“It’s the end of life as we know it at Buckeye Lake.”
That was the cut-to-the-chase verdict that general manager Deb Sturm delivered to her boss, Tracy Higginbotham, owner of the Buckeye Lake Winery, after returning Wednesday night from a hastily called meeting with a handful of area civic leaders. They had gathered to discuss the sobering Army Corps of Engineers’ report on the 177-year-old Buckeye Lake dam that was released on Wednesday.
Because of the dam’s poor condition, compromised by more than 370 homes built directly into the 4.1-mile earthen structure, the “likelihood of dam failure is high,” said the report, and it “poses a significant risk to the public.”
Among the options to prevent “catastrophic failure,” as recommended by the Corps to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which owns the dam and lake and paid for the study: Build a new dam or turn the lake into a 3,000-acre mud puddle by emptying it.
“The safest solution for eliminating the risk of flooding due to dam failure is to drain the lake permanently,” the report says.
...
The risk of dam failure, however, is significantly higher when the lake is at summer’s depth. Should the dam fail, approximately 3,000 people live within the projected flood zone.
“The resulting flooding would most probably occur without sufficient warning or evacuation time,” the report said. It goes on to say that those homes and businesses, and people, within the flood zone would “face the potential of being hit by up to an 8-foot wave of water, mud and debris.”
“The economic impact to the area doesn’t outweigh the possible loss of life,” said [Ohio Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Bethany McCorkle]. “Public safety is the top priority. It’s a very serious situation. The dam could go at any minute according to the report.”
When asked whether the current earthen dam is salvageable, Mike Spoor, engineer with the Huntington District of the Corps, which assessed Buckeye Lake, flatly said, “No.”
via www.dispatch.com
Ohio isn't know for its natural lakes (besides Lake Erie the largest natural lake in the state is 345 acres and it is called Aurora Pond). But, Ohio does have its share of unnatural lakes (reservoirs) of which Buckeye Lake is in the top 10 in size at 3100 acres. Because of its proximity to the second largest combined statistical area in the state, the Columbus CSA--yes the Columbus CSA is bigger than Cincinnati CSA--and 25th largest in the country, Buckeye Lake is a popular recreational and vacation home destination. For now.
But the state is faced with some difficult economic decisions. As the Army Corp of Engineers report summarizes:
Considering the immediate proximity of the downstream population, a catastrophic breach of Buckeye Lake Dam could pose unacceptable life loss and economic consequences. Therefore, immediate interim risk reduction measures are recommended to reduce risk of catastrophic dam failure as a result of breaching during normal pool retention. The District recommends that interim risk reduction measures be implemented immediately. The District further recommends that comprehensive risk reduction alternatives be evaluated, selected, and implemented by ODNR. Selection of remediation alternatives should be based on the potential for proposed actions to reduce risk to a tolerable level.
hmmm...time to call in the economists to assess the 'tolerable' level of risk? (our number is in the book)
