Under Gov. Gaston Caperton, the DEP added money and staff to the program. But it's been two years since lawmakers provided enough money to hire two new dam engineers, increasing the total program staff to five. Small towns especially point to tight budgets and trouble providing police protection or water and sewer service, let alone thousands of dollars for dam repairs. We had an engineer look at it. We'll have to see what we can do and how we can do it.
Money is hard to come by.
East of Salem in Bridgeport, City Engineer Michael Retton held a public hearing when DEP complained that two town dams badly needed repairs. But the state refused, saying that fixing a dam wouldn't provide any new jobs and therefore didn't qualify. Retton said the state should create another revolving loan fund that would provide money for fixing dams and other non-job creating infrastructure. The state DNR's wildlife section seems to be doing a bit better in its efforts to fix dams. Bernie Dowler, chief of the section, said he's trying to fix at least one dam per year.