|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
A safer high hazard dam at Indian Creek
The Site 2 Dam, with houses and businesses in the flood plain below, was rehabilitated |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
The earthen dam built in 1975 at Site 2 in the Indian Creek Watershed Project just north of Council Bluffs was classified as a medium hazard dam at the time. But it became a high hazard dam in 2003 after a dam breach analysis in 2002. That’s because people built houses in the floodplain below the dam after the dam was built, and if the dam failed, it could take human lives in addition to damaging property. The structure was rehabilitated by NRCS in 2007. The design and construction is sound, and actual sediment accumulation in the water pool is less than the predicted accumulation. “While you always have a little concern with a high hazard dam, and the possibility always exists for a breach, with the relatively low rate of sediment accumulation and the rehabilitation of the dam, it’s very unlikely this dam will breach or overtop now,” says Kevin Seevers, a conservationist with the West Pottawattamie Soil and Water Conservation District. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship contributed cost-share funds to help with the local share required for rehabilitation of the structure. |
Kevin Seevers, (above left) with the West Pottawattamie Soil and Water Conservation District, reviews the emergency action plan for Indian Creek with Rich Maaske, an urban conservationist with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship in Council Bluffs. The dam where they are standing (and aerial below) called Site 2, was built higher and strengthened to lessen any chance the dam would breach after strong rains
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
One in a series of summaries of watershed projects in Iowa carried out by local conservation districts, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Division of Soil Conservation, and other partners. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|