Menu
Bureau hopes for repair contracts in 2011
The Bureau of Reclamation hopes to know how to fix Red Willow Dam by November and have funding from Congress in time for construction contracts to be issued during the summer of 2011.
The agency plans a public meeting Thursday evening to address Red Willow Dam's condition and what will be done about it.
The meeting is set for 6:30-8 p.m. at the Community Building on the Red Willow County Fairgrounds.
"We want to keep the public involved and informed throughout the process of determining solutions for the safety of dam issues at Red Willow Dam," said Aaron Thompson, Nebraska-Kansas Area Manager. "We'll be providing an overview of our anticipated activities during the course of the next year to address the structural problems at Red Willow."
According to Thompson, reclamation is beginning a "Corrective Action Study" this month to review potential alternatives and the initiation of National Environmental Policy Act procedures required by law.
By April, Reclamation expects to have the alternatives narrowed down and begin preparing feasibility designs and cost estimates. The final designs and preferred alternative are expected to be selected by November, and the selected plans will be submitted to Congress for approval in February 2011, if the procedure goes according to plan.
"We are still in the preliminary stages of this process," Thompson said, "so there are a number of factors that could come into play and alter our draft timeline. But if everything moves forward as we hope, the construction contract for Red Willow Dam would be awarded during the summer of 2011."
Reclamation has established a Web page at www.usbr.gov/gp/nkao/redwillow/ to provide the public with the most up-to-date information available. Users can register at Reclamation's site to receive e-mail or text updates as new information becomes available.
Red Willow Dam, located on Red Willow Creek about 11 miles north of McCook, is an earthfill embankment with a structural height of 126 feet that forms a reservoir of 85,070 acre-feet. An ungated concrete spillway is located on the right abutment. An outlet works through the base of the dam provides for river and irrigation releases for downstream diversions. The reservoir behind the dam is Hugh Butler Lake.