Municipal Dam Grant Application Period Is Open!
The deadline to submit completed grant applications is by close of business on February 28, 2020.
Applications will be reviewed, scored and ranked from March through May according to the prescribed timeline in s. NR 335.06, Wis. Admin. Code. The priority funding list will be distributed on or before June 1, 2020.
The 2019-2021 State Budget authorizes grant funding in the amount of $3,500,000 for municipal dam repair, modification or abandonment and removal (NR 335, Wis. Admin. Code).
Eligible applicants:
Eligible dams:
Cost sharing for the municipal dam repair, modification or abandonment and removal is calculated as follows:
The updated Municipal Dam grant application instructions and application Form 3500-088 (revised August 2019) can be accessed on the WDNR Municipal Dam Grant web page under the tab called Applying. If you are considering submitting an application please read the instructions as soon as possible to be aware of all of the attachments that must be included at the time of submittal. It is also strongly encouraged that you contact the WDNR Regional Water Management Engineer (WME) for the County where the dam is located. Here is a link to the list of WMEs: https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Dams/regionalcontacts.html
Contacts:
Tanya Lourigan, State Dam Safety Engineer, 608-444-2089
Wendy Peich, Grant Manager, 608-264-9207
Do Dams Provide Flood Control?
With the flooding season behind us - at least in some parts of the state, high water sparked a common question, “Do dams provide flood protection?” The answer is that all dams can provide some level of protection against flooding; however, it is frequently very little, and the degree of protection is limited depending on the design and operation.
In general, each dam is unique and is designed to serve one or more purposes. Dams are constructed for many reasons, including recreation, wildlife habitat or fish ponds, power generation, providing a water source for agricultural operations, navigation, wetland restoration, and flood control.
So, how does a dam provide flood control? A flood control dam is primarily designed to maximize storage of runoff resulting from a precipitation event, and then to release that water more slowly to protect life, health and property downstream. The key aspect in the design is that the impoundment area upstream of the dam can store significant floodwater above the normal water level and then provide a controlled release of water downstream over a prolonged period of time. In some designs, the impoundment is kept completely dry to maximize the amount of storage that is available when a flood event occurs. To describe it in a more scientific manner, the storage in the impoundment attenuates the river flow, which, in turn, reduces the peak of the inflow hydrograph.
Does that mean that a dam which maintains a permanent impoundment (i.e. pond or lake) does not provide flood protection? Not necessarily. Even when dams hold water at a regular level, some storage may be available in the reservoir to help attenuate the flows from flood events without impacting shoreline property. But depending on the design and operation of the dam, the storage can be quite limited and therefore provide negligible flood control benefits. In these cases, dams are typically operated as run of river. In other words, flow that comes in, is released at a similar rate.
During flooding events, water may also be flowing into the system at a higher rate than it is going out. This may cause the level in the impoundments upstream of the dam to rise resulting in shoreline flooding until floodwaters recede. Some dam owners proactively lower the level of the impoundment by allowing more water than normal to flow through the dam in preparation for a flood event. This increases the storage capacity and reduces the downstream impact of the flood event. However, for various reasons (e.g., concerns of residents around the impoundment and downstream, ordered water levels, etc.) it is not always possible or desired to operate a dam in this fashion. In most cases, the dam is just a “speed bump” in the river and large floods will be passed downstream.
Some dams in Wisconsin are designed to provide flood control. These dams are most common in the western part of the state. This area, also known as the Driftless Area, contains steep topography which can cause flash flooding when rainfall rapidly runs off the land during a severe storm event. This results in highly erosive flood flows through streams, rivers, and gullies. To capture and control the high flows and velocities, flood control dams were constructed.
The Soil Conservation Service (SCS), now the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), designed and constructed a series of flood control dams, primarily in western Wisconsin during the mid-1950’s – 1980’s under Public Law 83-566 (PL-566). Most of these dams are still in place today and are often maintained and operated by county land conservation districts. The typical design includes an earthen embankment with an inlet riser connected to an outlet pipe through the embankment and an earthen auxiliary spillway, much like the photograph associated with this article. These flood control structures provide protection for downstream farmland and other natural resources, residences, and highways.
