Ice jams in the Muskingum River continue to cause concern

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- Blocks of ice continue to cause ice jams in the frozen Muskingum River from Terrace Shore to Dresden.

Director of Muskingum County Emergency Management Agency Jeff Jadwin said the ice jam has become worse over the last few days. The water level is down about two feet at the Ellis Dam but, the water level is still very high in Dresden. He said there is still some localized flooding and the concern right now is the upcoming snow fall.

“The concern is that we’ve got more snow coming now, cold temperatures, that it will warm up at the end of the week. We’re very concerned that a rapid warm-up won’t help the ice, but it’ll melt the snow that’s on the ground and that will put more water in the river and create more problems for us soon,” said Jadwin.

There are also jams south of Ellis Dam in Morgan County. Jadwin said a last resort option would be using dynamite to break up the ice. He said if the decision is made it will be done by the United States Army Corp of Engineers.

“That won’t be a local decision and they’ve got a lot of concerns. That we’ve got jams south of here in Morgan County, Stockport. So if we get a sudden rush of water from here headed downstream, we could cause more flooding there. We have to be very concerned about bridges that are in the path of the water and ice,” said Jadwin.

The ice was broken up by dynamite in 1978 due to a Blizzard to open the river. Jadwin said the Muskingum County Emergency Management Agency will continue to monitor the situation in conjunction with the Army Corp Engineers and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.