Federal plan for dam raises red flags for DNR January 16 2008

by Tim Hundt

. The decision about what to do with Jersey Valley dam became more complicated, or a lot simpler, depending on how you look at it, when the DNR informed the Vernon County Land and Water Conservation Committee last week that it may not approve the federal plan to repair the structure.

Gordon Stinson, a watershed management engineer with the DNR, told the committee he has reviewed the latest version of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) plan to repair the dam and it would not meet DNR criteria as a safe repair of the dam.

The county's land and water department had expressed its concerns in the last couple of months to NRCS engineers that the NRCS report and proposed plan to fix the dam had not taken into account information gathered by a private consultant that showed the dam was leaking all the way across the structure and not just on the left hillside.

Stinson agreed with those concerns and said without further clarification the DNR likely will not approve the plan. Stinson added that even if the concerns are addressed the NRCS plan still may not get approval.

Stinson said several specific items in the NRCS report concerned the DNR, including leakage in the right abutment of the dam. NRCS has clarified that issue with the county in subsequent meetings and has said it would do a "clay blanket" fix along both sides of the dam.

The NRCS approach was to lower the hazard rating of the dam by reducing the height of the dam and the size of the pool behind the dam, thus reducing the "breach route" or the flood path if the dam should fail. The idea was to remove people and structures from potential damage if the dam fails.

Stinson said he would need a more detailed analysis of the flood pool to prove that no structures would get wet in the event of a failure. Stinson said DNR standards state that if water touches the foundation of a structure it is considered in the breach route. Stinson said NRCS "flood proofing" would not be sufficient protection under DNR standards.

"Right now it is difficult to compare with their tabular data if the lower dam would benefit the county,” said Stinson. "Right now it doesn't look that way. If houses (are threatened it is) still going to be a high-hazard dam even though it (the dam) is half as tall. At that point you begin to say 'what's the point of spending as much money if not more to lower it if you still have the same hazard rating?' The NRCS report is saying it will be lower hazard and the department (DNR) is saying 'Prove it.'"

The NRCS proposal is to make the dam a low-hazard dam by reducing the height of the dam by 20 feet and reducing the recreational pool by about half. The NRCS said its plan would remove Avalanche and Bloomingdale from the "breach route" if the dam would fail, but reduces the flood protection for those communities, which would now be subject to more periodic flooding. The NRCS option also calls for a less drastic repair to the dam by extending a "clay blanket" up the east shoreline to alleviate leaking and doing surface grouting. This plan was approved by the county board earlier this year. The cost for the NRCS plan would be $1.9 million, and includes $500,000 in engineering the county would not have to pay.

The other plan that was rejected by the county board was a proposal by STS Consultants, which would place one or more "grout curtains" all the way along the dam by drilling holes at regular intervals and pumping concrete under pressure into the rock foundation. Vernon County's dam project manager, Phil Hahn, said engineers believe they can reduce the "leakiness" of the rock with one curtain, but up to three or four curtains may be needed.

The STS proposal would keep the dam listed as high hazard because Avalanche and Bloomingdale would still be in the breach route, but the fix is intended to stabilize the dam itself. The STS proposal would also return Jersey Valley Lake back to its full recreational resource at 50-plus acres in size with a swimming beach. The cost of the STS proposal is about $2 million, but that includes a high water warning system and an improved beach and swimming area. Twenty-five percent of the $1.7 million is a contingency amount.

Also, the county has received $500,000 in the state budget to help pay for whatever plan it chooses to fix the Jersey Valley dam.

One notable difference that the county board considered heavily is that if the county does not accept an NRCS plan, the county will sever its agreements with the NRCS. That means the county would lose out on basically free engineering advice and any potential federal cost sharing money. However, the federal government has not budgeted cost sharing money for dam repairs in recent years.

In March of 2005, most of the fish in Jersey Valley Lake were killed by a combination of manure runoff and a draw-down of the lake. At that time, the lake was completely drawn down to study leaking, which had been reported at the dam since it was completed in the 1960s. At that time fissures were discovered in a hillside at the lake. The county has been under orders by the DNR to repair the dam for more than a year.

