Bureau of Reclamation eyes small hole in Red Willow Dam

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is inspecting a small hole discovered in Red Willow Dam at Hugh Butler Lake north of McCook.

Engineers from Reclamation's Denver Technical Service Center and Nebraska-Kansas Area Office will be on-site to monitor, excavate and inspect portions of Red Willow Dam in order to identify the cause of a small hole discovered last week by maintenance crews working at the facility.

Aaron Thompson, Reclamation's Nebraska-Kansas Area Manager, expects no effect on visitors to Hugh Butler Lake. "Primarily, I want to ensure that people are aware that we'll have crews at the dam site," he said. "Reclamation takes the structural integrity of our dams very seriously, and any anomalies within the vicinity of our facilities are approached with an abundance of caution."

Thompson said that as a precaution, local emergency managers were notified. "We are currently gathering data on the situation and monitoring the site," he said. "When we have completed investigations, we will formulate a plan of action based on those results."

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 86,630 acre-feet. An ungated concrete spillway is located in the right abutment and a river outlet works provides for river and irrigation releases. The reservoir behind the dam is Hugh Butler Lake.