Dam breach at Lake Athens?

Anyone know anything about this?

http://www.kltv.com/story/29032867/volun...ible-dam-breach

These storms have wreaked havoc. Hope this doesn't worsen.

James,
The breach is actually on my club lake, Athens Fish and Game Club. Our lake feeds directly into Lake Athens.
So to be clear for everyone, it is the dam of Athens Fish & Game that is in trouble, NOT the Lake Athens dam. The water went over our dam last night, which if you are familiar with the area, that road holding our dam is Hwy 317. The problem is that the outflow of water washed out parts of 317. So the breach of the dam itself is what we are questioning. We just had an engineer out to the club, and he did some tests. He said a few things: 1. If it rains hard again tonight, we are screwed....and we may lose the dam. 2. Right now, at this minute, our AF&G lake is dropping 6" per hour. Where does the water flow out to, from our overflow? Directly into Lake Athens. We are praying there are no big storms tonight.
I had Jason Hoffman out with me a week ago, fishing AF&G. We have some monster fish in there. It would be a shame if we lost it.

...YES, it would be a shame that all yalls money and hard work would be lost...

If it did god forbid happen... might make a run out to lake Athens lol

FYI ramps on Athens are closed! I've seen several boats heading that way. No fishing for now!

Pretty full lol

This is an unbelievable turn of events. I hope it doesn't get worse, I can't believe the lakes where all so low just a few months ago. Crazy

Is this by “Donna’s Delectable Cakes”

AF&G is 463' to Lake Athens' 440' at full pools, so I suppose the engineers and others will determine fairly quickly how much water can escape if the dam gives away to its lowest possible point, then the effects on the upper lake losing the water . . . and the effects on the lower lake receiving the water.

Lake Athens is reported to be at 441.90' today and that jibes with the photo showing the boat ramp and its current state.

I'm not sure how deep AF&G is, what water would remain in it with a total breach of its dam.

Some interesting math here: 1 acre-foot of water (an acre covered by 1 foot of water) is slightly less than 326,000 gallons of water. That'll fill a lot of aquariums.

Will they try to bleed off AF&G to take pressure off the dam and any more rain water and watershed?

Will Lake Athens coordinate activities by releasing water to make room?

Down stream of Lake Athens, and the effects?

Many novels have less interesting twists and turns (and politics) than this.

Brad

I was on AF&G this weekend. Deepest water I saw was about 18 ft near the dam. Most of the lake is 12ft

Did those 2 big cedar tree brushpiles float into spillway and block it up ?

Dam

tuned into updates...

The problem at AF&G Club is so much rain entered the lake at once, that it could not flow out of our overflow quick enough. So it crossed Hwy 317, which IS our dam. This huge surge of water eroded out part of the highway, and a small leak/breach developed. Our overflow, right at the overpass on 317, where you cross AF&G, feeds directly into Lake Athens. Right now the overflow is doing all it can. The outlet under the bridge is only so big and can only handle so much outflow. The engineers tell us it is moving 6" of water per hour....6" per hour AF&G is dropping, and feeding into Athens. That tells you the huge flood of water in AF&G. And the dam is not designed, nor is it used to support this much water pressure / volume. Deepest part of AF&G is about 21' in spots, by the dam. And yes, the average depth of the other water is about 10-12'. For anyone that has ever gone down Hwy 317 going to Lake Athens, you've crossed AF&G Club. Look at this photo. What you see in the road, is actually where the highway (which is our dam) is actually GONE. This is the fear. There's a voluntary evacuation in place for anyone below this area and downstream to Lake Athens.

Is the AF&G club also known as Jones lake on Google Earth? Never mind...found it a little to the West.

So, here is the "math" on the effect on Lake Athens, so far. Of course, before I show it, remember that the same run-off from saturated soils in the two lakes' watersheds and actual rain hitting AF&G is hitting Lake Athens, too. In other words, not all of the rise in Lake Athens is attributed to run-off from AF&G. Not even close.

