2-13-2012- dover dam presently. 

part 3

        and presently dover dam is undergoing a major facelift and safety up grade to the structure. originally designed to last 100 years and currently is 75 yrs. old. originally it was built for around 7 million dollars , and i imagine that included land acquisition . now the price tag is going to be somewhere around 160 million dollars. but this is open ended as many real estate owners found out as now they are assessing your property to pay for repairs with amounts ranging from a minimum of 15 dollars to larger amounts on all land located in the muskingum watershed conservancy district. this wasnt a tax and wasnt voted on but instead it was an assessment , much the same as if they run sewer or water across your property. and dont ask you if you want it or need it. 

       values of the tax was based on size of property and parking areas or buildings that would contribute to runoff. with a minimum applied to each individual piece of real esate irregardless if it was still in its natural state contributing no more or less to runoff than it did in 1937. it made no difference excepting churches and schools which were allowed to pay no assessment. now at this point i want to say i am no atheist but instead someone who understands a little about the constitution and really dont understand where churches or some private charities or any charitable organization on the whole should be excluded .they contribute to runoff and should have assessment applied to them . now schools or taxpayer assisted organizations should be given a break as it results in being taxed twice for same thing. 

       moving on , the sad part is it is a blank check secretly siphoning funds for perpetual maintenace of these facilities. the price tag is only going to get larger as inflation spares no expense in deflating our dollars strength. not quite sure what the current price tag is for repairs to dover dam renovation alone is  but it is heavy. somewhere in the range of 60 million to repair a 75year old dam due to be replaced in 25 years. also it is built on a fault area of substantial concern to geologists and engineers as to expedite repairs on an emergency basis . this is what they are doing in phase 1 of their safety update. currently they are installing anchors further into the soil profile and extending to the dam face basically penning the foundation of the dam to its existing subbase preventing any slip from occuring and also preventing the overtoppling effect when water or ice would push the dam as it did in the flood of 2005. 

      this is the repairs at one dam and this dam is part of network of dams and locks from here to the gulf of mexico. it has cost us a small nation to get to this point now we are going to have to replace a lot of aging infrastructure to do what? 

      as much as i love having that lakefront lot and hate to see flooding , and seeing peoples house float down streams . i think we need to rethink our dependence on man made structures and reduce or eliminate some . if it floods or hurricanes knock it down dont rebuild or allow to be built upon again. it would be cheaper to buy the property downstream and let the river flood at will. if it floods then you cant build there and let it be the same for the coasts. this should be areas for recreation and allowing the public unfettered access to  our national treasures of our natural rivers. the coast guard currently has authority over any navigable waterway. if a hurricane hits a coast and destroys,  homes they should not be rebuilt , with  insurance money as it is adds to total consumer risk. property should be turned over to the public and allow equal access to our resources . or rebuild at your own risk. 

      i know it is not totally feasible to totally remove structures along our coast and along our waterways . my suggestion to offset this would be similar to what they offer for wetlands . you can have 1 acre of wetland for 6 acres elsewhere to be set aside to offset the temporary loss. with global warming and rising ocean levels this approach may save us money in the future and force us to conserve our national resources.

     instead of elaborate storm water collection , just implement a more local approach to storm water control. make property owners responsible for their individual properties . installing storm water ponds and living by the rule , thaat you are able to retain more rainfall than would land in your watershed. occasional small breaches would occur in small levies but nothing nearly as disastrous as if dover dam would fail. 

    uncontrolled water would rush down the valley directly below the dam taking trees and scourig the soil land and buildings in its path. this debris pile would arrive at the outskirts of dover in about  15 minutes . initially new philadelphia and lower sections along the river would feel the brunt of the massive debris dam as it knocks out the bridges surrounds the power plant. 

        water would soon be headed for chemical plants causing untold dmage and possibly creating a toxic nighmare as the flood waters spread out and do more damage. relentless water would continue down the valley taking out the local walmart and other stores in that low lying area. then head across the valley for the gradall company and new town mall where as in wal marts case, thousand of people could be shopping. waves of water would surround and invade parking lots floating cars around knocking out electricity and severely hampering first responders. total chaos would ensue , and untold loss of life.
      common sense tells us that it may be better to do with out the dams , but then at same time we now have built around a lot of these lake and have a lot of infrastructure that depends on these dams. what is the answer?. there is no good one. but  discussion is needed to set our path right for the right reasons. and not let profit steer us into uncertain destiny.
       i will sit up here on the upstream side and watch as it works out one way or the other. it is only for me to reason why ? if i find out i might write another blog. well life moves on tomorrow and will be on a different subject. my experience in the oilfield. or what is a scumburger?