Sandbags will help shore up lake dam

WASILLA — Since it was revealed last month that a more than 40-year-old wooden dam spillway at the west outlet of Lake Lucille is near failure, city and state officials have been scrambling. Recent rains haven’t helped ease the minds of city officials, but a short-term fix and long-term solution are on their way.

While the state and city seem to agree the dam should be replaced, until that happens, the potential for the structure to give way remains, said Bert Cottle, Wasilla deputy administrator. Last month, the state Department of Fish and Game installed some gabion rock structures just downstream from the dam as a precaution in case of a break, and on Tuesday will put in 750 sandbags filled last week by local Boy Scout Troop 300.

The sandbags will be placed directly against the dam and should be enough to shore up the structure until it can be replaced, said Archie Giddings, the city’s public works director.

“The sandbags are all ready to be placed,” he said, adding recent rains have raised the level of the lake, but not to greater-than-normal levels. “It’s still intact and we try to keep an eye on it. I think the real story is we’re just now getting to some normal lake levels. We started the season really low.”

By midday Friday, Wasilla saw about .43 inches of rain, said Dave Stricklan, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Anchorage. That brought the amount of precipitation to the area to about .63 inches for the first five days of the month, which is more than the .15 inches that’s average for that time.

“That’s a little bit above the norm, but not a real lot,” he said. “The hard rain you had (Friday) morning seems an awful lot, but it didn’t last long.”

What the rains have done is raise the level of the lake to within about two inches of the top of the dam, Cottle said.

“I just went out there with Archie and the sandbags are standing by, and the water’s high, it’s high,” he said. “That’s where we’re at right now, on standby until we get those bags placed.”

Although the sandbags will provide some stability, having more water in the lake puts more pressure on the rotting wood, he said.

“I would think the laws of physics would say yes, that the higher the water the more pressure on the dam,” Cottle said. “The sooner the bags are there, the better. When is a more permanent fix going to be done? The sooner the better.”

In the end, the city wants the state to replace the dam and has offered to take responsibility for it afterward. That seems to be the direction the city’s negotiations with the state are heading, Giddings said. Whether that happens quickly or has to come from a legislative appropriation in the next budget cycle is the question.

State House Rep. Wes Keller, who represents House District 14, which includes Wasilla, said he believes the state will come through with the estimated $150,000 to $250,000 to replace the dam.

“I really feel like, worst case scenario, the Department (of Fish and Game) is going to hold out until they have it specified in the budget,” Keller said. “I can’t imagine that not happening. It would be terrible if it did break down, but I’m very confident it will be addressed.”

When that will happen is anyone’s guess, Keller said. “Hopefully, it’s in a timely way, but government doesn’t always work that way.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.