New dam estimate at odds with old

Despite previous estimates, the cost of repairing and expanding the existing Ragged Mountain Dam might prove more expensive than starting fresh with a new dam for the area’s water supply needs, a local official says.

The statement comes from Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority Executive Director Thomas L. Frederick Jr. and may throw another wrench into ongoing debate over what should be the ultimate strategy for ensuring the region has enough water for the next half-century.

According to Frederick, Schnabel Engineering, the firm that is studying the cost of building a new dam at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir, has surmised that repairing the existing infrastructure might be the costlier option. That conclusion runs contrary to what was found by Gannett Fleming, the RWSA consultant for dam work that was fired earlier this year.

If city councilors want Schnabel to study the feasibility and cost of repairing the existing dam, Frederick said the consultant would likely charge more than $50,000 but less than $500,000. That’s because additional geotechnical studies would need to be completed, he said.

Without such a feasibility study, city councilors have differing opinions on whether Schnabel’s inkling should be taken as sound information.

“I would wait for the research to see what the facts are,” Councilor Satyendra Huja said in an interview Tuesday. Huja added that he was surprised Schnabel would issue such an opinion without doing a detailed investigation.

“This is their preliminary thought,” Huja said. “They still need to do the research.”

“I was, frankly, incredulous,” Mayor Dave Norris said Tuesday. “It still boggles my mind that that can be the case.”

Frederick relayed the information from Schnabel to the City Council at the council’s Monday meeting. Frederick did not return multiple requests for comment on Tuesday, and Schnabel project administrator Chris Webster could not be reached.

On Monday, Norris repeatedly asked why the estimates for expanding the existing dam could be so varied, and he said he thinks the council must know accurate cost information before making a final decision on the area’s long-term water plan. Frederick said the only answer he could provide was that it was two different firms looking at the project and coming to different conclusions.

Frederick said Gannett Fleming completed a study of the Ragged Mountain Dam between 2002 and 2003, but at the time it was not being considered as a future source of water. Construction-only estimates to expand the dam were as low as $2.9 million, but Frederick said those were not the full project costs and Gannett Fleming said they did not know if they could do that without draining the reservoir itself.

“I was troubled by some of the conclusions I heard,” Frederick said, adding that the RWSA has questioned Gannett Fleming’s numbers.

Uncer-tainty over the cost of either expanding the existing dam or building a new one is part of the controversy over the 50-year water supply plan that has been the subject of unending debate and controversy.

The water plan approved in 2006 includes a new, higher dam at Ragged Mountain and a pipeline from the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir to Ragged Mountain Reservoir, where the new dam would provide more water capacity.

But those plans have been under siege as opponents push for dredging at South Fork as a way to possibly meet local water needs without spending nearly as much as the original water plan price tag of $142 million.

Betty Mooney, a member of Citizens for a Sustainable Water Plan and a critic of the current plan, said she did not believe that repairing and expanding the existing dam could be more expensive than building a new dam from scratch.

“I have complete confidence that it is less money,” she said. Mooney said she trusts Gannett Fleming’s past estimates, and she would not trust Schnabel’s information if they discovered that building a new dam would be less costly.

Councilors have decided to pay close to $320,000 to study the feasibility of dredging the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir as a part of the area’s long-term water supply plan.

This article was edited to correct stated dollar amounts in the fourth paragraph.