But, at normal conservation pool, Lake Athens holds 29,435 acre-feet of water. So, it averages 16.36 feet in depth (29,435 / 1799 surface acres). Today shows 32,368 acre-feet of water, so it is now 17.99 feet average depth.

This comports with the data on the lake; that, and the photo of the boat ramp suggest this same rise.

But, as water fills a reservoir, its area increases; it isn't like a glass with vertical sides. So, the rise covers a larger lake now . . . as it moves up into the properties surrounding the lake.

Athens Municipal Water Authority, I think that is what it is called, owns all land around the lake's perimeter up to at least 448', I guess more around the dam.

Gary R. : If you know the surface acreage of AF&G, there are some interesting calculations to be made.

*** My guess is that the boat ramps aren't closed because Lake Athens is up less than 2 feet, it is closed just in case the "dam" gives away and all of that water comes flooding out all at once.

This should not result in a long term closure; the closure will be in effect until the risk is eliminated. How to do that? Well, if the small lake drains off to a certain point, it poses no immediate risk. But, heavy rain events could cause them to toggle the boat ramps open and closed until things sort themselves out.

Road crews are up next and it sounds like they need to beef up the road that is acting as a dam. What likely was just a traditional road is going to need to be buttressed with a whole lot of very heavy concrete, else this saga will play out again at some point.

Brad

Okay, I found a reference to AF&G as a "135 acre" lake and Gary likely has a good idea of its average depth and if I use 10 feet, that would be 1350 acre-feet of water in the reservoir compared to 29,435 for Lake Athens which is normally 1799 acres and a normal average depth of 16+ feet. So, if ALL of the water came gushing out of AF&G, it would only increase Lake Athens' water volume by about 4.5%.

A big rain with watershed run-off would do that much to Lake Athens, so, again, the ramp closure has little to do with the recent rise on Lake Athens, more to do with a possible sudden surge or wall of water if the whole dam crumbled. If the ramp were farther away from AF&G, I don't think it would be much of an issue at all for Lake Athens.

Even then, and Gary and others would know, not ALL the water would drain out of AF&G as I suspect that there is some depth of water below the bottom of the dam (highway).

Brad

I wonder if the engineering played out with the intent to use the dam as a road or the road as a dam. The order is critical when it comes to dam safety with the latter obviously being the most unsafe option. Hope this all plays out well...

A couple Frac water transfer pumps pushing 130 barrels per min from AF&G to Athens would sure help release some pressure on that dam/road.

AgSellers04,

Good question! It looks to me like they just used the road, likely altered and beefed up a bit, as the dam . . . and not vice versa.

That makes sense: the engineers make calculations, not hard to do, but then it comes time to fund such things . . . and money becomes an issue. Most engineering calculations have very large fudge factors built in, sizing a beam comes to mind, so the politicians, taxpayers too, likely talk the engineers down a bit to some acceptable lower standard.

Then, Mother Nature gets out her lesson plans and everyone gets schooled.

Brad

Brad,
Cool math you are calculating. But you need to use 190 acres. The avg deep is indeed about 10-feet. And while there is 22' water by 317 and the dam, it's an area about the size of a basketball court.

The problem with fraq pumps is that there's nowhere to pump the water. Tons of houses and farms directly across 317. Thus, the voluntary evacuation notice. The state engineers were there all day. Let's just hope there isn't another turd floater.

Brad,

I understand that concept all too well. That's why we (they I mean) over-engineer things most times. I'm just the environmental guy that tells them they are wrong and gets ignored half the time. "But.. but...but it works in the models and in my schematics" That's a popular line.

The dam has been there since 1921 when a bunch of rich dudes from Athens decided to build it as a place to play. I'm guessing that was long before state highway 317 was established.

I was speaking with an AF&G property owner today and the same question came up "which came first, the dam or the road?" he said the lake was built in the 1920s. We figured the state built the road on the dam. And that brings up a whole new set of questions. I just hope the rain holds off long enough to get the road/dam stabilized.

