Prestonwood Lake Dam, located in the city of Arlington, Texas, appears to be close to failure.
According to reports, the dam suffered erosion due to recent rainfalls and its spillway is about to collapse. Locals state that the dam has been deteriorating for years. The privately-owned facility is near Lamar and Green Oaks boulevards. In order to repair the damage, few local homeowners would have to pay about $1 million. Arlington is preparing in case that water floods the streets. It is believed that a potential flood would not affect buildings.
A city's statement on Wednesday 31 of October explains: "It appears failure of the spillway may be imminent. While no flooding of residential structures is anticipated, Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams has declared an emergency and issued a proclamation Wednesday so that City staff may act to protect the safety of citizens and reduce damage to property and public infrastructure."
A major concern of the authorities is the downstream effects of a failure. Pipes and culverts may receive higher flow rate than designed flooding the road network and causing additional problems. "Our concern is where does that water go if another dam forms downstream," said Arlington Fire Deputy Chief Mike Vogel.
Another issue is that it is not clear who is responsible to address the issue. "You have an HOA (Homeowner Association) that in their bylaws says they're not responsible for the dam. You have a homeowner that everyone believes that the dam—and the city says the dam—is on his property that has told the HOA it's not his problem and not on his property. And then you have the city who said it's not their problem. So everyone is kinda pointing fingers at everyone else," Robert Blake, a resident, states.
Sources: Theepochtimes.com, Fox4news.com, <br />
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