By Marcia Barnes
Staff Writer
Information coming down from the TVA continues to broaden community awareness that the Chatuge Dam Safety Modification Study is underway. No decision has been made on which type of modification the dam will undergo to correct problems at the spillway.
The first in-person TVA Open House will be from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 8 at Clay County Schools Cafeteria, 205 Yellow Jacket Drive. Project managers with TVA Dam Safety, representatives of TVA Natural Resources and experts on the TVA National Environmental Policy Act process will meet with the public to provide information on the project. There is no formal presentation scheduled for the open house, but attendees will be able to ask the experts questions and can access information throughout the evening.
Visual displays about why the spillway work is needed and options to address it as well as informational handouts will be available. The modification study is considering four potential alternatives for a long-term solution: Spillway rehab by joint reconstruction; spillway rehab by concrete lining; a new spillway, abandoning the existing spillway and to construct a new spillway, rehab existing spillway.
The solutions would require the lake to be drawn down for a period of time during construction. There is no computerized sketch at this time of what the draw down on the Chatuge reservoir would look like, however development of contour maps of Chatuge will require further analysis that will take place over the next year or so.
Regarding private speculation on a cofferdam as a solution, construction of a cofferdam ahead of building a new spillway does not eliminate the need for a draw down. The TVA would need to draw the reservoir down to build a cofferdam as it would essentially function as a portion of the dam during construction. Where a cofferdam is required to function at the same level of protection as the dam today, the draw down is to verify the cofferdam is constructed to adequate levels of stability and safety.
In two of the alternative modifications, the spillway rehab by joint reconstruction and a spillway rehab by concrete lining, the reason for the draw down would be to protect downstream communities and those who are working on the construction project.
Public input on the project is being sought through Wednesday, May 28 and TVA has recently mailed more than 2,500 post cards to property owners withIN a two-mile radius of the reservoir and property owners downstream of the spillway and dam. The “Learn & Comment” post card is an invitation to review and comment on the project’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement by scanning the QR code or visit: www.tva.com/nepa.
The TVA was not able to get addresses for all the property owners in Towns County, Ga. and because of the likelihood that the post cards didn’t reach everyone, TVA has done Facebook ads, newspaper notices, media outreach and outreach to advocacy groups to insure everyone knows about the meetings.
An open house, in-person meeting will take place in Towns County from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13 at the Towns County Recreation Center, 150 Foster Park Road, Young Harris, Ga.
A virtual meeting is scheduled from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 15. The format will be a question and answer session with subject matter experts and the link will be available at: www.tva.com/nepa.