So you can't fish Lake Athens right now?

Well that answers it then. Re-engineering something away from it's original intent is always bad. "We'll reinforce it" That's the solution, works sometimes. I imagine people have always driven over it just not at modern day volumes.

Hopefully they can get it right this time around.

A quiet night on Lake Athens with the water dropping a smidgen to 441.98' as of 5:30 AM this morning.

One more math stat along with my coffee this AM I'll pass along:

The Lake Athens dam controls the drainage for 21.6 square miles, so that would be 13,824 acres, actually a small amount of watershed as would be expected for a relatively small lake. If every inch of water that fell in that area drained off, say the ground was totally saturated, one inch of rain would raise the lake level by 7.68 inches.

Anyway, let's hope the disaster for AF&G has been avoided.

Brad

Any updates Gary? Have they done anything in attempts to patch it as the water drops?
I'm hearing the rain is starting down there already.

According to this website http://hendersoncountytexasnow.com/tceq-expert-on-dams-consulting-on-fish-and-game-lake-breach/
"** UPDATE: Tuesday, 3 p.m. …. County officials have verified that engineers are planning to conduct a controlled breach of the dam Wednesday morning."

I wonder how deep they will "cut" the dam and how much water they'll want to remove. I also wonder how much more water Lake Athens can take.

Lake Athens does not have a gate to "open",,,, just the drain hole at the dam...... right ?
Can the water pump station take more water out than is usual ?
I was there today at lunch and the water level is very high, almost into the ramp parking lot, covering all the boat docks at the ramp. Many home owners have taken their "big" boats out of the boat stalls to keep them from going thru the roof as the water rises. No rain here in Athens today, just a couple of slight sprinkles, but I see the water coming up more before it goes down, just MHO.
The North end towards the AF&G looks real muddy, but the main lake looks clear.
Lots of debris, grass and weeds in places they should not be.
Athens Water folks were there at noon taking water samples to be tested.
Athens Water District has a "boil your water first" directive on right now until further notice.
Don't know what got into the water but something has.
Looks like I'll be going South to fish this weekend.
Maybe Toledo Bend,

As I understand it, the boil water notice is because we had low water pressure in Athens on Monday morning and that lead to fears of a "backflow" condition into the water lines. I am not an engineer, nor do I play one on the internet.

I found the following information about the dam on Lake Athens here.
"Lake Athens Dam and appurtenant structures consist of an earth-fill embankment, 3,000 feet in length, with a maximum height of 67 feet and a crest elevation of 453.0 feet. The service spillway is an uncontrolled rectangular drop inlet.

The crest elevation for the six-feet by six-feet opening is 440.0 feet. The emergency spillway, located at the left (north) abutment of the dam, is an earth trench cut through the natural ground. The crest is 300 feet in length at elevation 446.0 feet. The outlet works is an 18-inch diameter concrete pipe with an invert elevation of 396.5 feet above the mean sea level and is controlled by a slide valve."

So if I'm reading that correctly, Lake Athens would have to reach 440 feet before water would flow over the emergency spillway on the north end of the dam.

I spoke with the folks at AMWA around 1pm today and they too said the state engineers were talking about a controlled release from AF&G, but he didn't have any further details. The lake continues to drop as of now. As for contamination, most of the boat houses were flooded, so who knows what is in the water now. I'm glad they're testing it though.

..........and people are complaining that they are releasing water from some lakes when they just made it to full pool.

Perhaps at 100% Capacity when more rain is on the way isn't always a good thing.

No, at 440', the lake's conservation level, nothing happens, no spill-over. But, any water over that level would begin to flow out of the 6' by 6' opening.

If it exceeds the 6' on the vertical side of that drain, that would be 440' + 6' = 446' . . . it would be at that point that the additional water would begin to flow over the 300' section of the dam which is at . . . 446'. And, of course, it would continue to flow out of the "now under-water" 6' by 6'.

