Woodbury to drain reservoir to fix failing dam
Town officials said the 2023 storm shifted rocks at the bottom, and that another similar weather event could cause the dam's collapse.
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The federal government is stepping in to help the Town of Woodbury shore up a weak, leaky dam in an attempt to prevent a future disaster.
Town officials are now scheduling contractors to try to repair the Earl Reservoir Dam before the next big storm hits.
The July 2023 storm that dropped up to eight inches of rain on parts of eastern Orange County also destabilized the dam walls.
Jason Dimura, who lives nearby and grew up coming to the park around the dam, was relieved Friday to learn the town government received more than $2.5 million to do the dam repair. But it will not be fixed before whatever storms might strike this summer and fall.
"If this dam isn't fixed, this park is ruined. It will not only devastate me but devastate the kids who are coming up. The future of this park is in danger," Dimura says.
Town officials said the main problem is with the rocks at the bottom of the structure.
They said the 2023 storm shifted rocks at the bottom, and that another similar weather event could cause the dam's collapse. If it were to break, the water would likely overflow the narrow stream leading out of the reservoir and flood several properties south of the dam.
"There's a lot of pressure," Woodbury Town Supervisor Kathryn Luciani told News 12 Monday during an interview at Town Hall, "and a lot of stress."
Luciani said that since even before she took office in January 2024, she has been in countless meetings about the dam with FEMA, Rep. Pat Ryan and the area's state representatives in Albany. She said there were no major setbacks in the application process, though it took 18 months to finally receive the money.
"When you have to deal with grants and federal funding, things take a while," Luciani said. "But it was also major for us here in the community if anything were to ever happen with the dam and being able to have the resources, the money, things like that."
Luciani's team is already looking into contractors. They plan to have the reservoir drained in September to give contractors access to the bottom of the structure, and expect to have the dam fixed by the end of the year.
