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Bill will let LOW keep its dam Date published: 3/4/2010
By Chelyen Davis RICHMOND --A House committee yesterday approved a bill that will allow Lake of the Woods to keep its dam as-is, without having to shell out millions of dollars to upgrade it.Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania, submitted the bill because he said the state's revised dam regulations were excessive. The regulations, for example, required the Lake of the Woods dam to be able to hold 37 inches of rain over a 24-hour period-- an amount that Houck and his supporters say has never happened. The dam can hold 21 inches in 24 hours, Upgrading the dam was expected to cost $6 million, which worked out to $1,200 per household. Del. Ed Scott, R-Madison, who sits on the committee that heard the bill yesterday and has worked with Houck on the dam issue, said even during the worst flooding he can remember in Madison County, rainfall was far less than 37 inches in 24 hours. Houck said about 600 dams across the state-- some owned by the state--were out of compliance with those regulations. He said it's difficult to tell constituents they have to spend money to upgrade a dam when so many people are struggling economically. Houck said the state regulations were well-intended but too "one size fits all." His original bill said that noncompliant dams didn't have to be upgraded until the state provided the money to do so. But the bill underwent some revisions. Now it says dams in exis- tence or under construction by July 1, 2010, must be able to hold up to 90 percent of the probable maximum precipitation, and must comply with several other provisions, including daily monitoring, the existence of an emergency plan in case of dam failure, annual inspections, and enough insurance to cover downstream property damage in the event of a dam failure. Lake of the Woods board of directors president Bruce Kay said the dam there meets those criteria, and the amended bill still solves the problem the community had. The revised bill drew less opposition than the original bill did as it went through the Senate. The Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation boards supports the revised bill, although its members had issues with the original bill.
Why would a senator from Spotsylvania cave to a community in Orange county? Did you read the entire article? 600 dams are affected. If 3 feet of water falls in 24 hours rt3 is going to be washed out from the damn overflow even if they make the 6 million dollar fix.
Great our elected officials cave to a bunch of homeowners who bought into a community fully knowing a special assesment could happen like this. At 21" in 24 hours this dam is far from adequate. It is not a matter of if it will fail but when it will fail. Then with it in plain view of rt3 what will the state do when rt3 is washed far downstream. The detour from Culpeper to Fburg should only add what 20-30 miles to the drive. The suit from the effected against LOW will be a lot more then the 6 mil now!
Thank You Ed & Edd !!
High 24-hour Precipitation: 27.35" on August 20, 1969, in Nelson County (an unofficial record; the official record is over 10" less). The chances of a 37" rainfall is virtually impossible. And God help any where that another 27" might fall!
How is the LOW dam going to be a-ok with this bill and not need fixing? It now says that a dam must be able to withstand only 90% of the max precipitation. 37 inches in 24 hours is what the LOW dam has been classified as, 90% is only 33.3 inches that it must meet now. It says right in the article that it has only been rated for 21 inches, that's just over half the original 37 inches forecast.
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