So, if you look at the logs of Lake Athens, other than some drought related drops to 434' or so over the years, it spends most of its time at 440'. Any normal amount of added water simply flows out that unmanned opening. If there is a deluge and water rises quicker than it can find its way out the 6' by 6', then it runs over the end of the dam.

For now, at just below 442' last I looked, the water is escaping only via the 6 by 6 drain.

If, say, the 21.6 square miles of watershed all washed into the lake in a short period of time after a huge rain event, the lake would likely rise to 446' and then it would exit over the 300' section.

This is, by the way, the fear factor related to AF&G, that its dam will wash away and all of its water will drain into Lake Athens suddenly. I think I posted the math earlier. It is not so much that the lake would rise all that much if this were to happen, it is the danger of a tsunami-like event at the north end of the lake.

You don't normally close boat ramps when a lake is up only 2 feet above conservation pool.

Brad

The Athens paper stated the AF&G issue was under control & the water level had dropped.
I went to Lake Athens ramps at noon & they were still closed off.
The water level seemed to have dropped a foot from where it was yesterday at noon.
BUT,,,,, here it is 3:20pm and it is pouring rain once again,,,,, a real frog strangler.
Not going to help either lake or the guys out there trying to do repairs on FM 317 @ AF&G.

The whole area is under a flash flood watch for more training of storms causing "very heavy" rain. I've never seen a period this long with this much heavy rain this often.

I miss fishing

Updates for AF& G Club:
Spoke to Mike, our association president.

* Lake was dropping slowly, but there were wier boards (sp?) within the overflow drain. Removed them after 6-hours of work today, working from a barge. Lake dropped a lot.
* Hwy 317 crossing our dam is closed.
* State was there today cutting a temporary run-off thru the road
* Results of all these actions dropped the lake 5-feet in past 24-hours.
* I was told the lake is muddy (dry) in places. Could only be fished via a canoe, kayak, etc.
* First time since the place was founded in 1921, that the water has ever crested the dam.
THIS SUCKS.

so why is the Lake Athens ramps still closed ?
anyone know ?

As the old farmer said..."Rainfall is like sex. You can get caught up in a hurry."

Good update, Gary and others.

As of 6:30 this morning, Thursday, Lake Athens is at 441.60', so 1.6 feet above its conservation level.

No properties are at risk since the AMWA owns all land around the perimeter of the lake to at least 448'. I doubt boat houses and docks are affected as these are almost always constructed at heights assuming there will be some high water at times.

Floating debris? Maybe some of that; and, like Lake Fork and Granbury, I suppose they might want to let things settle out where tree trunks are now just below the surface, no longer visible.

My guess is a bit of over-reaction here regarding the closing of the Lake Athens boat ramps but heavy rains were in the forecast, so as soon as the water retreats a bit more, I bet they open up.

The lake, after all, has dropped even with more rain falling.

Brad

my uncle had a place on AF&G. I hope it does not get breached. that lake has some awesome fishing.

Some more recent news below.

As it turns out, they were never considering running water over the road to alleviate pressure. Apparently, an old valve hadn't been used in 16 or 17 years is being revitalized, that and they are going to cut in an emergency spillway similar to the 300' one Lake Athens has.

So, other than some road damage, I think the whole issue is, or will be, soon resolved.

There simply isn't enough water in the entirety of AF&G for it to have ever been all that much of a problem for Lake Athens, certainly if it is released under a controlled basis via valve/spillway.

Lake Athens is at 441.43' as of 5:30 AM this Friday morning.

I am not sure how much rain/run-off it may have received over the last day or two, but one can readily see that it is a stable lake compared to many others in our region. It took on some unusual rain amounts in the area and never got much above 442', 2 feet over its conservation level, and it never even closely approached the height of 446' where it would then begin to flow over the 300' spillway at the end of the dam.

http://www.tylerpaper.com/TP-News+Local/219632/emergency-action-continues-on-athens-dam

This is good news for AF&G, too, as things will soon be back to normal.

Brad