Neighbors seeking money to fix dam so lake can be saved
People who live near Tillson Lake hope to find money to preserve the dam that maintains the lake rather than have the body of water drained to avoid a failure of the dam.
The dam, in the Minnewaska State Park Preserve, has been classified a highhazard structure that poses a danger to properties downstream, and the Palisades Interstate Park Commission is looking into getting rid of it.
“We’re just ... starting the process of looking at removal of the dam in the absence of securing funding to repair it,” said James Hall, executive director of the commission.
The cost to repair the dam has been estimated at up to $8.6 million, while decommissioning it would cost about $1 million.
The dam was constructed in 1930 to provide a recreation area for the surrounding communities and was reconstructed following failures in 1938 and 1955. It is about 39 feet tall and 308 feet long, creating a lake covering 23 acres.
“It’s had its inspections [by the state Department of Environmental Conservation], and you also have to do an engineering assessment on the structure as part of being in compliance,” Hall said. “It outlined several issues that the structure has aside from the spillway capacity being way undersized. It also has some ongoing structural issues with the splash pad for the spillway kind of falling apart, and it’s got some seepage along the lower portion of the dam.”
Nearby residents have formed a group called Save Tillson Lake to get elected officials
The cost to repair the dam has been estimated at up to $8.6 million, while decommissioning it would cost about $1 million.
interested in funding the dam’s repair.
“We are formulating a plan,” group Co-Chairman Morey Gottesman said. “We’re contacting all our elected representatives ... and we intend to stay active and contact various environmental groups to see where money can be found.”
Gottesman said there is broad community interest in saving the dam, and he expressed hope that the group will have a lead on some money before the commission finishes an engineering report on decommissioning the dam.
“We had a meeting that packed the Town Hall in Gardiner,” Gottesman said. “The mobilization has been pretty good . ... We’ve reached out to people in environmental law and have a diverse community, so we have a lot of built-in resources in terms of people capable of responding to this.”
The lake was drained on July 2, 1983 — accidentally — when, according to an engineering report, a “maintenance worker who opened the sluice gate to lower the pool elevation ... subsequently forgot to close the valve.”
An extensive rehabilitation project began in 1984 and the lake remained unfilled until 1995, the report states.