Georgia's Watershed Dams

History

One of the responsibilities of the Conservation Districts is to serve as sponsor and maintain the 357 Flood Control Dams previously designed and constructed by the Soil Conservation Service during the 1950s thru the 1970s. Of these 357 dams, 160 dams are classified as High Hazard Dams meaning that dam failure could result in loss of lives. Georgia Conservation Districts receive no funding to provide maintenance and repairs for these critical infrastructure assets of our state. In addition, a significant number of these Flood Control Dams have exceeded their 50-year design life and are in critical need of safety improvements in order to be in compliance with today’s standards.

Assessing the Aging Condition of Georgia’s 357 Flood Control Dams

Dam Assessments: Over the last 15 years, the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission (GSWCC) has been working to upgrade these High Hazard Flood Control Dams but to date only 21 (18 completed, 3 in progress) of these aging dams have been repaired in order to be in compliance with current engineering safety standards. Furthermore, GSWCC has been attempting to evaluate existing conditions of the remaining 140 High Hazard Flood Control Dams but to date GSWCC has only been able to obtain funding to perform Dam Assessments on 63 of these dams. Therefore, a Dam Assessment is yet to be performed on 77 of these High Hazard Flood Control Dams. These High Hazard Dams are at the end of their 50-year design life and in order to determine necessary safety improvements, a Dam Assessment costing about $20,000 per study must be completed on each of these structures.

Emergency Access Plans: In addition, as required by the EDP Safe Dams Program, an Emergency Access Plan (EAP) must be prepared for each High Hazard Dam before July 2017. EAPs must to be prepared for 140 of these High Hazard Flood Control Dams at a cost of $2,500 per dam.

Critical Maintenance: Based on the results of previous inspections reports prepared by the EPD Safe Dams Program, GSWCC and NRCS determined the outstanding critical maintenance needs of $5,900,000 for these High Hazard Flood Control Structures.

High Hazard Flood Control Dams

Dam Assessments: The Georgia Conservation Districts are requesting funding in the amount of $20,000 per dam in order to perform an engineering assessment of 77 High Hazard Flood Control Dams. These High Hazard Dams are at the end of their 50-year design life and to determine necessary safety improvements, a Dam Assessment must be completed on each of these structures. Total cost required to perform these critical Dam Assessments for all 77 dams is $1,540,000.

Emergency Access Plans: As required by the EDP Safe Dams Program, an Emergency Access Plan (EAP) must be prepared for each High Hazard Dam before July 2017. EAPs need to be prepared for 140 of these High Hazard Flood Control Dams at a cost of $2,500 per dam resulting in a total cost of $350,000.

Critical Maintenance: Based on the results of previous inspections reports prepared by the EPD Safe Dams Program, GSWCC and NRCS determined the outstanding critical maintenance needs of these High Hazard Flood Control Structures is $5,900,000.