Dam Drawdown May Be Avoided

Plans to fix the cracks in Dworshak Dam’s basement will not force a reservoir drawdown this summer, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports.

Or at least they might not. The final answer may take several weeks, a Corps official says.

The agency on Thursday notified Sen. Dirk Kempthorne, R-Idaho, it would not insist the reservoir be drawn down this summer for the project, said his press secretary, Brian Whitlock.

The question about what will happen this summer seems to have been laid to rest, Whitlock said. But Lt. Col. James Weller, the Walla Walla District commander, said his staff still believes the grouting should go ahead, but the drawdown proposal could be dropped. While the internal cracks do not pose an immediate danger, they could become more difficult to fix as time went on. Cement grout would be forced into the rifts.