CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday held a second public meeting on the next phase of its Bluestone Dam safety project: improving its stilling basin.
Multiple Kanawha County officials attended a presentation at the public library in downtown Charleston to better understand the importance of the Summers County structure and its role in maintaining water levels in Charleston.
The Bluestone Dam was completed in 1952. A contract will be awarded at the end of this year or early next year for improvements to the basin, which will have a price tag of at least $200 million.
Jim Schray with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the basin helps in reducing the amount of energy carried by water coming upstream, thus reducing erosion and water flow in places downstream from the dam, including Charleston.
“One of the reasons why Charleston has been able to expand the way it has right on the river valley without a floodwall is because of the operation of the Bluestone Dam,” he said.
According to Schray, Charleston has 10,000 square miles of floodplains, which is susceptible to flooding.
“If Bluestone Dam did not exist, most of that 10,000 square miles would run off directly in any floods that come through Charleston, and you would have flooding through the lowlands of Charleston.”
Schray said once a contract is awarded, work will get underway, which could take as long as a decade to complete. He noted the work will not affect the dam’s capabilities or pose a safety risk to upstream communities.