1. 2 Lakeside Drive, Pawling NY 12564
Whaley Lake Dam
District Update 2015
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Lakeside Park
2 Lakeside Drive, Pawling NY 12564
Overcoming the Technical & Legal Challenges of Extending the Useful Life of a Very Important 176-year Old High Hazard Dam with No Access and No Owner

2. Outline Introduction Whaley Lake Dam Legal Issues Access Issues
Dam Safety Committee
Town Board Members
Project Engineer
Whaley Lake Dam
Legal Issues
Access Issues
Investigations Performed & Findings
Remediation Options
Question & Answers
I want to tell you briefly why were are doing this engineering investigation
I want to spend a few minutes speaking in general about how dams function and how they malfunction so you can get a better understanding of some of the issues facing the Whaley Lake Dam
I’ll briefly review the activities we undertook at the dam and the investigations we performed
I’ll talk about our findings and the options that we identified for improving the condition of the dam
The Town has asked me to lay out the next steps and an approximate time line and I’ll discuss that.
We recommended to the Town that our report be submitted to the DEC Office of Dam Safety to give them an opportunity to comment and I’ll briefly discuss that.

3. Whaley Lake The Lake is approximately 260 acres in surface area,
1 ½ miles long
1/4 mile wide
It has depths of 15 feet at the dam
It has a drainage area of approximately 4.85 square miles
Flows 5 miles northwest in Whaley Stream to confluence with Fishkill Creek
The volume of water stored in the lake is 4854 Ac-Ft

4. Basic Information About Dam
Dam Name: Whaley Lake Dam
Nat. ID Number: NY00270
Town: Pawling
Hazard Potential: High Hazard, Class C
Size Classification: Large
Coordinate location (lat, long): 41o34’17.5”, 73o39’27.6”
Street Address: NYS Route 292
Current Purpose of the Dam: Recreation and Conservation
Constructed: ca. 1837
Length: feet
Structural Height: 18 feet
Hydraulic Height: 15 feet
Crest Width: feet
Type of Dam: Earth embankment with dry stone masonry walls
Low-Level Outlet: 20-inch diameter iron pipe with knife gate valve
I won’t read all of this, but this is a printout of data from the DEC Office of Dam Safety.
Some of the more important information includes:
This dam is considered to pose a High Hazard Potential
It is considered a Large Dam (40’ high or 1000Ac-Ft Storage)
It was constructed in 1837
It is 330 feet long
18 feet high
30 feet wide
Earth Embankment/Stone Masonry composite dam
18 inch cast iron drain pipe

5. Whaley Lake Town of Pawling 8700 Residents
500 properties surround Lake
400 +/- properties with Lake Rights
1985 Town of Pawling Town Board Action
1997 Town Commence Current Action
2000 Restoration and Rehabilitation Study
2006 District Ratification (Whaley Lake Dam Improvement District)
Estimated Cost of Repairs (2000)
Estimate $2.3 million

6. Whaley Lake Dam
Whaley Lake Dam is an Earth Fill / Stone Masonry type if structure
Stone masonry wall on the downstream side and possibly a stone masonry wall on the upstream side.
Earth fill composing the bulk of the dam
Very common construction for this region in the 1800’s
In 2012 this dam will be 175 years old and has had very little maintenance or repair work undertaken on it over that time frame.

7. Ownership, Access & Funding
Here is an aerial view that we must credit Google with to avoid copyright infringement.
The dam is to the top right
Route 292 is on the left side of the photo
Note the wet area downstream from the dam. We’ll talk about that later

8. Ownership, Access & Funding
No Legal Owners
Dutchess County, NY holds Property “In Rem”
Deeded Access Across Western Property
Zoning Board of Appeals Decision Includes Access
Court Ordered Search Warrant for Trespass on Dam – DONE, COMPLETED
Local License Agreement for Crossing During Study- DONE, COMPLETED
Dutchess County - $65,000
NYSDEC – $1.0 Million (Clean Water / Air Act) – Available
Federal Gov’t - ** $3.0 Million (Water Resources Act of 2005)
Working with Congressman Gibson of Funding through the current “Farm Bill”
Estimate on project $2.3 Million (2000)
Local Residents – $ 2.6 million (Bond through District)

