Cost put at $32m to repair state dams

At least $32 million is needed to improve state-owned dams, officials said yesterday, adding that stricter enforcement would help avoid near-disasters like the buckling of a dam that forced evacuations in Taunton last week.

At a hearing on Beacon Hill yesterday, officials set Nov. 4 as the effective date for revamped dam guidelines that were approved two years ago but not enforced.

The regulations will affect 2,612 privately or municipally owned dams by requiring their owners to register with the state and file inspection reports every two to 10 years, officials said.

''Under our watch, we will make sure this gets done," said Senator Marc Pacheco at yesterday's dam safety hearing of the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight. Later he added, ''I just hate to be here two years from now when another problem comes up because something didn't happen . . . The administration has said there has been a history of neglect that's taken place."

Pacheco, who chairs the committee, also requested a written emergency management evacuation plan for areas near the 161 state and private dams that, if breached, could cause significant property damage or death. Also, he said, without greater enforcement powers for the state Office of Dam Safety, the new regulations could be rendered moot.

Stephen Burrington, commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, which oversees the Office of Dam Safety, says it has had steady increases since fiscal year 2003, when it was given $634,000 to deal with dams. That amount increased to $1.8 million in 2004 and $4.5 million in fiscal year 2005, with plans to rise to $5.4 million for the next fiscal year, he added.

Joe O'Keefe, spokesman for the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, said the $32 million in repair funds is part of the deferred capital maintenance plan, which will be needed in the next few years to repair the 338 state-owned dams.

Money needed for repairs was on the list of dam-related items that came up at the hearing.

Other ideas discussed included gleaning electricity from dams and making dam owners pay for state-funded emergency repairs by placing a lien on their property. Officials also discussed using leftover Hurricane Katrina funds for emergency repair loans or grants to dam owners.

Those ideas could take months to materialize, officials said, noting that one of their first priorities will be getting owners to register dams. They acknowledged that so-called ''orphan dams" could be a problem.

''We've got these dams built by industries that folded up 100 years ago," Burrington said. ''We know a lot of those letters will come back to us 'addressee unknown.' "

State officials also addressed how they would finance overtime and construction budgets for agencies and private corporations that helped avert the potential disaster last week in Taunton. After torrential rains threatened to topple the old Whittenton Pond Dam and send a wall of water rushing through downtown, officials ripped out the old structure and replaced it with boulder and rock. The city cannot afford to pay those bills, said Pacheco, a Taunton Democrat.

Adrienne P. Samuels can be reached at asamuels@globe.com