Herald and News: Committees formed to inventory area dikes

Committees formed to inventory area dikes

By LAURA McVICKER

H&N Staff Writer

November 16, 2006

Klamath County's dikes are finally on the radar.

At a dike task force meeting Wednesday, officials planned to find out the location of Klamath County's dikes, who owns them and what condition they are in.

Committees or working groups were set up to address each question. Committees also will study funding options and which agencies are responsible for overseeing dikes.

After a dike on Upper Klamath Lake failed in June, flooding acres of farmland and nearby west Highway 140, questions emerged: Who owned the county's dikes? And could they break.

Meet the task force

The dike task force consists of officials from Klamath County Emergency Services, Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers. State Sen. Doug Whitsett, county commissioner Bill Brown, the county's watermaster, the state's dam safety coordinator and Sheriff Tim Evinger also attended, as well as concerned citizens.

Klamath County Emergency Manager Bill Thompson said during the meeting a dike failure didn't turn up on a previous list of potential hazards for the county, but said officials need to address the issue.

Unforeseen hazard

“Believe me, levee breaks weren't even one of those hazards I considered,” Thompson said.

Emergency services officials are in charges of disaster preparedness, but aren't managers of dikes. County commissioners don't have jurisdiction over the maintenance of dikes, and law enforcement officials only step in when there's a public safety risk. The task force hopes to address who's responsible for dikes.

Duke Roberts, emergency manager for the Corps of Engineer San Francisco office, which oversees Klamath County, explained Wednesday how to become part of the Corps' rehabilitation inspection program. An inspection program through the Corps of Engineers is available for dike owners who are a part of special taxing districts or associations set up for dike maintenance.

To be become part of the Corps program, a dike must reach certain standards, officials say. If a dike is along a home, it must provide 10 years of flood protection. If it's along farmland, officials must deem it will provide five years of flood protection.

Roberts said each year Corps officials send a letter to the county's public works department, asking whether any dike stakeholders are interested in the program. The Corps never received any inquiries. On Wednesday, public works officials said their office doesn't oversee dikes.

“We're going to make it work this time,” Roberts said.