A number of dams on the Wisconsin River system were designed to store spring runoff that is released during the drier months to augment flows on the Wisconsin River. Unfortunately, these impoundments are in full pool during late spring through early fall, therefore cannot provide significant flood control during this time. Additionally, some large dams associated with power generation can provide a degree of flood control. However, most of them are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and have ordered (regulated) maximum and minimum water level orders.
Dam owners are in a very difficult situation during flood events. Many people assume the dam operation is responsible for both upstream and downstream flooding, when the reality is that the magnitude of the flood is the culprit. If you find yourself in this situation, the best course is to make sure you are operating within your operation plan. If the dam you operate has a maximum ordered (regulated) water level, you need to operate the dam to its full extent to stay within the ordered levels until the inflow exceeds the capacity of the dam. Holding upstream levels higher than what was planned in the design can put the stability of the dam in jeopardy. It is also a good idea to keep residents and local emergency responders aware of the situation at your dam during extreme flooding events. Finally, if you are concerned about your dam during a flooding event, you should implement your Emergency Action Plan (EAP) at a Warning Level 3 (unusual incident; slowly developing; high water) and try to contact the DNR Water Management Engineer assigned to your county. Visit the DNR Dam Safety website for an EAP template, if one has not been developed for your dam.
If you own a large dam, an Inspection, Operation and Maintenance Plan (IOM) is also required. The IOM will contain details about maximum ordered water levels and how to operate the dam in anticipation of, and during, high flow events. If you do not have an IOM for your dam, a template is available on the DNR website.
Please reach out to DNRDAMSAFETY@Wisconsin.gov if editable versions of the EAP or IOM templates are needed.
DNR Dam Safety Staff Update
Meg Galloway, Chief of the Dam and Floodplain Section will retire from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) after 29 years of service. Meg will be launching into a new career as a Senior Policy Advisor with the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) based in Madison, Wisconsin. In this role, she will provide guidance on making effective national flood policy and legislation at the state and local level.
Meg’s entire career with the DNR was spent in the Dam and Floodplain Section. Her time at the DNR has allowed her to combine a life-long passion for all things water, with a deep desire to protect the public from water gone “bad”.
Meg also served on the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) Board of Directors for most years between 1996 and 2006, serving as Board President from 2004-2005. She wrapped up her term as Board President with a bang - Hurricane Katrina struck three weeks before the Dam Safety 2005 National Conference was be to held in New Orleans, Louisiana. She has also represented the state programs on the National Dam Safety Review Board.
Meg’s final message: “Remember to be dam (and flood) safe.”
A big congratulations and thank you to Meg for her service and contributions to the DNR!
New Dam and Floodplain Section Chief
Please welcome Rob Davis in the position of Dam and Floodplain Section Chief. Rob will start in the role, beginning November 11, 2019. The section chief administers the statewide dam safety and floodplain and floodplain mapping subprograms, supervises engineers and technical staff, approves floodplain technical analyses, and provides dam safety expertise during emergencies.
Rob states, “I look forward to the challenge of helping to shape the program in the future. I am honored to have the opportunity to be Section Chief of the Dam Safety and Floodplain Program.” Rob was born and raised in Verona, he says. Following high school, he attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering. After getting married and living in Madison for several years after college, Rob and his wife moved back to Verona to raise their boys. Their boys are now teenagers, they still live in Verona, and have a rescue dog named Bucky that is a black lab mix. They enjoy camping at the beautiful state parks in Wisconsin. In Rob’s spare time, he enjoys coaching his son’s baseball teams. The family also fosters dogs and they dog sit frequently. Most of the time Rob’s house is full of dogs and teenage boys and they love it!
After working at a couple of private sector engineering firms following college, Rob started with DNR in 2007 as a Water Management Engineer working in the Fitchburg office. He has been in the position for the past 12+ years.