LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – City-owned dams are getting an infusion of money for repairs and other overdue needs, including emergency plans that state safety regulators long have recommended.
The Metro government budget for the current fiscal year earmarks $700,000 for work on six earthen dams managed by Louisville’s parks department, including three rated in “poor” condition during their most recent inspections.
Two of those -- Mitchell Hill and Tom Wallace lakes near Fairdale – also are classified as high hazard because dam experts believe a failure would likely result in fatalities nearby.
The bond funds were allocated amid a new scrutiny of dams across the state and in Louisville, where in early 2023 the Silver Crystal Lake Dam suffered a partial collapse that prompted warnings of a possible failure. A subsequent WDRB News investigation found several Louisville dams out of compliance with safety standards and a widespread lack of formal plans to guide actions during emergencies.
Dam safety gained national attention this weekend as the remnants of Hurricane Helene churned across the southeastern U.S., where rising floodwaters prompted authorities in Tennessee and North Carolina to evacuate people living near two lakes. No dam failures were reported.
In Louisville, Metro Parks & Recreation hopes to have specific repair plans ready for contractors by the end of the year, director Jason Canuel said. He emphasized that there is no indication that any of the local dams are at risk of failing.
“The money that we have budgeted -- that is going to go for long-term repairs,” Canuel said in an interview last week. “It's not just a ‘Band-Aid,’ and we're not kicking the can down the road anymore.”
The funding comes as the condition of two of the city-owned dams deteriorate. Tom Wallace Lake Dam in Jefferson Memorial Forest was rated in “poor” condition during an inspection in May, according to a federal database, a downgrade from a prior rating of “fair” condition in October 2023.
Long Run Park Dam in eastern Jefferson County also was deemed in “poor” condition during an inspection last month. Inspectors found it to be in “fair” condition during an inspection in 2021.
The work will be based on recommendations from consultant WSP, which completed a report on the six dams earlier this year. Besides paying to make repairs -- to cracked concrete, for example -- the funds will be used to develop emergency action plans for the four high and significant hazard dams.
State inspectors for years urged Metro government to create those plans, which can include phone numbers of emergency officials, a checklist of how to handle a breach or other crisis and well-defined maps of areas that should be evacuated.
They’re now required for the highest risk dams after the Kentucky legislature approved a bill in 2023.
Canuel told WDRB that city officials have used an “unwritten internal process” in the past. “Actually formally writing the emergency action plan -- that's going to formalize it and hopefully spell out everything that needs to happen,” he said.
Having the plans in place will bring “peace of mind” for people living near the high-hazard dams at Tom Wallace Lake and Mitchell Hill Lake, said Metro Council member Dan Seum (R-13th), who has advocated for the plans alongside other improvements to the city-owned structures.
“The action plan is what I was really hoping to get and give these people some clarity as to what happens if we do have a breach and things like that,” he said.
To the northwest, the dam at Waverly Park Lake remains in “fair” condition. Christopher Berry was there on a recent morning for his routine of “quiet, peace and fish.”
Berry said he fishes at Waverly at least once a week and also likes to hit spots in Jefferson Memorial Forest. He welcomes the funding for dam repair and maintenance so that the lakes stay open.
"To me, we need to preserve as much as we can,” he said. “Because this is not just our home as humans -- but for animals, it's their home, too."
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