Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Dam Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DEC dam safety chief outlines staffing, post‑flood repairs and $80–90 million Waterbury spillway project
Summary
Ben Green, section chief of Vermont's dam safety program, updated the Natural Resources & Energy committee on staffing increases, recent storm impacts, public inventory publishing, an emergency action plan effort and a major reconstruction plan for Waterbury Dam.
Ben Green, section chief of the Dam Safety Program in the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, briefed the Natural Resources & Energy committee on the state’s dam inventory, recent storm damage, staffing increases and several large projects, including a planned reconstruction of the Waterbury Dam spillway.
The briefing is significant because more frequent high water events have increased demands on dam infrastructure and emergency planning; the committee discussed resources, inventories and regulatory work needed to reduce public safety and infrastructure risk.
Green said DEC regulates non‑hydropower, non‑federal dams in Vermont and currently staffs five people in the dam safety unit; the agency has four new positions authorized under recent legislation that will bring staffing to nine once filled. He described the program’s responsibilities as dam regulation and ownership and said Vermont was the first state to enact a dam safety law (following the 1936 New England failures cited during his history overview).
Green provided counts used in DEC’s inventory: about 49 high‑hazard, 134 significant‑hazard, 248 low‑hazard and 561 minimal‑hazard dams under DEC regulation (about 992 total); the Public Utility Commission regulates roughly 21 hydropower dams built before 1935, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulates about 82 hydroelectric facilities, and about 26 dams are federally owned. He said DEC maintains a public, web‑based dam inventory and has posted inspection reports, emergency action plans and photographs where available.
Storms in 2023 and 2024 intensified DEC activity. Green said the agency inspected roughly 30 dams in a north‑country zone after a July 2024 storm that dropped heavy rainfall in that area; some dams overtopped and some experienced erosion, though the agency recorded no complete failures. He cited Nois Pond Dam (a DEC‑owned facility) as an example that overtopped and suffered embankment erosion; DEC made temporary repairs and had a comprehensive assessment and final design under way.
On staffing and funding, Green said Act 121 and other post‑flood legislation authorized additional positions and new obligations, including public posting of inspection reports and participation in an emergency operations committee. He told the committee DEC has posted inspection reports to the public inventory and is establishing an emergency operations committee to help smaller municipalities coordinate responses for dam incidents.
A major capital project identified is a comprehensive Waterbury Dam spillway reconstruction estimated at $80–90 million, to be carried out with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Green said the project will require a prolonged drawdown of 30–60 feet for a multi‑year period, replacement and repair of flood gates and spillway concrete, and construction of a vehicle bridge to replace an industrial bridge. The Corps published an environmental assessment, and DEC plans design work to start later in 2025.
Green said DEC is developing rules to implement a new $4 million revolving loan fund to support emergency and nonemergency dam repairs and removal, with proposed risk‑based prioritization so projects that reduce the greatest public safety risk receive priority. He said the fund can be used for construction, permitting and design work and may support removals where removal is the most effective risk‑reduction option.
Committee members asked about insurance availability for private dam owners, the interaction of development downstream with hazard classification, and whether FEMA or federal grant windows might help with urgent repairs. Green said private owners often have difficulty obtaining insurance, that hazard‑potential classifications are based on downstream consequences (not on dam condition) and that DEC conducts risk assessments and ranking to prioritize limited funds.
Ending: The committee discussed next steps for rulemaking and the loan fund; Green said DEC will continue technical work, complete ongoing engineering assessments and pursue funding opportunities for high‑priority repairs.