9. Legal Window For Investigation

10. Temporary Access Easement

11. Construction Project Challenges and Decisions
Design Options
Style
Appearance
NYS – “SHiPO”
Water Level
Lower Level: 5 feet
Access
Future
Acquire property ONLY as needed
Construction
Conservation Easement
Off Site Property Mitigation Project

12. NYSDEC Status of Dam DEC determines dam in poor condition
DEC order to repair dam
Dam abandoned – owner not found
DEC wants the structure to be Repaired or Breached

13. View from West Abutment
This is a view from private property on the west bank of the lake at the dam
This is what the dam looked like prior to us starting the investigation
Note the heavy growth of brush and trees on the dam, which is contrary to good dam maintenance practices
The spillway, or the channel that conveys stream flow past the dam, can be seen in the lower left

14. Temporary Equipment Access
One of our first activities was to develop a means to obtain access to the dam fro clearing operations, and movement of equipment and personnel.
We needed to develop a design for the temporary access and get permits from the DEC Office of Dam Safety and Wetland Protection Program.
There was obvious concern about erosion and impact to the wetland.
Our bigger concern, also shared by the office of dam safety, was providing enough flood conveyance capacity should a large storm occur while the access fill was in the spillway.
We used Colbert Construction who is located right on the Lake and was always available to respond for the rainstorms that inevitably occurred with the access fill in palce.

15. Temporary Access Constructed
This dam has no access.
That is there is no legal way to gain access to this dam.
The town obtained a temporary easement from one of the adjacent property owners and we were able to construct temporary access across the spillway to get a drill rig for embankment and foundation soils investigations with a drill rig.
This temporary access was in place for several weeks and then was removed.
So one of the current challenges with tis dam is that there is no access to undertake any emergency activities on the dam if the need arose.
While out on the dam, all of the brush and trees were cut to allow unrestricted access and viewing of the surface and upstream and downstream slopes of the dam.

16. Investigations Performed
Piezometer (Monitoring Well) Installation

17. Site Stabilization
In order to gain access to the dam we had to travel over residential property directly adjacent to the dam.
This is actually a photo of after the investigation was done and we stabilized and restored the site.

18. Findings

19. Inadequate Spillway Spillway Condition and Capacity Assessment
We performed visual inspections of the entire spillway structure visible to us including the approach channel, the crest, the training walls and the toe area.
We performed a hydrologic analyses to evaluate the spillways capability to withstand the flooding that the watershed would generate during a number of important flood events.

20. Inadequate Outlet Capacity
This is the 20 inch cast iron pipe that stops short of the downstream face of the dam, some 6 feet or so.
20 Inch Cast Iron Drain Pipe

21. Uncontrolled Seepage/Leakage
Leakage near Existing Low Level Outlet Discharge
Another area of concentrated seepage discharge

22. Inoperable Drain Valve
Inoperable Low Level Outlet Drain Valve
So the DEC had inspected this dam numerous times in the past and had identified various potential deficiencies.

23. Sinkholes
Void in foreground
Note heavy brush and trees

24. Widespread Leakage/Seepage
Substantial Seepage

25. Flow Along Downstream Toe of Dam

26. No Access to the Dam
Here is an aerial view that we must credit Google with to avoid copyright infringement.
The dam is to the top right
Route 292 is on the left side of the photo
Note the wet area downstream from the dam. We’ll talk about that later

27. Access Obtained *New Physical (dry) access to dam from the North
Purchase of section of Adam property for ACCESS ONLY
Route 292 to Railroad Tracks: acres
This gets us to the Left Abutment
No legal right to trespass on dam parcel
“Search Warrant” Expired
Access to dam
Working with Dutchess County Executive Molinaro, County Attorney, Commission of Finance, and adjacent property owners on acquisition of recommended property for construction and future access & maintenance

28. Recommended Solution

29. Proposed Dam Improvements

30. Increased Spillway Capacity
New Compound Spillway to mimic hydrology of existing spillway
18.75 Long 704.8
47.25 Long 707.8
Auxiliary Spillway at Armored Overflow Spillway
Downstream Buttress and Filter Drain
Raising Dam to El 711.3
Recommended Alternative
Does not increase 100 Year Flood
Removes old outlet and valve pit
Addresses area of some voids and loose zones

31. Latest Review From NYSDEC
Whaley Lake Dam – Application review
DEC Id#
 2/3/15 – Don Canestari Review- New engineer assigned to the project
 December 2014 re-submission (#?)
Dave’s comments were from August Application was determined to be incomplete due to technical comments issued by NYSDEC.

