Flood threat keeps a city on edge

As dams go, the Whittendon Pond Dam is unremarkable. But the threat of its collapse this week forced the evacuation of 2,000 residents, closed schools and businesses, and kept flood-wary residents asking if the 173-year-old wooden structure would hold.

The days of drama here in the old mill town of Taunton, Mass., also renewed an old debate: Are these aging dams still a vital part of the nation's infrastructure? Or are they just hazardous relics of an industrial past?

Of the more than 79,000 dams listed by the National Inventory of Dams, only a fraction have been decommissioned.

But that is changing quickly.

In many cases, it is cheaper to remove an idle dam than repair and maintain it. As dam owners learn more about liability, many are opting to shut them down rather than bear the consequences of a safety hazard. And a push to restore free-flowing rivers and fish habitats is also playing a role.

"It is becoming more popular to close down dams," says Bill Hover, chair of the Dam Decommissioning Committee at the US Society on Dams.

He says that dams are part of America's forgotten infrastructure, but an event like the one in Taunton makes a policy debate top of mind. "People learn more about what can happen when a dam doesn't operate the way you want it to."

The crisis in Taunton, a city of more than 50,000 residents, came to a head after seven inches of rain fell last weekend, swelling the Mill River to near-flood levels.

On Tuesday, some parts of the privately owned dam swept away. Since then, emergency crews - and national media - have converged on the scene.

The situation ushered rapid change in the state. Gov. Mitt Romney ordered the immediate inspection of 186 dams, both privately and publicly owned, that could also pose risk to lives or property if breached. There are some 3,000 dams throughout the state.

States monitor about 95 percent of the nation's private and public dams, says Lori Spragens, executive director of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials in Lexington, Ky.. Many dam safety departments, she says, are understaffed.

At least 10 states, including Massachusetts, are shifting inspection responsibilities to dam owners.

Ms. Spragens, whose group advocates stronger dam-safety programs, says that such a shift, if done right, will not lower standards of safety. "It doesn't take the responsibility off the state [to enforce safety]," she insists.

Because many dams were built centuries ago, the cost of repair and compliance can be far more expensive than removal - three times more, according to some estimates.

That is a major reason 175 dams have been removed since 1999, says Elizabeth Maclin, director of the dam removal campaign at American Rivers, an environmental group in Washington. "Dam removal has been going on for centuries," she says, adding that the number of those being removed is increasing.

Page: 1 | 2