The inspection records for Mattawan Dam in Hanover County showed that the dam was four years past inspection. It was operating without a permit. A dam component recently failed, leading to the closure of two roads.
Mattawan Dam Failure
Earlier in March, a component of the Mattawan Dam failed and caused two road closures. According to an official for Virginia’s regulatory body overseeing privately owned dams, the problem would have been found had the Mattawan Dam been inspected earlier. Now, the repairs could cost the neighborhood millions of dollars.
The Mattawan Dam is considered a “significant” hazard risk. Failure may cause appreciable property damage or loss of life. According to Mark Killgore, the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s lead dam safety engineer, the failure point was a pipe under the dam. The component’s failure prevented the dam from passing rainwater and handling large storms. He says it could lead to high waters downstream if an oversized storm hits the region.
According to Killgore, there are no homes or structures in the immediate spillway, but cars traveling the road could be in danger in case of total failure. The road is a low-lying, swampy part of Williamsville Road that passes roughly 16 cars an hour. These cars could float and topple over if the dam waters surge on top of a nasty flood.
Killgore says that dams have a long life cycle, but their hydraulic components have shorter lifespans. If they had done additional inspections, they might have spotted the problem before it arose. The dam is four years past inspection and received its last permit in 2014. It was given a two-year conditional permit at that time, but several problems had to be resolved before it could receive a full operational permit.
Moving Forward
Engineers say the dam needs a new study to ascertain the classification level. It also needed a new rehabilitation schedule and emergency action plan if the dam needs upgrades. Moreover, the structure and spillway needed improvements.
Virginia is no stranger to privately owned dams like the Mattawan Dam. The Virginia Department of Recreation and Conservation regulates roughly 2,600 dams. Only two lakes are naturally occurring, including Lake Drummond and Mountain Lake. However, the other lakes are manmade with a dam.
Pine Slash Association Inc. operates Mattawan Dam. It is a road maintenance committee, and the association is not specifically a homeowners association. According to the neighborhood residents, the dam’s closure was a significant obstacle. It sits at the heart of Pine Slash Road and bisects the neighborhood. The dam was indefinitely closed because of its condition. Meanwhile, the residents on the western side say the detour increased one-way trips by 20 minutes.
Complicated Ownership
The neighborhood of Pine Slash has been trying to come up with a solution but is in conflict about who should cover the cost. Ryan Martin, the association president, said the dam was not inspected because of complex ownership. Other associations nearby have a stake in the dam and its conjoined lake, contributing to its maintenance even though Pine Slash is the official owner and operator.
There are four other property owners with deeds including the dam. Moreover, 48 lots have a stake in the lake. Among the 48 lots, half live in a separate homeowners association and are not members of the road maintenance committee. Three different neighborhoods and several groups all have different stakes in the dam.
According to Martin, nobody is going to put up that kind of money. Grant funding would only cover half, which still leaves the neighborhood with a significant burden. The yearly deadline for grant funding has passed, so they cannot apply for it until several months later. Neighbors have speculated that the repairs would take between one to two years. However, the extent of the repairs has not been determined.
