State open to change in dam plan

State officials say it would be highly unlikely for them to force the Ragged Mountain Reservoir to be drained if the dam were not repaired or replaced by 2011, the most recent deadline to address dam safety concerns.

“It doesn’t happen very often,” said Jim Robinson, the dam safety program manager for Virginia’s Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Rather, the state certificate to keep operating the dam would probably be extended as long as the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority showed progress on fixing the aging dam’s issues and justified the need for the extension, Robinson said. The authority’s plan to fix the safety issues, centered on its spillways, was to build a new dam that would expand the reservoir’s water-storage capacity from 464 million gallons to 2.19 billion.

But as officials continue to debate the area’s water-supply plan, a consultants’ report has cautioned that the dam could take until late 2012 or early 2013 to complete. That has raised questions about what delays could mean for the dam’s operational permits and whether the area could be placed on water restrictions should safety issues not be fixed.

But Robinson said that draining the dam would be a last resort, such as if an emergency occurred that would jeopardize the dam’s structure or if the dam’s safety were questionable.

The state-issued conditional certificate allows the authority to keep operating the dam but lists the improvements needed before a regular certificate can be issued. To obtain an extension, “they’ll need to assure us that progress is being made,” Robinson said.

Such certificates have been extended several times in the last five years, because the temporary permit and each extension can last only two years.

The Department of Conservation and Rec-reation issued Rivanna’s latest certificate to operate the dam in July 2004, roughly two years before the current water-supply plan was approved. But because the repairs were not completed within the initial timeframe, Rivanna has received several extensions ranging from two to 22 months.

Albemarle County Board of Supervisors Chairman David L. Slutzky said he suspects state regulators will grant local officials additional time to address the safety concerns as long as progress is being made on the water-supply plan. Yet, he said, there’s still uncertainty.

Slutzky said that the state isn’t allowed to leave the community without water, and at the same time, the localities aren’t allowed to have a dam that poses danger.

“If they think that structure’s unsafe, they’d tell us to take it down next Thursday,” Slutzky said.

While Robinson said that the state would not give the localities “forever” to fix the dam, authority officials “seem to be incorporating procedures that we’re satisfied with.”

The most recent extension was granted last year and will last until Nov. 30, Robinson said, which means the authority still needs to apply for at least one more extension to meet its timeline for dam replacement by 2011. Robinson said the measure would be necessary regardless of the new delays.

“If they were on schedule, that’s what they would be doing anyway,” he said. “Nothing has changed, as far as we’re concerned, about the process.”

Once the authority was ready to start construction on the new dam, Robinson said that the department would issue a two-year permit that would require construction to begin in that timeframe.

Rich Collins, a member of Citizens for a Sustainable Water Plan, said that some supporters of the approved water-supply plan have ramped up fear that considering dredging the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir to supply water capacity could lead the state to reject requests for extensions for resolving the dam’s safety issues. Dredging the reservoir could potentially affect the height of the Ragged Mountain dam.

Collins said that he doesn’t believe the deadline would prevent officials from considering dredging, and that it does not mean officials have insufficient time to go forward with the approved plan.

Kevin Lynch, a former Charlottesville city councilor who’s now a member of Citizens for a Sustainable Water Plan, said he thinks the consultants’ report pointing to 2012 or 2013 as more realistic timelines for dam construction makes stronger the case for forfeiting the approved water-supply plan for a dredging solution.

Lynch said that it would be quicker to repair and expand the existing dam at Ragged Mountain — in addition to dredging — as opposed to building a much taller dam.

Thomas L. Frederick Jr., the RWSA’s executive director, said that a dredging feasibility study could be conducted without affecting the approved water-supply plan.

“We understand the directive we’ve been given is to move forward with the dredging feasibility and also to move forward with the Ragged Mountain Dam project, and they can work independently,” Frederick said.

Frederick said the dam safety issues must be taken seriously.

He said that a flood sufficient to breach the existing dam is unlikely but possible, and that the consequences would be severe, including possible loss of lives and major property damage.