Politics & Government

Lake Herman Dam Emergency Action Planning Under Way: City

A new state law applies to the Lake Herman Dam in Benicia, city officials say.

Press Release Desk's profile picture
Press Release Desk, News Partner

BENICIA, CA - From the City of Benicia: A new State law to help ensure that people who live and work downstream of dams are protected from flooding went into effect July 1, 2017, and applies to the Lake Herman Dam in Benicia. As part of meeting the new requirements, the City must prepare and submit an Emergency Action Plan to the Department of Water Resources and California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) before the deadline of January 1, 2019.

State agencies conducted a conference call for the media and issued a press release with more information about the law earlier today.

“During an inspection in March 2017, the California Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD) determined that Lake Herman is safe and well maintained,” said City Manager Lorie Tinfow. “We want to reassure our residents and businesses that this part of City infrastructure is not at risk.”

Find out what's happening in Beniciafor free with the latest updates from Patch.

While the Lake Herman Dam, spillway and drain were inspected on March 28, 2017 and determined to be safe, the risk of adverse consequence from flooding downstream of Lake Herman Dam was classified by the DSOD as “High”. This is based solely on downstream hazard considerations and does not mean that the dam has safety deficiencies. “This new Emergency Action Plan will provide an excellent framework for us to prepare and protect those living and working downstream,” Tinfow added.

The Emergency Action Plan will include elements such as the following:

  • Example Situations and Emergency Levels
  • Emergency Notification Flowcharts
  • Flood Inundation Map
  • Dam description, statistics, location, and vulnerable downstream sites

City staff have already initiated the process to select an expert to assist with preparing the plan.

Find out what's happening in Beniciafor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Lake Herman Dam was constructed in 1905 and the height was increased to 51 feet in 1943. The earth reservoir holds 1,400 acre-feet or 456 million gallons of water when full. Projects to improve the safe operation of the dam were constructed in 1999 and 2005. Even though Lake Herman Dam was not built to be a flood control reservoir, the water level in the lake is lowered by 10 feet during the winter to accommodate rainfall runoff from the 10 square mile Sulphur Springs Watershed.

For more information, please call Scott Rovanpera at 707-746-4240.

Image via Google Maps

More from Benicia