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Department of Ecology News Release - August 4, 2008
08-212
OLYMPIA – Owners of small reservoirs built without permits from the Department of Ecology have until Sept. 1, 2008, to report their dams for safety inspections and avoid possible fines.
To protect people and property downstream, Ecology's Dam Safety Office has been scanning aerial photos across the state to locate unpermitted reservoirs of 2 acres or more that may hold at least 10 acre-feet (3.26 million gallons) of water. These reservoirs are often used in farming for frost control and to store irrigation water. Dams built without inspections and Ecology permits can be a hazard to people and property downstream.
So far, the safety review has identified "significant" or "high hazard" dams with at least one or two homes and as many as 12 or more homes downstream in 31 of Washington state's 39 counties. Yakima County leads the top five with 48 potentially hazardous unpermitted dams, followed by:
In recent years, five unpermitted, un-inspected dams in Washington state failed, causing flooding and property damage.
"We've been fortunate that the several dam failures we've had in the state haven't resulted in a loss of lives, as has occurred elsewhere. For the past five months we've been asking the owners of illegal dams to come forward and cooperate with Ecology to get their dams inspected and permitted," said Dam Safety Supervisor Doug Johnson.
A total of 594 unpermitted dams of two acres or more have been spotted in aerial photos since the inventory began. Of those, 244 appear to be "high hazard" dams, upstream of three or more homes. Of the high hazard dams, 133 appear to be upstream of 12 or more homes. More than 100 of the unpermitted dams are dairy waste ponds or sewage lagoons.
Ecology's Dam Safety Office is asking owners of unpermitted dams to contact Ecology by Sept. 1, 2008, for an initial inspection and then hire an engineer to provide recommendations on how to bring their facilities up to current safety standards. Owners who fail to correct deficiencies and obtain all needed state permits could face fines of up to $5,000 a day. Ecology can also order dangerous dams to be drained and removed.
A water reservoir for any use capable of storing 10 acre-feet or more above ground level falls under Ecology's authority in RCW 90.03.350. Ten acre-feet of water is equivalent to a football field, eight feet deep. Owners of reservoirs holding less than 10 acre-feet may still be liable for property damage if their dams fail. Even reservoirs not requiring permits should be designed by licensed engineers and inspected periodically.
Owners of 31 frost ponds and four dairy waste ponds have contacted Ecology voluntarily since March. Most of these have been orchard owners in Yakima County. Orchards often use frost control ponds instead of smudge pots or wind machines to minimize frost damage to budding trees. Spraying a fine mist of water serves to raise air temperatures a critical degree or two as the mist freezes.
Department of Ecology Dam Safety Office
P.O. Box 47600
Olympia, WA 98504-7600
Phone: (360) 407-6623 E-mail: djsd461@ecy.wa
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Media Contacts:
Dan Partridge, 360-407-7139, e-mail
dpar461@ecy.wa.gov
Doug Johnson, dam safety supervisor, 360-407-6623, e-mail
djsd461@ecy.wa.gov
For more information: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/dams/dss.html
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