32. DEC Review Comments
Construction Inspection Plan with Hold Point Inspections. Include Inspection in Final plans.
Passive Pressure utilized in Stability Analysis. Please review Factors of Safety & determine whether additional concrete, extension of Cutoff Wall can eliminate the reliance on Passive pressure.
Question on the Hydrology/Hydraulic Analysis and the references used for the computations.
NYSDEC wants F&O to better define sinkholes and how they will be addressed during construction
DEC wants clarification on Riprap, Filter Blanket Material and whether a bedding layer is needed
Provide further detail/elevations for upstream armoring being completed
How will Toe area of the Buttress be cleared? How will maintenance be performed
Structural Details of the Arch Spillway and how it is tied to the Spillway Training Walls
Excavation at new Spillway Training Walls - How will material be placed, compacted
We recommended to the Town that they provide copies fore review to DEC Office of Dam Safety
Will revise the Draft Emergency Action Plan (EAP)
DEC just published guidance
Will revise the Finalize the Draft Investigation Report
Design stage comments
None materially affect cost except
Most significant: Seepage Cutoff Wall
Proposed for the replacement spillway
Analyses shows that seepage cutoff wall not necessary
Concern for loose soils & possible voids
Design for exposing these areas and recompacting

33. What Are The Next Steps? Respond to NYSDEC latest Comments
Acquisition of Left & Right Abutment Properties
Access Road; Release of the RFP & Construct the road from Route 292 to the Dam Parcel
Pawling Planning Board Approval – “Lot Line”
Transfer of Ownership of Dam Parcel
Supreme Court, Dutchess County, Town of Pawling
NYSDEC Permit(s) Award
Lower Level of the Water
Formal Bidding of the Proposed Project – 2 months
Review Bid Submittals
Contract Award
Start of Construction

34. Residents Questions
Q: What NYSDEC Permit will be needed to work on our waters edge land?
Q: What LOCAL Permits will be needed to work on our waters edge lands?

35. LOCAL ORDANINCE Code of the Town of Pawling; Chapter 111 Chapter 171
This chapter shall be known as the "Freshwater Wetlands and Watercourse Protection Law of the Town of Pawling." Its purpose is to regulate the dredging, filling, deposition or removal of materials, including vegetation; the diversion or obstruction of water flow; the placement of structures in, and other uses of, the ponds, lakes, reservoirs, natural drainage systems and wetlands located in the Town of Pawling; and the requirement of permits therefor, providing for the protection and control of wetlands, waterbodies and watercourses.
Chapter 111 Section 4B
“Acts allowed without a permit”
Chapter 171
“ STORMWATER, SOIL EROSION AND SEDIMENTN CONTROL”

36. AGAIN: What Are The Next Steps?
Respond to NYSDEC latest Comments
Acquisition of Left & Right Abutment Properties
Access Road; Release of the RFP & Construct the road from Route 292 to the Dam Parcel
Pawling Planning Board Approval – “Lot Line”
Transfer of Ownership of Dam Parcel
Supreme Court, Dutchess County, Town of Pawling
NYSDEC Permit(s) Award
Lower Level of the Water
Formal Bidding of the Proposed Project – 2 months
Review Bid Submittals
Contract Award
Start of Construction

37. Questions/Discussion

38. Dam Safety Committee Members
Whaley Lake
Thank You
Pawling Town Board
Dam Safety Committee Members
Fuss & O’Neill
Zarecki & Associates
Local Volunteers
and most important
District Residents
The Lake is approximately 260 acres in surface area,
1 ½ miles long
1/4 mile wide
It has depths of 15 feet at the dam
It has a drainage area of approximately 4.85 square miles
Flows 5 miles northwest in Whaley Stream to confluence with Fishkill Creek
The volume of water stored in the lake is 4854 Ac-Ft