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Fall Creek Watershed Committee Minutes
September 6, 2001
Virgil Creek Dam
Present: Craig Schutt, Greg Nagle, Tom Johnson, Mona Barghout,
Jackie Casanti, Ross Gerbasi, Sharon Anderson, Yvette deBoer, Phil
Koons, Martha Ferger, John Ferger, Jim Crawford, and Jose Lopez.
Guest Presenters: Jack Bush, Larry Carpenter, and Henry
Slater.
Thanks to the efforts of Jack Bush, Larry Carpenter, and Henry
Slater from the Town of Dryden, the Fall Creek Watershed Committee
had an excellent tour of the Dr. Donald H. Crispell Flood Control
Project. This is a dry dam on Virgil Creek that protects the Village
of Dryden from flooding. While the need for flood control was first
talked about many years ago, the disastrous flood of 1981 prompted
action. Completed in 1998, the project was put to test on June 23,
2001 when five inches of rain fell in 16 hours. Staff monitoring
the water levels were very pleased by how effectively the system
worked and at how quickly the water levels subsided after the rain
stopped. Only a minor portion of the dam's capacity was used.
A dry dam holds back water only during high water events. The creek
flows through a large culvert under the dam. A large grate in front
of the culvert keeps large woody debris from going through the culvert.
The entire project is carefully engineered to allow fish to pass
upstream through the culvert unhampered. In cases of high water,
the downstream flow is restricted to the amount that can fit through
the culvert.
As the flow increases the water level behind the dam rises, spreading
out to greater and greater widths. The project also contains a large,
gently graded spillway that bypasses the culvert. It would take
a very severe event for water levels to be great enough to flow
into the spillway, which it would do long before water would flow
over the top of the dam.
The project encompasses 97 acres, 80 of which are mowed. The large
grassland is left unmoved until August in order to protect nesting
grassland birds. Birding, hiking, snowmobile riding and other low
impact uses are welcome.
Next Fall Creek Watershed Committee Meeting: Thursday October
4, 7:00-8:45 PM at the Tompkins County Public Library in Ithaca
submitted by Sharon Anderson
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