Dozens of Georgia dams don’t have critical safety plans in case of breach, investigation finds

ATLANTA — With all of this rain and flooding in Florida, Channel 2 Action News has learned dozens of privately owned Georgia dams are missing critical safety plans to protect residents in case of failures.

Channel 2 investigative reporter Ashli Lincoln found out that the state took enforcement action against nearly 70 dam owners, and neighbors may have no idea they’re downstream from a potentially deadly dam.

Engineers told Lincoln that even a well-maintained dam can fail if a powerful storm tests its limits.

That’s why Georgia requires emergency plans to protect residents downstream because the failure of dam — big or small — can be deadly.

In October 2015, in Columbia, South Carolina, a passing hurricane fueled a 1,000-year flood event, dropping more than 20 inches of rain over five days.

“It’s just total devastation,” one homeowner said at the time. “It actually blew the basement doors off the hinge, and that’s when I said, ‘We got to go now.’”

The floods led to 400 road and bridge closures, 1,500 water rescues, and 19 people dead.

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Georgia Tech professor Hermann Fritz lead a survey of the 36 dams that failed during the storm.

“You get a dam break wave, which is basically a giant flood wave that rushes downstream and can wash cars away. You can wash people away; it can damage property,” Fritz said.

He said even a well-maintained dams can fail.

“Unfortunately, there is always the possibility for an unexpected event, an event that is bigger than what (the dam) was designed for 50 years ago,” Fritz said.

That’s why an emergency action plan is a critical part of the permitting process for dams here in Georgia.

So if a catastrophic flood threatens a dam, emergency managers know who to evacuate.

“Even though they may not know that that dam is a few miles upstream, someone is watching out to make sure that that they’re protected,” said David Griffin with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

DNR regulates more than 500 of the 4,500 dams across the state.

Safe Dams program manager David Griffin said most are small, made of dirt and privately owned. Some don’t even look like a dam.

But if they were to fail, DNR said there is a “probable loss of life” downstream.

“I would say that most people living downstream of the dam don’t know that they are potentially in danger if the dam were to fail,” Griffin said.

But according to state records reviewed by Channel 2 Action News, DNR has taken enforcement action against nearly 70 high-hazard dam owners across the state — including 14 in metro Atlanta — for failing to have an emergency action plan.

“I think most dam owners take it seriously. We do have some that just refused to work with us, and those are the ones that are the most frustrating,” Griffin said.

Lincoln tried to contact the 14 metro dam owners without emergency action plans, but none of them would go on camera.

People who live near a Fulton County dam said knowing it does not have a plan is concerning.

“We need a plan for it. Like I said, I didn’t even know it was there,” neighbor Elaine Hess said.

“You never know with climate change what can happen in the future,” neighbor Chuck White said.

Fritz said it can cost up to hundreds of dollars for permits and repairs to get a dam in compliance.

He says it’s a high price to protect priceless lives downstream.

“What happens if an unusual event happens?” Fritz said. “The worst-case scenario is always there.”

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