Expensive solutions to Weathersfield Reservoir quandary

It’s going to cost serious money to do anything with the Springfield-owned Weathersfield Reservoir.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20120917/NEWS02/709179966

Published September 17, 2012 in the Rutland Herald Expensive solutions to Weathersfield Reservoir quandary By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — It’s going to cost serious money to do anything with the town-owned Weathersfield Reservoir. The Springfield Select Board received a report last week from Jeffrey Tucker, an engineer with DuBois & King engineering firm, on the health of the reservoir and dam. The report said it would cost $950,000 to fix the reservoir’s dam and $260,000 to breach it. According to the report, it would cost $11.3 million to rebuild the dam and return the reservoir to the town’s public water system. The cost was estimated at $7.3 million in 1998, but costs have pushed that up to $11.3 million. “D&K does not see any compelling reason to reconnect the reservoir to the municipal water system,” Tucker wrote. “The capital investment required to make all required improvements seems impractical considering the existing water supply system reportedly serves the town’s needs adequately.” The report added that if needed, a new dam could be constructed in the future. “Removal of this dam does not forever preclude re-creating a water supply reservoir on this land,” he concluded. “The report said that it was not in good condition and the report gave us some options on what could be done with it,” said Town Manager Robert Forguites last week. He said the dam, which has been on a state watch list for several years, survived the deluge of Tropical Storm Irene last August without any problems. According to the DuBois & King report, the dam is classified as a “significant hazard potential” and in poor condition, according to the state’s dam safety section. Water supply has always been a hot topic in Springfield. Several years ago, salt runoff from the town’s highway department resulted in elevated sodium levels in the town’s drinking water. The town no longer salts the roads near the Chapman and Gilchrist wells, and road salt is now kept under cover in another location. More recently, the developers of the proposed wood-fired power plant in North Springfield said they needed upwards of 700,000 gallons of water a day to run the plant, a figure about equal to the town’s daily use, setting off worries about the town’s capacity. Since then, the developers of the North Springfield Sustainable Energy Project have redesigned the project, sharply cutting the demand for municipal water. The report noted the deficiencies of the Weathersfield dam included inadequate capacity of the spillway, and there is an unstable embankment slope, and uncontrolled seepage at the toe of the embankment, foundation and abutment. The concrete overflow spillway is heavily deteriorated and thus lets water discharge “impinge” on the embankment. The gatehouse is collapsing, the report stated, which prevents safe access to the control tower. There are also inoperable gates on the control tower, which allows uncontrolled discharge from the reservoir. A partial breach would lower the water levels in the reservoir, the report said. Another option is to breach the dam so that only the original, unnamed stream that feeds the reservoir snakes through the area. The reservoir was the main source of the town’s water until the 1970s, Forguites said. Since then, townspeople have voted at least twice to sell the dam and reservoir, despite its deteriorating condition. Forguites said the report had been delayed because DuBois & King had been occupied, as had practically every engineering firm in the state, helping the state and towns recover from Irene. “At some point, the board is going to have to decide what to do,” said Forguites, who said the board would undoubtedly have other public discussions before making a decision. Forguites said that so far he had not formulated a recommendation to the board. “At this point, I haven’t made a recommendation,” he said. In 2000, the town voted overwhelmingly against selling the reservoir, which actually includes two different parcels of land. About 30 years ago, townspeople voted to use $100,000 to pay for the dam’s rehabilitation, but no maintenance has been done in that time except to cut brush on the dam face. The fund now includes about $140,000, Forguites said. The land surrounding the reservoir was recently logged, netting the town $27,000. According to the DuBois & King report, the dam was constructed in 1903 to create a reservoir. The town owns the dam, the 11-acre reservoir, and the watershed surrounding it. In 1942, the town started developing the Chapman Meadows well field, which is adjacent to the Black River in North Springfield, as a source of water, the report stated, with the reservoir being used less and less. It was disconnected from the town’s water system in 1979. It has been left “as is,” the report stated, since then.