Dangerous Dams In North Texas? Some Don't Have Emergency Action Plans
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DALLAS (1080 KRLD) - You know there are dams in the area for water supply and flood control. But do you have any idea how many? Dozens? Try more than 700 just in the Metroplex.
While most hold only small amounts of water a KRLD News investigation has found a significant number don't have required emergency action plans on file.
The bigger lakes have huge dams. All regulated and inspected. All declared safe with the proper paperwork on file. But its the smaller ones that can also put property at risk.
In North Texas, of the 700 dams on file with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, many are small and in largely rural areas. If something happened to them, there would be flooding but probably not widespread property damage.
But then there are other dams that could cause big problems if they fail...dams you may not even know about.
"You know I don't even know how much water it holds, if it holds enough to cause any issues or not." said Gary Smith of Euless. He lives near a dam.
There are 330 of those dams - and each is supposed to have an emergency action plan, known as an EAP, on file. Our review of records show more than one out of every 10 that needs a plan - doesn't have one.
"We attempt to get all high and significant dam owners to submit EAPs" said Warren Samuelson, Dam Safety Program Coordinator at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. "Some of them haven't because of finances or whatever it may be."
Samuelson says the EAP tells who is to be notified if a dam fails and where the possible damage area may lie. But reports show there are dams in metroplex neighborhoods without an EAP. For instance, Donna Orozco lives just a few doors down from the Eden Dam in Euless. It is supposed to have a plan. It doesn't.
"It's kind of scary. Just a little bit. And we already had flooding problems in our house this last spring.
Last spring it rained hard and often, following a long drought. This coming spring, the experts say, could be even worse. Samuelson says that could play into dam integrity.
"When you go through a situation with a drought or a flood, or a drought followed by a flood there's always concern that some structure may not make it through after having been dry for some period of time." he said.
Samuelson says most dams, whether they have a report on file or not, are fine and can handle storms. But as North Texas saw in Midlothian last spring, dams can also come close to fail. That dam did have a plan.
Records show percentage-wise, Rockwall county has the fewest number of required plans on file - with only one out of 10 dams reporting. "When it comes to plans, the county does the planning for any kind of responses to a breach in dam" says Joe Delane, Rockwall County emergency management coordinator. "Our plans have been submitted to the state."
Samuelson also says that there are other dams in crowded neighborhoods that don't have plans because they are not required to have one.
One of those dams, for instance for instance - is the Lake June dam - in the middle of a neighborhood in Pleasant Grove, near a school.
"They have a bad bad storm like they did last year it gets worse." said longtime resident Floyd Beckham.
Even if the state doesn't worry, Beckham does. He can only hope the inspectors have it right. And residents like Donna Orozco can only hope someone comes up with the plan to be be on file for the dam near her house before the rainy season.
"I've never really thought about it because the lake is all covered up and it's all basically private property to the lake." she says. "So I've never thought about it. But now that would be pretty scare if it went."
See a map of North Texas Dams
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