Stafford officials study fixes for failing Arrowhead dams

Tear them down or leave them up?

Two dams in the Lake Arrowhead subdivision in Stafford County are at risk of failing. The dams hold back water in Big Lake Arrowhead, and in Little Lake Arrowhead in the community of single family homes in the northwestern section of the county.

The large dam holding back “Big Lake Arrowhead” is a “high risk” dam while the smaller dam for the small lake is considered a low-risk dam. If the dams fail, homes in the adjacent Hidden Lake neighborhood will be in the path of rushing water and could be lost.

What to do about the failing dams became an election issue for Wendy Maurer, who won a seat on the Stafford County Board of Supervisors last fall. Mauer said she heard from residents who wanted to save the dams and by extension the small lakes they support. Others wanted to drain the lakes and leave the dams in a state of decay.

“The whole battle between the ‘fix the dam’ crowd and the ‘don’t fix the dam’ crowd came down to the fact that we did not know who much it was going to cost to fix the dams,” said Maurer.

After talking with a constituent, Mauer learned some residents of Lake Arrowhead between 1990 and 2009 had been paying $500 per year as part of a special sanitary tax district to improve neighborhoods streets. The home association dissolved, and the money — $500,000 — sat untouched in a county bank account, said Maurer.

The sanitary district is no longer in effect. County officials will use a portion of the cash to pave four streets in the neighborhood — Abrahams, Blizzard, Seymour, and Sparky courts. The improvements will bring the streets into the state road system and make them eligible for maintenance by the Virginia Department of Transportation.

A portion of Boundary Drive that carries drivers over the small dam is in need of street repair but is not eligible for admittance to the state road maintenance program because it crosses the dam.

Officials will also examine the possibility of using the leftover money to repair the dams. A $30,000 study of the dams is now underway, the results of which will tell reveal the conditions of the dams. The study began in April and was expected to take two months.

County officials will present the needed fixes to the state, and if the county — by way of the residents — decides to fix the dams, the state will reimburse half of the cost of the study.

“I think you’re going to hear that we’re going to have enough money to fix the dams,” said Maurer.

However, a special tax district similar to the old sanitary district may be needed if there isn’t enough cash to cover the entire repair project. Stafford officials said they plan to send emails to residents about the dam repair project, publish information on its county website, and hold public meetings about the project.

If funded, the repair project could begin in 2017.