Our Opinion: State must step up help for communities caught between crumbling dams and costly fixes
Editorial Board | The Berkshire Eagle | February 18, 2023
Berkshires, we have a problem — a big dam problem.
Recent Eagle reporting dove into the conditions of several critical dams across the county. Dams are considered “high hazard” by the state if a breach would likely cause fatalities and damage to surrounding property and infrastructure. According to the state Office of Dam Safety, Berkshire County has about three-dozen such dams — and three are in troubling shape considering the risks they pose.
The Bel Air Dam on Wahconah Street in Pittsfield is rated as “unsafe” — the worst regulatory condition denoting major structural, operational and maintenance deficiencies in normal conditions. The Mount Williams Reservoir and Notch Reservoir dams, both located in North Adams, hold the second-worst rating of “poor” also indicating structural issues under typical conditions.
Berkshire residents are all too familiar with crumbling infrastructure posing risks to residents, though this particular problem is shared throughout the commonwealth. A 2011 state audit found that more than 100 publicly owned dams across the state considered either poor or unsafe. Complicating matters further is the fact that not all dams big enough to be regulated by the state are publicly owned. The Bel Air Dam, once privately owned, is now abandoned, which has made the matter even tougher through years of legal wrangling as the dam’s condition deteriorated. Realistic risk assessment for the region and state should also account for dams deemed a “significant” hazard — the second-highest risk classification in case of failure. There’s dozens of those in the Berkshires as well, including a concerning number rated either unsafe or poor, according to the National Inventory of Dams.
All this means some Massachusetts communities face potential catastrophe from crumbling dams built decades in the past while facing eye-watering price tags to do something about it in the present to avert an even costlier disaster in the future. And because of the historical logic of where these dams were sited, they’re more likely to be in the scrappy post-industrial cities and towns least likely to be able to foot the bill.
In Pittsfield, dealing with the Bel Air Dam could cost as much as $22 million — a cost inflated by the need to remove and specially dispose of contaminated sediment around the dam. Meanwhile, repairing the two dams in North Adams would cost an estimated $17 million. Right now, the city is trying to scrape together the $672,000 needed just to fund a design proposal for the necessary improvements. A $500,000 state grant will help with the design project, while the remaining $172,000 dollars will likely be covered by the city in the form of American Rescue Plan Act funds, according to Mayor Jennifer Macksey.
“We’re just kind of doing a shell game as to where we need to fill some gaps for the city share,” said Mayor Macksey.
But what of the financial shell games that municipalities will have to play to actually fix these dams that threaten to let calamity wash over downtowns and neighborhoods?
Imagine millions of gallons of water inundating and eroding everything in its path. One Hinsdale couple unfortunately does not have to imagine, after a sudden dam break in October washed out acres of land destroyed huge parts of the couple’s property — damage not covered by insurance. Like the Bel Air Dam, the one holding back a pond in Hinsdale was abandoned.
Thankfully no one was hurt, but compare the still-destructive outcome in Hinsdale to what would unfold if the high-hazard dams in Pittsfield or North Adams failed. The Hinsdale dam break released at most 10 million gallons of water; the Mount Williams Reservoir holds 280 million gallons, while the Notch Reservoir down the road holds 90 million. Look at the scenes of strewn rocks and torn earth in Hinsdale; now picture what the inundation zone in downtown Pittsfield, which includes Berkshire Medical Center, would look like if the Bel Air Dam gave way.
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