HADLEY — Three town-owned dams for reservoirs no longer used to supply drinking water for residents are being examined for possible removal.
While none of the dams are at risk of failing or pose any significant threats, though they are showing some signs of deterioration due to trees and brush growing from them, town officials are beginning to explore whether to seek support from the state’s Division of Ecological Resources for taking down the earth berm structures.
But any decisions on removing the dams could be complicated as the upper and lower Bay Road reservoirs, held in place by the Harts Brook dams, are a popular recreational site, including for an annual youth fishing derby. The other town-owned site is the Shingle Mill Brook Dam, on Chmura Road.
Department of Public Works Director Scott McCarthy told the Select Board at its July 16 meeting that site visits were recently done.
“It’s going to be a very tricky discussion to possibly eliminate those dams,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said it’s something the town should be proactive on, but understands it’s a touchy subject because of the recreation available there.
“It sounds like the DER has a lot of interest in this project, but there’s a catch to that: the project has to be done on the whole, not just one,” McCarthy said.
There are problems developing with dams, such as leakage at the bottom of the dam on Chmura Road, but there is an opportunity to eliminate that dam with state funding.
Dan Buttrick, a consultant with Tighe & Bond, said all three dams are non-jurisdictional from the state’s perspective of the Office of Dam Safety, meaning the town doesn’t have to do regular inspections.
“They’re deteriorating and it seems like the town’s going to want to do something about it eventually,” Buttrick said. “Who knows how long eventually is until there’s a problem where it becomes an emergency.”
The Priority Projects program from the Division of Ecological Restoration, Buttrick said, would provide funding for technical assistance.
Interim Town Administrator Michael Mason called the funding a Catch-22, as the state would likely only provide money for removing all three dams, yet the town might want to keep at least one intact.
Buttick said the state really favors removal and not rehabilitation.
Select Board member David J. Fill II suggested that Kestrel Land Trust might be interested in financially helping to keep the recreational value of the Bay Road site.
A hazard mitigation plan put together by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and adopted by the Select Board in 2016 indicates very low risk for the town-owned dams.
“There are no areas of the town that are particularly vulnerable to dam failures. Additionally, there is no critical infrastructure located in areas that would be impacted by the failure of any of Hadley’s dams,” the report stated.
Should the town proceed, Kayla Loubriel, land-use coordinator for the town, wrote a memo that the Conservation Commission could permit dam removal through an ecological restoration order of conditions.
“Dam removal is expressly mentioned as an eligible project under this ecological restoration category in the Wetlands Protection Act if it meets certain conditions, and is not designed or maintained to provide flood protection,” Loubriel said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
