Repair It or Remove It

listen:

Track 1: (ambi sound dam) Black Brook Dam sits just west of the Merrimack River off Route 3A.

Standing on the banks overlooking the dam, one can easily pick out places where concrete is crumbling.

“Over here, the rocks that are here, the black rocks, they’re separating from the main part of the concrete and the granite blocks…it’s doing the same in there, you’ve got some that are coming apart…there are just as many under that water. And what the state is afraid of and what I’m afraid of is that dam’s gonna go.”

(bring up sound of dam)

Alderman Armand Forest represents Ward 12, where the Black Brook Dam is located.

It was built in 1900 and the pond created behind it became one of the best sources for ice in Manchester.

And until the 1950s the pond was a very popular spot for picnics, fishing, and swimming.

But now the dam is considered so dangerous that the state has ordered Manchester to either fix it or remove it.

Grace Levergood is a dam safety engineer with the Dept. of Environmental Services.

She says – for ecological as well as economic reasons, the state thinks the dam should be removed, and the river restored to its original ecological state.

“With any kind of removal, there’s a lot of federal money, because it improves fisheries…that would be applicable in this case. But there are many people who are emotionally connected to the dam, and remember the pond growing up and swimming in it.”

And that’s exactly why Alderman Forest says he’s torn between doing what he thinks is right…and doing what residents want.

“The best scenario is to remove the dam and restore it to its original flow prior to 1900. But I’m the alderman here, I’m gonna go voice concerns of my constituents, who want the dam repaired.”

However, Forest concedes the dam no longer serves any useful purpose, and has, in fact, become a safety hazard.

D-E-S says the city has ignored repeated findings of problems at the dam – including a huge sinkhole, and a cracked retaining wall.

The flooding in May further damaged it.

It's in such a state of disrepair that state officials worry that if the dams fails, it could severely damage Route 3A.

Still, area resident John Teeling wants to keep the Black Brook Dam in place

“Even though it’s been deemed unsafe, it is still part of the community. Given the amount of tax dollars they put into other sides of town, I think it would only be fair considering the funneling of tax revenue in the city to make the improvement over here for our quality of life that we already enjoy, as opposed to just cost savings on this side of town”

But Dam Safety Engineer, Grace Levergood, says quality of life in the area would be greatly enhanced by removing the dam.

“When you have a dam, it collects sediment behind it; it also raises the temp. of the water, which reduces the dissolved oxygen. You’ve got different species that can’t survive in that low oxygen environment. By opening up this river system, you’re going to be getting fish that are in the Merrimack River that might come up through this small river system and spawn. So you’re developing a healthier system.”

And Levergood points out, removing the dam makes economic sense.

The city estimates repairing it would cost roughly 86 thousand dollars.

And restoring the pond to its original condition--as some residents would like--could cost over a million dollars.

Removing the dam would be more expensive than repairing it.

However, Levergood says the state would pick up the lion's share of that.

In addition she says once the dam is gone, the city will never have to pay to repair it again.

The city has until the end of this month to come up with a plan for the dam.

It then has another five months to put that plan into action.