Connecticut officials brought in an emergency contractor Jan. 10 to make repairs after a leak was spotted in the Fitchville Pond Dam on the Yantic River in Bozrah, Conn. during flooding from a severe storm. 

The 27-ft-tall run-of-river concrete and masonry dam is 200 ft long with a 95-ft spillway, state inspection records show. Chuck Lee, the assistant director of dam safety for the Connecticut Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), told reporters at a news conference that city workers notified state officials early Jan. 10 of a small leak in the dam’s left abutment. That was “something we hadn’t seen before, so we took that very seriously,” Lee said.

Officials ordered the evacuation of about 500 people downstream from the dam. Norwich Public Utilities temporarily took a substation offline, disrupting power for about 5,000 customers. Later that same day, the evacuation order was rescinded and the utility restored power service. 

Lee said the leak did not cause flooding in the area, but a failure would. DEEP rates the Fitchville Pond Dam as “high hazard,” meaning its failure would probably result in a loss of life and major damage to buildings and infrastructure. 

DEEP brought in Manchester, Conn.-based engineering firm Fuss & O’Neill Inc. plus contractors Earth Dynamics of Coventry, Conn., and Machnik Brothers of Old Lyme, Conn., a spokesperson for the agency says. They inspected the dam and the team developed a plan to install a temporary cofferdam to keep water away from the leak while they monitor and repair it.

While the water level has subsided, Katie Dykes, DEEP commissioner, said they want to ensure the “situation is as safe as possible” ahead of more heavy rain the National Weather Service is forecasting for the area on the night of Jan. 12. 

The Fitchville Pond Dam is privately owned by Bozrah Water Works Inc. Though private dam owners in Connecticut are responsible for hiring engineers to conduct inspections and for submitting engineers' reports to the state, DEEP officials and engineers from Fuss & O’Neill last inspected the dam in 2022 as the inspection was overdue, officials said. 

A 2022 inspection revealed the dam to be in poor condition. Drawing courtesy of Connecticut Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection

The inspectors rated the dam’s overall condition as “poor,” the second-lowest rating which indicates a need for remedial action. They found transverse cracks on the left crest plus cracks and spalling on concrete around the perimeter of the left embankment, records show. Stone masonry walls along the spillway were in poor condition, with some stones missing or washed downstream. Inspectors also noted that seepage had been reported at the base of one wall, though it was not visible when they visited because of vegetation. The report is marked as a draft because it still requires the owner’s signature, a DEEP spokesperson says.

The original masonry, timber and earthen embankment dam was built around 1871, according to the 2022 inspection report. In 1914, officials believe it underwent modifications, including construction of the concrete spillway and reconstruction of the outlet gates and adjacent walls. Repairs have been done several times over the following decades. 

Connecticut has more than 4,000 dams, about 84% of which are privately owned, according to DEEP. Many “are really old,” Gov. Ned Lamont (D) said. DEEP owns more than 200 dams itself, and last month the Connecticut Bond Commission allocated $6.4 million for repairs of state-owned dams. But that money is not set for helping private dam owners.

“Most of these dams are private, people have to take care of them,” Lamont said.