ISSUE:
There are approximately 900 dams in Virginia
that are regulated by DCR through the Soil & Water Conservation Board.
The SWCD dams have been built under USDA supervision through the Natural
Resources Conservation Service under Federal programs created through
the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954 (PL 83-566 and
PL 78-534). Many of these dams are in need of major rehabilitation
because they are old or because circumstances around them have changed.
Additional funding is needed for dam repair and maintenance.
WHY
IMPORTANT: Dam failure can result in loss of
life and great economic loss. The impact of land use changes around dams
and lakes affects the definitional category of a dam. A subdivision can
quickly replace a forest or a farm, and all of a sudden a high hazard
Class 1 dam with great potential for loss has been created out of what
began as a Class 4 dam constructed under low density downstream land use
assumptions. Federal funding for dam repair will also now be available
on a matching grant basis to leverage funds set aside by Virginia.
RATIONALE:
·
Ownership of Virginia’s dams
is divided as follows :
Privately held 49%
SWCD 22%
Local govt. 21%
State 8%
·
The age of the dams are as
follows:
14 percent are 40-50 years old
49 percent are 30-39 years old
21 percent are 20-29 years old
12 percent are 10-19 years old
4 percent are less than 10 years old
·
A classification system has
been established for dams that categorize them according to the
potential loss of life or economic loss that would result in case of dam
failure. There are four classes of dams..
-
Class 1 means that if failure occurred
there would be probable loss of life and great economic
loss
-
Class 2 means that if failure occurred
there would be possible loss of life and high economic
loss
-
Class 3 means that if failure occurred
there would be no loss of life and minimum economic loss
-
Class 4 means that if failure occurred there would be
no loss of life and no economic loss
outside the owner’s property
·
About 40 percent of the
regulated dams in Virginia are categorized as Class 1 or 2.
·
SWCD owned dams are
inspected regularly by the Dam Safety Division of DCR. District
employees and other local government officials (such as the Department
of Emergency Services) work together with DCR to insure that the
structures are as safe as possible. Reports are made to the SWCBoard,
which grants the operating permits. Sometimes conditional permits are
granted.
·
SWCDs perform routine
maintenance on their dams drawing from local funds and a State fund
created in the mid-1990’s by the General Assembly. In 2000 this fund was
expanded in scope and provided with dollars to begin to (1) rehabilitate
two of the Commonwealth’s most high hazard dams and to (2) have funds
available to match Federal money which could come as a result of the
“Lucas bill” in Congress.
·
The “Lucas Bill” was passed
in 2000 and signed by President Clinton in November. This bill provides
Federal funds of 65 percent to be matched by other funds of 35 percent
to rehabilitate dams owned by SWCDs in Virginia and other states. The
amount of Federal money, when appropriated, should be $60 million per
year for 10 years.
·
A Dam Safety Technical
Advisory Committee was established by the state Soil and Water
Conservation Board in1999 to review dam conditions in the Commonwealth.
This Committee has representation from SWCDs, local government, private
dam owners, independent engineers, and others as well as DCR employees.
-
The Committee recognized several major
problems:
1) It is very expensive to rehabilitate these dams. There
have been estimates by NRCS that updating the 10 most in need would cost
$8 million. And this is only for SWCD dams, which make up only 22
percent of the regulated dams.
2) Also in need of rehabilitation are many of the 49
percent that are under private ownership. So far no money has been set
aside by the State for these dams.
POLICY:
Securing funding for annual maintenance of the
104 dams operated and maintained by soil and water conservation
districts, periodic rehabilitation and major modifications to comply
with the Virginia Dam Safety Act will continue to be a priority issue
for the VASWCD.
ADOPTED:
December 10, 2002
EXPIRES:
December 31, 2006
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