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Carroll County closes public hearing on Piney Run watershed study after engineers outline potential $11 million fixes to auxiliary spillway
Summary
County staff presented a five-year watershed study on the 73-foot Piney Run Dam that found the auxiliary spillway may not safely pass a probable maximum flood and recommended widening and armoring work estimated at about $11 million; the Board closed the hearing and will pursue NRCS-funded design and permitting.
Carroll County commissioners closed a public hearing on April 3 after county staff presented the final Piney Run watershed study, which recommends widening and armoring the dam's auxiliary (emergency) spillway and installing a cutoff wall to reduce the risk that a rare, extreme storm could erode the spillway and cause dam failure.
The study, funded by the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and performed by consultant AECOM, examined hydrology, hydraulics, geotechnical borings, sedimentation and cultural resources at the Piney Run Reservoir and dam. County staff said the dam is classified as high hazard and must safely pass a probable maximum flood (PMF) — modeled in the study as roughly 39 inches of rain in 72 hours — without water flowing over the dam embankment itself.
"If that were to catastrophically let loose, you can see just downstream is Maryland 32, and then also, Springfield Hospital and the residences and so on…
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