On Saturday, July 24, 2010, the dam at Lake Delhi failed (Above)sending a torrent of water downstream, headed to Maquoketa, IA, 65 miles away. Standing between the Delhi Dam and my hometown is the Lakehurst hydro-electric dam just north of town on the Maquoketa River. (Below)
Lake Delhi, 9 miles long, drained away in a matter of hours. Approximately 900 homes and cottages are on the lake and surrounding area. Safety officials said that although the dam was nearly 90 years old, it was well maintained. Originally built as a hydro-electric dam, today it functions solely for recreation. A state inspection in 2009 identified a few minor problems, but nothing that could have caused its failure according to a state official.
Privately owned by the Lake Delhi Home Owners Association, it could not hold back the water after a winter of heavy snows, followed by a spring and early summer of extraordinary rains.
The fate of the dam is now in ‘limbo.’ The cost of reconstruction would be extraordinary for the homeowners, considering the new/modern criteria and specifications for a dam of that size. Consequently, many lake front properties are no longer “lake-front.”
2 comments:
Boo-fucking hoo for the homeowners on the lake. The people downstream are the real victims.
I paddled the stretch of river below the Delhi Dam in 2011 and was saddened to see the refuse pilled along the banks and in the trees. Last Saturday I paddled the same stretch again and little has changed. We spent $16 million on repairing the dam and restoring the lake. But what about the otherwise scenic, bluff-lined and clear flowing stream below?
A couple from Minnesota passed us and I was embarrassed wondering if they would ever return or worse yet speak to friends about the lack of concern the people of Delhi Lake have demonstrated for the river below and its users. How many tears have been shed for the river?
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