County, state respond to dam breach

BUFFALO (WNE) — A dam off of Billy Creek Road breached on March 29, prompting a response from county, state and federal officials last week.

No life or property was threatened by the breach, and crews have pumped water out of the dam to limit the water released from the breach. The dam has capacity for 22 feet of water, though the average depth was 7.5 feet, he said.

"We don't want that dam fully breached and all that water be released rapidly,” said Jimmy Cataline, Johnson County Emergency Management Coordinator.  "We're trying to get (the water) out without creating more erosion and sending it down the creek. We have to keep in mind how much water is going downstream and what different culverts and things can handle.”

Jim Purdy has been the lessee of that state land and the dam for more than 50 years. He said he uses it to irrigate a hay field a couple hundred yards east of the structure, and it's a popular fishing hole in the area.

Purdy said a muskrat hole appears to have caused the initial leak.

At this point, officials are monitoring the situation and the area is closed to the public for the time being. The lessee and the State Engineer's Office will ultimately decide the fate of the dam.

"I'd like to do something here so we can continue to have a fishing pond,” Purdy said.

The Game and Fish has stocked Billy Creek Reservoir with rainbow trout annually since the 1970s, said public information specialist Christina Schmidt. The agency won't stock the water body this year, and whether it reopens to fishing and future stocking will depend on the future of the dam, she said.

This story was published on April 11, 2024.