Stinson's report to the county further complicates the decision-making process. The county is up against a timeline because the DNR has twice extended its order to repair the structure. The deadline to either extend again or have a plan in place to repair is coming up in April.

"An open-ended repair order like this continues to expose the county to risk," said Stinson "The dam needs to move forward in one direction or another, either come down or be fixed as is."

Committee member Will Beitlich asked how long it will take to get a response from NRCS once they get Stinson's letter.

"They may never," said Stinson.

"Then where is this going?" asked Beitlich. "Are we just sitting here talking? We have talked for two years."

"Let me back up," said Stinson. "Maybe she (committee member Judy Wilmes) had it right. Maybe I am saying the only plan that you have that has any engineering that addresses the issues is the one your consultant came up with. This (NRCS report) is a proposal, but this is not enough for the department to evaluate the regulatory side of it, so it is in limbo. And if NRCS is saying 'We are not doing anything until we get funding,' this could sit in the table until September or October when their funding comes up. And if this never gets addressed it is as if it never happened. So, then the only thing you have left is the other option."

"If there is no money in September or October you aren't going to wait anymore, are you?" asked committee member Orvis Primmer.

"It comes down to how much risk you are comfortable with as the owners and operators," said Stinson. "We would like to see something moving forward and it has been a couple of years and we have looked at a lot of options."

Beitlich said the county could be back at the same point in 20 years, even if the structure is fixed.

"Because NRCS said it was a good place to put a lake and it turns it isn't," said Beitlich. "Because it is karst and now we are plugging holes.

Primmer said he grew up downstream of the structure and "if you tear them out you will be right back where you were 30 years ago."

"It is a cost benefit," said Stinson. "Time will take its toll on the dam, that is the nature of the beast and it is up to you folks to decide if the cost benefit is worth it."

Richard Hansen asked Stinson if it would be safer to leave Jersey Valley empty. Stinson said only by increasing the storage capacity by about 10 percent, but it would still be in danger of failing in the event of a flood.

"I know it is not easy being the owners and operators of 22 flood control structures," said Stinson. "I am sure when they were put in …"

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," said Hansen.

"And I think it was a good idea," said Stinson. "From a regulatory perspective I am trying to look for the public health and safety."

Stinson went on to tell the committee that the county will likely get orders to repair at least four of the structures damaged in the 2007 flooding. Stinson said Hidden Valley, Seas Branch, Primmer and Runge Hollow will likely see repair orders in the near future.

Hahn said he has been working with state representatives to see if the state will set aside up to $12 million per biennium for dam repairs to address large projects.

At a later meeting the legal affairs committee struggled with how to word a referendum question on whether or not the county should go with the NRCS plan or the STS plan. The committee did formulate a question as the county board had asked them to do, but the committee questioned the need given the new information from the DNR.

Committee member Kevin Gobel asked that county officials and county board members take a wider political approach to the dam issue given the large amount of financial burden the county could face with the dam repairs.

"I was in Congressman (Ron) Kind's office today and they are putting out letters to (Sen. Herb) Kohl and (Sen. Russ) Feingold," said Gobel "But it’s not just Jersey Valley, it is the whole deal in Vernon County. And then you can go outside of Vernon County and go all over the United States. It is a national problem that is not being funded by the national government. But you know the big thing on Jersey Valley is that the people have expressed through the newspaper or by coming to the board is that they would like it fixed the way it is.

"I think it is fine to gather all this information but it certainly looks to me we need to slow the whole thing down and look at what we need to do with all of them because obviously the federal government is going to have to do something," Gobel continued.

Gobel asked that a cost to fix Jersey Valley be included in the referendum question. The committee decided to include a total cost of $2 million. The cost to do the grouting is around $1.7 million and other items like a high water warning system will take the cost to $2 million. A grant from the state for $500,000 will take the cost to local taxpayers down to around $1.5 million.

Gobel suggested working with state and federal representatives to get the federal government involved.

The legal affairs committee and land and water committee will bring the referendum to the county board in February.