Dam Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Possible Federal Shutdown Risks Dam Operations

Brian Maka, public affairs officer at the Corps of Engineers, said the dam will maintain a small staff to ensure the safety of the dam. However, he says there will be some things the Corps will not be able to do.

A federal government shutdown is expected to begin on Oct. 1 and would have an impact on West Virginia’s dams.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for running the operations at nine of West Virginia’s dams. Since it is a federally run and funded agency, it would be a part of a federal government shutdown.

“Over time, that means that other things are not being done,” Maka said. “If you’re just focused on the operations, that’s all we will be manned to do. Routine things that the staff would normally do would not be done.”

He says he is still waiting to hear what the plan is if there is a government shutdown and that it’s hard to say this early what his agency will or won’t be able to do during a shutdown.

“But it’s certainly not the full complement of your workforce,” Maka said.

Recreational releases will continue at Summersville Dam for the Gauley whitewater schedule.

“It’s an authorized purpose of the dam to support the whitewater operations. So those releases will be done as scheduled, unless ordered otherwise,” Maka said.

The Corps says it is still working out the details of what a shutdown could mean.

West Virginia Regulators Monitoring Collapsed Section of Dam

West Virginia regulators are monitoring a damaged dam in the northern part of the state that could potentially fail.

The state Department of Environmental Protection says in a news release a worker with the town of Lumberport notified authorities Wednesday about a collapsed section of the dam.

The statement says erosion has occurred underneath a concrete spillway and water is flowing over and under the collapsed section. The dam is about 13 feet tall, has a shallow reservoir behind it and is owned by the community of about 870 residents. Another dam is immediately downstream.

The DEP says it’s working to open drain gates to relieve pressure on the failing dam and potentially pump water around it. A March 20 inspection noted the erosion. Both Lumberport dams were out of compliance with safety regulations.

Dam-Removal Project Delayed Until Early Fall

The removal of a dam along the West Fork River near Clarksburg has been delayed.

The Exponent Telegram reports that the project has been delayed until late September or early October.

Field supervisor for U.S. Fish and Wildlife John Schmidt said a consulting firm is assessing the condition of a bridge that crosses the river near the Two Lick Dam.

The agency has already removed the Highland and West Milford dams and will work with the West Virginia Division of Highways to remove the third dam. Once the dam is removed, the agency will begin collecting and relocating stranded mussels in the river.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Dams Prevented Much More Flooding

As storms rolled across West Virginia last Thursday unloading water in areas throughout the state, many of the state’s dams were functioning at high capacity. Aaron Smith is a Senior Project Manager with the Huntington District of the Army Corps of Engineers. He said dams like the Bluestone located in Summers county just upstream from Hinton did their job.

“A lot of people in Charleston don’t realize that they live downstream from one of the largest dams in the state, Bluestone, which could send waters downstream that could put Charleston under 10-15 feet of water. And that’s an extreme event and I don’t mean to scare people, but it’s an important fact that you need to realize,” Smith said.

The Huntington district of the corps controls all seven dams that exist in the state of West Virginia. The ones most effected by the weather event last Thursday were the:

Sutton dam located on the Elk.
Summersville dam located on the Gauley.
Bluestone dam located on the New River.

Jim Schray is the Senior Water Management Specialist at the Huntington District of the corps. Schray said on Thursday of last week things kicked into high gear mid-afternoon.

“As we’re watching those dams and watching the gauges downstream we’re starting to see very significant rises and we’re seeing significant rainfall,” Schray said. “So early afternoon we’re basically slamming shut the gates to cut off that water and store it to reduce the floods downstream, so it was very busy. Traditionally on a normal day, I’m running one computer model, on Thursday I was running 6.”

Schray said some of the heaviest of the rain fell outside the dams’ control – below Summersville, below Bluestone and below Sutton. He said they were able to catch most of the rain that fell above the dams. When they see storms starting to take shape in the models, they always close the dams.

“Basically we impound that water in our dam,” Schray said. “If you look at Summersville specifically, the elevation that resulted from this event is the second highest in its history. We stored almost 42 feet of water and we store that water till the downstream stages drop below the damage levels.”

He said they started to see those lower, normal levels on Saturday which led to the release of water at Summersville and Sutton. The controlled release allows the dam to slowly get back to normal levels, so the corp can be ready in case of another weather event.

Schray said when storms exceed the ability of the dam too retain flood waters it’s called a spillway event. In those instances, a dam may have to spill a significant amount of water downstream, and that can cause flooding too. Schray says the state-run Summit Lake Dam above Richwood experienced a spillway event last week.

According to Smith and Schray the idea of a dam on the Greenbrier River is one that’s floated around in the past, but there’s never been enough support to make it a reality.

Highland Dam Removal Creating New Concerns

The partial demolition of the Highland Dam has caused new problems in the West Fork River, including dropping water levels and exposed sewer lines.

Bill Hoover, general manager of Greater Harrison Public Services, tells the Exponent Telegram that the department has been monitoring water levels since April. He says he’s never seen the water level this low.

While there hasn’t been any damage to the exposed sewer lines, Hoover says it’s possible. Freezing temperatures and heavy rains can both cause line breakage.

A sewer line break would subsequently contaminate the West Fork River.

Clarksburg Water Board President Paul Howe says the problems should be addressed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and that neither the Water Board nor Greater Harrison Public Works should be liable for the cost of repairs.

The Fish and Wildlife Service couldn’t be reached for comment.