COLUMBIA – A new state program will help landowners finance repairs to their levees, including to clean up damage left by Tropical Storm Debby, which lashed the state with rains, caused rivers to overflow and strained levees.
The program, created as part of this year’s state budget, will provide dam owners with $1.5 million to cover at least part of the cost of fixing problems identified by state inspectors, whether or not they were caused by the recent storm.
“If there is damage to the dams because of this system, I’m glad it’s in place so we can make the repairs,” said Rep. Russell Ott, a Democrat from St. Matthews who sponsored the budget clause.
There are no estimates of how many dams could be repaired through the program. It depends on the number of applicants and the extent of the repairs needed. Costs could be hundreds of thousands of dollars or more, depending on the size and design of the dam.
The money is intended for dams that are considered major or significant hazards, meaning that if they break, there is a risk of significant property damage or loss of life. The grants cover up to 75 percent of the total cost.
The application process is still a work in progress. Policies, criteria and guidelines for the program are expected to be finalized by Oct. 15, at which point the department will be able to accept applications, department spokeswoman Laura Renwick said in an email.
“The new South Carolina Dam Safety Repair Assistance Fund will provide a much-needed funding opportunity to address deficiencies in our high-hazard dams,” Renwick said.
Just over 2,000 of the 2,200 dams the state monitors are privately owned, according to the Department of Environmental Protection. The rest are the responsibility of the state and local governments, or a combination of these agencies. Of the total dams inspected by the state, 826 are considered dangerous to life and property if they break, according to the agency.
Tropical Storm Debby finally leaves South Carolina inundated as rivers continue to rise
By law, the owner of the dam is also responsible for it. This means that when dams need repair, private owners and homeowners associations often have to pay for the costly repairs.
“We’re talking about thousands and thousands of dollars,” Ott said.
That came after historic floods in 2015 inundated much of the state. Inspectors issued emergency repair orders for 75 dams, requiring inspections by engineers and plans for repairs and replacements that some dam owners could not afford, the Associated Press reported at the time.
It is not yet clear how many dams will need to be repaired after Tropical Storm Debby. Environmental protection agency officials began examining high-risk dams on Thursday to determine what damage the flooding left behind, Renwick said.
Many dams were already in poor condition before the storm.
About 37% of the state’s significant-risk dams — those whose failure would cause property damage — and 31% of its high-risk dams, those whose failure would cause deadly flooding, were in poor or unsatisfactory condition, according to the most recent data available. And that was four years ago. The 2020 report included the last statewide assessment.
When Tropical Storm Debby threatened the coast and forecast rainfall of between 10 and 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) for eastern South Carolina, 19 dams were of particular concern to state inspectors. Most were privately owned and almost all were high-risk dams in poor condition.
Inspectors had previously found damage to some of these spillway pipes, which release water downstream to relieve pressure on the dam. In others, the spillway pipes were not adequate to release water at a high enough rate to prevent damage. In others, it was the stability of the dams’ slope that was a concern.
Before the storm, inspectors “did not identify any increased safety concerns at any of these 19 dams,” Renwick said.
But the grant program is designed to alleviate those kinds of concerns. Dam owners often don’t notice problems until it’s too late. Inspectors may point to costly repairs that don’t affect the dam’s day-to-day operations but can have devastating consequences when a flood occurs, Ott says.
“It’s not like a car,” said the Calhoun County farmer. “When you have problems with your car, you know you have problems with your car.”
In addition to repairing storm damage, the money will also go toward preventative measures so residents and inspectors aren’t in a rush to identify emergency situations when a storm approaches. It will also help people who want to completely remove their dams and restore the streams they’ve blocked, Ott said.
He has been trying to get his colleagues to approve the program since the catastrophic floods of 2015, when 31 levees broke as Hurricane Joaquin dumped up to 2 feet of rain in some areas. The storm never made it to the coast but instead aimed what federal authorities called a “firehose” of tropical moisture directly at the state.
But that doesn’t mean help hasn’t been available to dam owners. In recent years, the state has received millions of dollars through a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant. Since 2019, the state has received more than $8.4 million, most of it under a sweeping federal bill to fund infrastructure projects, to help repair high-risk dams.
But private owners cannot apply for this money unless they find a nonprofit organization or local government to support their application, the ministry said.
Ott hopes the state will invest more money in assisting private dam owners in the coming years. After all, the flood-prone state will likely need the help every hurricane season, he said.
“It’s going to happen again,” Ott said. “We’re going to continue to have flooding. We’re going to continue to have a lot of water in those sections of the river.”
“But I hope we can feel safe knowing that the private dams in these sections of the river are in good condition,” he said.
