By Susan Vela
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Along the flood-prone Mill Creek, more than 1,000 property owners will endure another season of spring rains without a $352,000 early flood-warning system. A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report that would release money for the endeavor has moved from the agency's district office in Louisville to the division office in Cincinnati. But the document still needs approval from national headquarters in Washington.

So, summer is the earliest that base stations in Evendale and Sharonville could open. They would be connected to seven field stations and more than 30 rain gauges in Hamilton and Butler counties.

Similar networks are already installed in Fort Collins, Colo., and Overland Park, Kan., where monitors can determine the height of water at various field stations, how close water is to flood stage and whether it is gaining momentum and height while coursing downstream.

"This is something that we, as the local stakeholders, have really pushed for. (But) unless a miracle happens, it's not likely that it's going to be installed for the spring rainy season," said Nancy Ellwood, executive director of the Mill Creek Watershed Council. More than 450,000 people live within the watershed's boundaries.

"I'm disappointed for the folks who are affected by the flooding," she added. "It's just going to take longer than folks would like."

Despite the delays, she and Corps administrators feel confident that the early warning system will come. It has been in the works since 1999, and U.S. Reps. Steve Chabot and Rob Portman, Republicans representing Hamilton County, have been strong proponents.

The Corps will finance all flood-warning equipment. While paperwork makes its way toward Washington, the flood-prone communities of Evendale and Sharonville are pinpointing where they'll put their base stations.

"We hope this will provide at least an hour (for businesses) to move equipment. They are hit so hard that many of them stated "we have one more flood like this and we'll have to move out," said Christine Thompson, a certified floodplain manager in Sharonville.

July 2001 floods caused more than $40 million in damage to the city's businesses. One business alone, she said, sustained half that amount.

The federal government has been trying to alleviate Mill Creek flooding since the early 1970s. The Corps has submitted a study that looks at building a 16-mile tunnel, more than 30 feet in diameter, under the stream.

The study should be complete in 2004, said Linda Murphy of the Corps.

E-mail svela@enquirer.com