https://LakePetitDam.com/ has just been updated with new documents obtained through Open Records. The documents are in chronological order, so scroll waaaay down to the bottom for the most current.
It is time to update the community (and surrounding communities) on the situation, as seen through review of the documents, and as provided to FOBC through our source network. None of it is good, and to be honest, the situation is so mindbogglingly bad, that it is hard to believe that someone isn’t in jail for the incredible false information and manipulation of data that is being presented to the community. Make no mistake, the Big Canoe POA Board and Management (primarily Scott Auer) are flat out lying at this point.
OUTLINE OF CURRENT ISSUES: There are 4 issues going on with Lake Petit Dam;
(1) Seepage at the base of the Dam by Ballfield. They plan to address this with the installation of a trench drain, which was supposed to be next on the agenda. A permit request was put in to Ga Safe Dams back in April 2023. That has just been stalled as of Aug 10, 2023 for an unknown period of time.
(2) The Lower Level Outlet (LLO) is non-functional, failed the recent test, and is currently inoperable. It also has a degraded inner pipe that has settling and joint separations. It has never in 50 years been succesfully operated, even though it is legally required to be tested each and every year. The LLO is Lake Petit Dam’s legally required “Emergency Drawdown” mechanism. Our failure to have this functional is a violation of our Operations Permit, and could result in the requirement that the lake be drained. So this is something that is not optional at this point, and Ga Safe Dams has made that crystal clear. ALSO… it has been determined that even in a fully functional system, the existing LLO is not large enough to meet the minimum requirements for drawing down the Lake volume in an emergency. The current requirement was quoted to FOBC from the director of Safe Dams as follows:
According to our Engineer Guidelines, the drain system is to be designed to drain two-thirds of the volume of the lake at normal pool within 10 days.
(3) The Spillway is currently being undercut by water flow, and must be rebuilt. Scott Auer likes to use weasel words to imply that it is “possible” that this is the result of an unrelated groundwater spring, but Geosyntec has made it clear to the POA that the Spillway MUST be rebuilt, and possibly even relocated, which is another expensive problem all together.
(4) This is the big one… Structural and Seismic Stability minimum requirements are in serious question. The April 2023 Permit Application for the Trench Drain included a required Stability Analysis. It is important to realize that the only studies ever accepted were from 1997, and the Dam FAILED at that time. The POA was just informed last week, in an August 10, 2023 Letter, that their submission was going to be sent to outside engineering review by Ga Safe Dams.
QUICK COMMENTARY ON #2:
At this point, the POA has clearly been informed that the option of replacing the Gate at the bottom of the lake is a non-starter, and even if it was decided to allow that approach – the cost is enormous, and the risks enormous (and it doesn’t address the fact that the interior pipes would catastrophically fail well before the 10 days of full discharge was met, resulting in a “solution” that might be worse than the emergency that triggers the opening of the LLO).
Right now, the POA is perfectly aware that the next level of backup plan involves lowering the lake a minimum of 30 feet…. and that is just the beginning of what they would have to do, because it does get worse, but that is so big that it must wait for another story.
QUICK COMMENTARY ON #4:
Of course… if we fail the Seismic and Stability requirements… then we really go to worst case scenario. Bye bye dam. Drain it. Dig it out. Rebuild it (if we can even afford that). Based on the history of reports, and what is seen in the recent report, and some of the recently issued Aug 10 questions to the POA on the matter, I would not bet any money on this passing stability.
QUESTION FOR THE COMMUNITY:
Is the POA is telling you all of this? I’d love to see where. My prediction is that we may very well be about to see serious litigation at some point (probably about the time they announce we have to drain the lake – even if it is currently appearing to be just the best case scenario of 30 feet down – and people realize they have been lied to, and all the people that have bought into Big Canoe realize that this was intentionally covered up and not disclosed). Are people ready for the level of legal, social, infrastructure, and fiscal disruption that could occur due to the coverup that the POA has engaged in on this issue? You better be… because it is coming.
A NEW APPROACH:
FOBC has decided that from here on out this is a much larger public interest story than just Big Canoe, because this affects the drinking water of residents all throughout eastern Pickens County / Marble Hill. FOBC has already started applying political pressure at the State level, and this is just the beginning. Governor Brian Kemp is where the buck stops on this…. and from here on out making him accountable for this is the focus.
In frustration with the ongoing situation, I recently wrote a widely distributed August 16, 2023 letter to State Officials. Then I found out some things, and in an August 17, 2023 letter I updated some things, and expanded the send. I have also forwarded it widely to News Media. This reporter knows a lot more than he is letting on so far (due to confidentiality issues), but my recent letters do address it a bit more than is covered in this article.
And FYI… I am still waiting for people in Big Canoe to care enough, to start publicly DEMANDING answers on these topics from Scott Auer and the Board of Directors. Figure out how to ask questions that he can’t do that two-step tap dance around.
Peace,
– david / publisher / property owner
Focus on Big Canoe, GA
* publications of The Mountains Voice
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