Published: April 07, 2009 08:25 am      

$4M in stimulus money for dam

New Creek Site 14 serves Mineral County residents

KEYSER, W.Va. — Federal stimulus funding will benefit the city of Keyser with $4.05 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money to rehabilitate the New Creek Site 14 dam.

“The project in West Virginia is along the Potomac (River) and New Creek,” U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a teleconference Monday. “It is about a $6 million project. It will provide water for the city of Keyser. It should create about 16 jobs installing a new riser, spillway pipe, impact basin and some drainage system work. It should extend the life of the dam for another 50 years.”

Carol Lagodich, public affairs specialist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, West Virginia State Office, said plans for the 46-year-old dam include the construction of a concrete parapet wall on top of the dam to prevent over-topping in the event of a flood, as well as the installation of an embankment surface drainage system.

Local partners, which include the Potomac Valley Conservation District, the city of Keyser and the West Virginia State Conservation Committee, must provide 35 percent of the funding for the project, according to federal law.

Dave White, chief of USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, explained at the teleconference that the various projects were chosen based on how close a dam is to the end of its useful life as well as how “construction-ready” these projects are.

Many of the dams that are receiving the funding have changed from being low-hazard to high-hazard, either due to the need for repairs or because of a development that has changed downstream. All the projects selected are now considered high-hazard.

The start of construction on the New Creek project in Grant County, which provides drinking water to Mineral County, as well as the other 26 projects nationwide will vary, White said.

“Some of these are going to start really quick,” he said. “Some require a longer bid-planning process. The recovery act funds do have a time frame of September 2010. They should be substantially complete by that time.”

White said he suspects that a number of the projects would start during the next few months, but that others may take more time.

The stimulus funds totaled $45 million for the projects nationwide as part of the $28 billion in funding that the USDA received, Vilsack said.

The dam rehabilitation projects chosen were those that would improve “the safety against flood and secure water supplies for community.”

Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@times-news.com.