period of time. In two hours alone, Sharonville was hit with 3 1/2 inches of rain.
The entire Evendale and Sharonville area received the worst with 3.7 inches in 24 hours, raising the Mill Creek level from a foot deep to 13 feet and underscoring the need for better flood control there.
"It's never flooded before," Mr. Gauger said of his Mosteller Road business. "If you change the waterways for the people downstream, you are responsible for this."
Officials in Butler County and Union Township, though, say they do far more than their downstream neighbors to offset the effects of development.
For instance, developers of subdivisions and industrial parks since the 1980s have been required to build retention ponds that will release storm- water runoff at the same rate the property did when vacant, said Greg Wilkens, manager of development services for the Butler County Engineer's Office.
Also, starting last October, Butler County began forcing builders to compensate for flood plain space filled with concrete. That means if a half-acre of flood plain is filled, developers must dig out a half-acre somewhere else in the flood plain for water retention.
Sharonville and Evendale also require developers to build retention ponds. But neither city takes the extra step of making up for lost flood plain.
Union Township officials insist they should not be forced to do more.
"Obviously this is in the best part of the area where folks would want to build," said Union Township Trustee Jose Alvarez, describing the area along Union Centre Boulevard near the new West Chester interchange.
To develop wetlands in that area, trustees claim the township would lose millions of dollars in property taxes and be forced to pay for the land until reimbursed by the corps.
That scenario is unlikely, considering escalating land values, Mr. Alvarez said. An acre of property in the area today sells for up to $20,000, according to developers.
But when the corps approached Butler County 20 years ago about wetland sites in Union Township, an acre sold for about $5,000, according to a letter from former county Administrative Assistant Robert Bogan.
In a Sept. 20, 1973, letter to the corps, Mr. Bogan's opposition to wetlands and retention sites echo officials' complaints today.
"We believe that it is possible for you to propose a flood control plan that will benefit both existing industry in Hamilton County and not sever the very life line of Union Township's future growth," he wrote.
Courtney Combs, president of the Butler County Board of Commissioners, said the county has done its part. Other towns, particularly Evendale and Sharonville, should accept responsibility for their flooding.
"I can't defend or chastise what happened 25 years ago, although I can say that Butler County is taking the appropriate steps and looking into what we can do to contribute to the solution," he said.
Some in Evendale and Sharonville want regional cooperation.
"You have to do the work together," said Alan Vicory, chairman of the Mill Creek Watershed Council, a collection of government representatives, businesses, organizations and individuals working to improve the Mill Creek.
"Water knows no boundaries. It doesn't stop at a community line."
Engineers at odds with booming development
