The Miami Conservancy District is a public corporation established following the passage of the Conservancy Act of Ohio in 1914. After the 1913 flood inundated the Miami Valley, local citizens were determined to avoid such a disaster in the future. They initiated the drive for a successful flood control plan and assumed the total construction and maintenance costs without state or federal aid. Englewood Dam is the largest of five dams built through this project. In 1927 the Miami Conservancy District was designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.