Ecology asks owners to obtain dam permits

MOSES LAKE — Owners of reservoirs, without permits, have until Sept. 1 to report their dams to the U.S. Department of Ecology for safety inspection or they could be fined.

Grant County is the leading county in Washington for dams without permits, said Ecology Dam Safety Supervisor Doug Johnson. The department scanned aerial photos from around the state to identify such dams.

“There were like 70 or 80 in Grant County,” Johnson said.

He noted 22 of the dams are high risk — meaning there is at least one home located downstream. The leading county for potentially hazardous dams is Yakima, with 48.

“We’ve been fortunate that the several dam failures we’ve had in the state haven’t resulted in a loss of lives, as has occurred elsewhere,” Johnson said. “For the past several months, we’ve been asking the owners of illegal dams to come forward and cooperate with ecology to get their dams inspected and permitted.”

Five illegal dams failed in Eastern Washington in the past 10 to 15 years, Johnson said. No permitted dams have failed, he said.

When an owner reports their dam to the department, it will undergo an inspection. If repairs are needed, the owner will need to submit plans for repair, which requires an engineer, Johnson said. The application to get a dam permit is $1,400, he said.

By contrast, building a dam can cost $100,000 to $200,000, Johnson said.

“As long as they make any safety repairs and follow what we say, they should be able to get permitted within a few months,” he said.

The department noted illegal dam owners who do not correct deficiencies and obtain permits could be fined up to $5,000 per day.

“If they don’t come in, we’re going to work down the list based on what’s downstream,” Johnson said.

He said he believes dams without permits pose a safety risk to the public. One dam was found near Yakima with 30 homes downstream, Johnson said. The dam was unlined, covered in trees and lacked an overflow spillway, he said.

Ecology is identifying reservoirs at least two acres in size, with the capacity to hold at least 10 acre-feet of water. The amount is equivalent to approximately an 8-foot deep football field, according to the department.

Having a dam permitted offers benefits should it fail. Insurance companies may be able to deny a claim against the breaching of an illegal dam, leaving the owner liable for damages caused by flooding, Johnson said.

Ecology conducts regular inspections of permitted dams, he said.

The Department of Ecology Dam Safety Office can be contacted by mail at P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA, 98504-7600, by phone at 360-407-6623, or by e-mail at djsd461@ecy.wa