Beaver IRRM Environmental Assessment Public Comment Period

Little Rock District - USACE
Published Sept. 2, 2022
News Release Images

News Release Images

30-DAY COMMENT PERIOD ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AN OPERATIONAL INTERIM RISK REDUCTION MEASURE AT BEAVER LAKE DAM, WHITE RIVER, BENTON/CARROLL COUNTIES, ARKANSAS

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Little Rock District (Corps), is preparing an Environmental Assessment (EA) to document the beneficial and adverse effects of implementing an Operational Interim Risk Reduction Measure (IRRM) at Beaver Dam on the White River. The IRRM will reduce risks to life safety, property and natural resources associated with being able to operate the dam effectively during extreme high-water events.

Beaver Dam was evaluated during a Periodic Risk Assessment in 2016. The ability to access and operate the Tainter gates when flood waters exceed elevation 1,132.5 feet (NAVD88) was identified as a risk that could contribute to a potential dam failure in an extreme high-water event. An Interim Risk Reduction Measures Plan (IRRMP) was developed in accordance with ER 1110-2-1156 by the Little Rock District in 2017 and approved by the USACE Southwestern Division in 2018. The IRRMP includes IRRMs to reduce the risks identified in 2016. The IRRMP was revised in 2021 to include an operational IRRM designed to allow for water control operations that evacuate the flood storage more efficiently than the current water control plan. The IRRM will operate the White River System of lakes to a hybrid of current and past operations by using the pre-1998 seasonal guide curves at Newport and Georgetown, Arkansas and the post-1998 timing for stage transitions. This will allow more aggressive flood risk management (FRM) releases during months that receive runoff producing rainfall, regain FRM storage in a faster manner, and lowers the frequency and duration of high pool events at Beaver Lake. Information on the action is available at: https://www.beaverlakedam-irrm.com/. USACE is soliciting the public’s feedback on any social, economic, and environmental concerns with implementation of the IRRM.

Comments may be sent in one of two ways and must be postmarked by Friday, October 7, 2022: • On the study website at: https://www.beaverlakedam-irrm.com/contact-1

• Mailed to Mr. Jarrad Davis, Environmental Branch, Regional Planning and Environmental Center, 2000 Fort Point, Galveston, Texas 77550

Comments submitted during any of the five public workshops previously held between December 2021 and February 2022 or that have been previously submitted through the website were recorded in the public record.


Contact
CESWL-Public Affairs
5013245551
ceswl-pa@usace.army.mil

Release no. 22-085