Lake Tyler Dam Leaking
Posted/updated on: April 12, 2013 at 10:51 am
TYLER — Tyler Water Utilities plans to take a remediation action plan for the Lake Tyler Dam to City Council on April 24, and officials hope the remediation effort can be under construction in late summer 2013. According to city press materials, the Lake Tyler Dam was constructed in 1948-1949, using the best engineering practices at the time. Due to the foundation material used in the original construction, it is believed that there has always been seepage along the downstream toe of the embankment. This seepage is actually documented as far back as 1978, and has had no observable effect on lake elevations.
“The Lake Tyler system has an extremely small drainage basin,” said Greg Morgan, Managing Director of Utilities and Public Works. “As a result it requires substantial rainfall, almost directly on the lake to affect the lake level. This is compounded by the number of ponds and private lakes upstream of the Lake Tyler system, which are also low and intercepting runoff before it has a chance to reach the Lake Tyler system. This is the primary reason Lake Tyler remains low, despite recent rains.”
During the 2010 Dam Inspection, Tyler Water Utilities (TWU) discovered a boil (water transporting soil) in addition to the seepage. A weir was set up to measure the flow from the boil. TWU has been working with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and consulting engineers to develop plans for remediating this maintenance issue. “The leakage flow rate measured at the weir is approximately 30 gallons/minute,” said Morgan. “At that flow rate it would take approximately 91 years to lower the lake elevation one foot.”
