Feds award $69M to Georgia for dam repairs and flood-control projects

April 22nd, 2022

Infrastructure Dams — Reservoir No. 1, a 180 million-gallon water supply that has been out of service much of the past few decades, sits against the backdrop of the city skyline, Oct. 15, 2019, in Atlanta. Federal money is poised to flow to states to address a pent-up need to repair, improve or remove thousands of aging dams across the U.S., including some that could devastate downstream towns or neighborhoods. The money is included in a $1 trillion infrastructure bill signed by President Joe Biden and is significantly more than has gone to dams in the past. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

The federal government said Thursday that will spend about $420 million — including over $69 million in Georgia — to repair dams and develop flood control projects in dozens of states, marking the latest infusion of cash from a federal infrastructure law.

The projects include improvements to several high-hazard dams in poor condition that could jeopardize lives if they were to fail. The money is flowing through two watershed programs run by the Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The largest allotment of nearly $96 million will go to Arkansas for 19 flood control projects, including several in impoverished areas that have seen significant flooding over the past five years.

More than $69 million of projects will be funded in Georgia, including $21.5 million for three dams north of Atlanta that were built 60 to 70 years ago. Since their construction, the areas downstream from the dams have become urbanized, creating a high hazard if they were to give way and unleash a flood.

Assessments indicate the dams don’t have spillway outlets capable of handling all the potential the water from a big storm, said David Griffin, manager of Georgia’s Safe Dams Program.

Funding also is included for improvements to dams in Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia. In some cases, the money will fund only the planning for future repairs, such as for a series of five earthen dams on West Virginia’s Saltllick Creek that protect about 1,500 residences from floods.

The number of high hazard dams — those likely to kill someone if they failed — that are rated in poor or unsatisfactory condition has been rising across the U.S. as new developments crop up downstream and necessary maintenance is deferred.

The $1 trillion infrastructure bill signed last year by President Joe Biden includes billions of dollars for dams and flood control projects. Thursday’s announcement includes funding for 132 water-related projects in 31 states. That’s in addition to $166 million for 108 projects in 23 states announced last month through the same two agriculture programs, the Watershed Rehabilitation Program and the Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations Program.

Additional money is flowing through other agencies from the infrastructure law. The U.S. Department of Interior announced last month that $420 million will be spent on rural water projects in several states That work includes construction of water treatment plants, pipeline connections, pump systems and reservoirs to provide drinking water to rural and tribal communities.