Dike worries
By LAURA McVICKER
H&N Staff Writer
Editor's note: The Geary Dike failure June 7 spurred a Herald and
News investigation of dike maintenance in the Klamath and Tulelake
basins. The goal was to find out who owns and maintains dikes and how
closely they are monitored.
July 23, 2006
H&N
file photo by Andrew Mariman Highway
140, crossing through the top right corner of the photo, closed in
early June after the Geary Dike failed on Upper Klamath Lake.
Bill Thompson, Klamath County's emergency
manager, fielded a March phone call from an Army Corps of Engineers
official who said Klamath County needed a comprehensive study of the
viability of its dikes.
The meeting had been set for June 15, but a
week before that date, waters from Upper Klamath Lake surged through a
200-foot gap in the Geary dike, flooding 2,000 acres of farmland. The
flood caused by the busted dike closed Highway 140 for days, destroyed
a farmer's wheat crop and ruined equipment, and damaged holes on the
Running Y Ranch and Resort golf course. It caused millions of dollars
in damage.
“We never dreamed we'd have a failure,” says Thompson. “It just
happened.”
Could it happen again? Maybe, and as of yet,
Klamath County efforts are just starting. There are nearly 45 miles of
dikes along Upper Klamath Lake alone. That lake stretches 30 miles
long and eight miles wide, and no one, it seems, is sure who is in
charge of inspecting its dikes.
Lack of records
County officials still have no way to get in touch with dike owners in
an emergency - there seem to be no readily accessible Klamath County
records of owners and maintainers. There is no general manager or
inspector of dikes.
Many dikes are privately owned and maintenance rests on their
shoulders. Ownership can go back to the turn of the 20th century, and
be passed down from generation to generation or change hands
altogether, officials say.
The Herald and News attempted to contact several apparent owners, or
owners of land adjacent or contiguous to dikes - a list of owners of
land along dikes was available from the Bureau of Reclamation.
Messages were left for some, including Running Y Resort and Jeld-Wen,
but most didn't return calls or didn't have spokesmen available. A
couple were somewhat confused about any possible responsibilities
concerning nearby dikes.
A PacifiCorp spokesman says he believes they are responsible for
maintenance only in the Geary Dike area, where the break occurred.
Klamath Falls City Manager Jeff Ball says there are no dikes within
city limits - only barriers along the A Canal. So he can't comment.
Klamath County Commissioners say they don't
have authority over the maintenance of dikes.
The Klamath County Sheriff's Office reports that law enforcement
only responds to dike failures when it's deemed that there is a public
safety risk.
H&N
file photo by Andrew Mariman A
portion of the flooded Running Y Ranch and Resort golf course
appears in this aerial photo of the area flooded by the Geary dike
failure in early June.
Federal inspection
Les Miller, rehabilitation and inspection manager with the Army Corps
of Engineer's Portland office, says breaks like that of the Geary Dike
happen when owners don't have dikes inspected by authorities such as
the Corps of Engineers.
Free federal inspection is available through
the Corps of Engineers for dike owners who are included in special
taxing districts or associations organized for dike maintenance.
Before June 15, no owners requested federal inspection, Miller said.
To meet Corps of Engineers standards, inspectors must determine that
dikes provide 10 years of flood protection if the surrounding area has
homes, or five years if it is surrounded by farm ground, Miller says.
Once a dike is determined to be at standards, the owners are
included in the Corps of Engineer's Rehabilitation and Inspection
Program, the area is deemed a “levee district,” and receives
immediate assistance in the event of an emergency, Miller says.
Private owners cannot apply for the program unless they receive county
or other public sponsorship, Corps officials say.
Dan Keppen of Klamath Falls, executive
director of Family Farm Alliance, says he saw what happens without
proper maintenance of dikes as a former manager of the Tehama County
Flood Control and Water Conservation District in the Sacramento Valley
of California.
He saw new owners move into the area who didn't know they owned a dike
near their homes and had to maintain them.
Things then started crumbling.
“Those things failed like crazy,” he says. Keppen saw a benefit in
levee districts.
“If they're not properly maintained, it's almost a guarantee there's
going to be a failure,” he said.
No requests made
Miller contacted Thompson after realizing no Klamath County dike
owners had requested inspections before the June 15 meeting.
Miller says he typically sees counties with waterways involved in the
Corps program.
Thompson told Miller after their first phone call that he couldn't
find records with the names of dike owners. They decided they needed a
comprehensive study of area dikes. They needed a plan.
Dike task force
At the scheduled June 15 meeting, the county's emergency services, two
Corps of Engineers officials and Bureau of Reclamation officials
created a dike task force, Thompson says.
The task force's goal is to find and document the location of all the
county's dikes, their owners and their current condition. From there,
the group will recommend any repairs to owners, Thompson says.
Though the Bureau of Reclamation does not own dikes on Upper Klamath
Lake, it still has stock in dike maintenance.
“We are responsible for controlling the flow into Klamath River and
lake levels,” bureau spokeswoman Rae Olsen says. “It's natural
we'd be part of collaborating in management in the river.”
Miller hopes dike owners will take steps to prevent another incident
like the Geary Dike failure. He doesn't want to see another owner
wading in water to retrieve farming equipment.
“I can't imagine what that poor farmer is thinking,” Miller says
of the farmer who lost crops when the Caledonia Marsh flooded. “You
can just imagine what a difficult position this has put him into.”
Dike task force
Who's who in the dike task force:
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