Failing LaPrele Dam Near Douglas Leaves Farmers With No Good Options

Engineers say there’s no choice but to breach the failing, 115-year-old LaPrele Dam near Douglas, but farmers who rely on the dam for irrigation and runoff control say that leaves them with no good options. 

Breaching the dam could leave downstream landowners wide open to catastrophic spring runoff, Leonard Chamberlain told members of the Wyoming Legislature’s Select Water Committee on Thursday.

“I’ve seen what that creek (LaPrele Creek) can do in the springtime. And if this dam is breached, you have taken away every bit of protection for the people who have had that protection for 115 years,” Chamberlain said during public testimony at the committee’s meeting Thursday in Casper. 

Chamberlain grew up in the Douglas area and still has family who farm and ranch there. 

‘Not Just A Chunk Of Concrete’

Chamberlain was one of numerous landowners who told the committee that they felt blindsided by a recent order issued by Wyoming State Engineer Brandon Gebhart to breach the dam. The dam is scheduled to be breached by no later than April 1, 2025. 

“If we see that dam blow up, we’re all going to cry, because it’s been a part of our lives. It’s not just a chunk of concrete, it has personality. And I know that sounds kind of silly, but it’s real,” landowner and irrigation rights stakeholder Connie Bowen told the committee.  

The 130-foot-high dam was built in 1909 and was originally intended to have a 50-year lifespan.

Gebhart told the committee that in early October, engineers found a new, large crack above the dam’s outlet works. They also discovered that older cracks were worsening. 

There was a full inspection of the dam Oct. 13-15, he said. On Oct. 25, engineers, members of the LaPrele Irrigation District’s board of directors and others met in Cheyenne to discuss options. 

It was decided during that meeting that breaching the dam was the only safe option, Gebhart told the committee. 

Gebhart on Nov. 1 issued an order to breach the dam. 

$198,000 Lawn Ornament 

Casey Darr said the dam’s imminent failure puts him in a tough spot, both as an irrigation district board member, and as a farmer since he relies on water rights from the dam’s reservoir for irrigation. 

He said that over the years, he and his family have installed numerous upgrades to their irrigation systems, including expensive overhead pivots to water crops. 

However, the reservoir has been drawn nearly completely, to prevent a catastrophic failure. And once the dam is breached, it could take at least five years to replace it. 

That could leave farmers facing five years or more of scant water for irrigation, Darr said. 

“My last pivot cost me $198,000 and now it’s a lawn ornament. I mean, I guess I could hang Christmas decorations on it to make me feel better, but it’s not going to make me any money,” he said. 

As the irrigation district’s treasure, he said he initially took a “hard red line” stance against breaching the dam. 

But after extensive discussions with engineers and other experts, he said he changed his mind. 

The irrigation district has the most direct control and ownership over the dam. If it was to fail and cause a flood to sweep downstream, into Douglas and across Interstate 25, the irrigation district would be liable for any damage or loss of life. 

And the lawsuits wouldn’t end there, engineering consultant Peter Rauch told the committee. 

“Everybody involved” could get pulled into lawsuits, including his engineering firm, RESPEC and the state engineer’s office, he said. 

Should More Notice Have Been Given?

There’s also concern over the possible loss of irrigation water rights. Water rights that aren’t used for five years or more can be considered “abandoned” and therefore invalid. 

Some of the farmers who testified before the committee said that irrigation water rights from the LaPrele reservoir had been in their families for four or five generations. 

Gebhart said there are no plans to invalidate water rights during the process of breaching and possibly rebuilding the dam. 

The committee tabled what had started out as one two-part proposed bill but was split into two draft bills. 

The first part would revise the state’s water rights statutes to protect irrigators in situations like the one the Douglas-area farmers are facing. 

The second would require the state engineer’s office to give more public notice, and hold public meetings, before issuing orders to breach a dam. 

Farmers who testified, along with some members of the committee, said the breach order came as an unpleasant surprise to many. 

“It seems to me like this has been awfully rushed, and there hasn’t been enough time to investigate all the options that are available,” said Rep. Chip Neiman, R-Huelett. 

How Did We Get Here?

Gebhart said scheduling a series of public meetings in an emergency situation might not be practical. 

Also, if the engineer’s office doesn’t respond promptly to potential emergencies, it could disqualify his office from about $105,000 from the National Dam Safety Program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

That helps fund two employees in his office and “it’s the lifeblood of our dam safety program,” he said. 

That prompted committee member Sen. John Kolb, R-Rock Springs, to question why the dam’s apparent imminent failure wasn’t noticed sooner. 

“I don’t understand how we got here. We’ve got these folks (state dam inspectors), what do they do?” Kolb said. 

Gebhart and Rauch said the dam had been being inspected regularly, and the latest damage appeared quickly. 

The latest crack appeared in a slab of concrete that had been placed over an older, failing slab in the 1970s, Rauch said. 

“It’s the new slab that’s unzipping, and it’s doing it in such a way that suggests there’s tremendous strain on that slab,” he said. 

Other options were considered, such as $25 million “emergency backfill” of the dam, he said. 

Or drilling up to 16 holes into the dam, at the cost of $200,000 each, to allow more water to flow through and possibly relieve pressure,” and that still would not be sufficient,” he said.  

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.