On Monday, Newton County Emergency Management Director Brian Taylor informed the Newton County Board of Supervisors that Chunky River Dam No. 8, located several miles north of Little Rock on Parkers Branch of the Chunky River is nearing failure.
With that danger, MDEQ wanted written acknowledgement from first responders and the county that copies of the plan had been received. These plans are for when the dam fails and how that they can evacuate local residents from the area.
However, no one seems to want to fix the problem.
Unfortunately, Taylor said, there is no money to fix the dam. He contacted Pat Harrison Waterway, the Corps of Engineers and Mississippi Emergency Management Agency requesting funds and was denied by each one.
The issue is partially due to the fact that the Corps of Engineers built this dam. They did it on private property with the understanding the landowner would be responsible for keeping it maintained, according to Taylor’s report Monday.
That is a lot to expect a landowner to maintain a dam of a state river. Regardless of who let the maintenance on the dam go, it’s a issue that we can’t simply ignore.
“When that goes, Little Rock is gone,” Supervisor Joe Alexander said. “Not underwater, gone.”
The Corps of Engineers, the State of Mississippi, state or federal EMA, Pat Harrison Waterway, the county, the landowner — just somebody — needs to step up and make these repairs happen. It might even be something that takes collaboration between all of the entitites.
It’s nice to know that the state and county have emergency plans to respond to the area if the dam breaks. The problem is, we need plans to prevent it from breaking in the first place.
What it sounds like, every state and federal entity involved is trying to wash their hands of the situation. They don’t seem to care about the danger that residents of Little Rock may be living in. All they care about is finding a way to prevent themselves from getting sued if something goes wrong.
