Fish & Wildlife asks $200,000 to produce emergency action plans and meet dam-safety rules
Loading...
Summary
The Department of Fish & Wildlife requested $200,000 in cash to hire consultants to produce emergency action plans (EAPs) and operations & maintenance plans for high- and significant-hazard dams it owns; the department said it currently lacks the capacity to meet Act 160 (dam safety rule) requirements.
Tim Appleton, public lands section chief in the Fish & Wildlife lands and habitat program, told the Institutions Committee the department is seeking $200,000 in capital adjustment cash to develop emergency action plans (EAPs) and O&M plans for dams it owns.
"We're hoping to acquire the $200,000 to help the Department of Fish and Wildlife with the dams that we own, which is approximately about 76 dams," Appleton said. He said Fish & Wildlife needs consulting support to produce EAPs for high- and significant-hazard dams and to reduce a backlog of maintenance work.
Appleton told the committee the dam safety rule (Act 160, enacted in January 2018) increased expectations for owners and highlighted that Fish & Wildlife had not yet developed plans for many of its dams. He said the department would prioritize high-hazard sites (roughly 12 to 13 dams) for EAP development and use remaining funds, if any, to begin O&M plan work.
Committee members noted the department had been given regulatory responsibilities under the dam safety rule without an immediate funding stream. Appleton confirmed Fish & Wildlife had not received earlier dedicated funding to complete all required plans and described how the $200,000 would be used to engage a consultant and to begin targeted plan development.
Appleton and Mike Podrowski (department lands/administrative coordinator) said staff are already performing maintenance tasks where possible (tree trimming, erosion control) but do not have capacity to complete the paperwork and plans required under rule deadlines.
The committee asked for detail about how many dams could be addressed with $200,000; Appleton said the department would likely focus on the highest-priority dams and would need to define a subset of sites for consultant assistance. No contract or consultant had been selected at the time of the hearing, and no vote or appropriation action was recorded in the transcript.
What happens next: Fish & Wildlife will refine a scope of work for the committee and provide additional detail on the expected deliverables and prioritization approach; the department said further capital requests may be necessary to complete O&M plans for the remainder of its inventory.
