The following is a list of stories and statements that were heard circulating around the community about situations and happenings on the reservoir over the last couple of months. The list was presented to Dworshak Reservoir management by the DRA in hopes of getting their side of the story. The management of the Corps and State were glad to get the questions andresponded promptly. We were asked to share share the answers with the community so here they are:

- On Reservoir Debris:

COE Response: yes there is a lot of debris on the water, be very careful while boating. The majority of the debris on the water is released from the shoreline in the last 10 - 15 foot rise of the reservoir.

The primary purpose of clearing the reservoir from debris is to prevent it from going through the dam and into turbines causing damage, it is not for recreation. The hydropower and recreation pots of money we operate from are very different and cannot be mixed and mingled. Major reservoir debris cleaning has been a hydropower funded activity.

Years ago, Dworshak had staff dedicated to perform six weeks of debris sweeping each summer. This was a carry-over from the original years when debris was still popping up from the bottom. We no longer have the equipment, manpower or need to do debris sweeps to that level any more.

In recent years we removed all of the debris stored in log booms from the Merry's Bay area and sold it as timber or firewood; now there are houseboats parked where acres of debris once was held. We now focus on small debris collections around the dam area and round it up when the wind stacks it up in a cove or corner. This year we have not been able to respond to debris issues, we have been busy with anchor work. We do however have a work-smart plan for future years to bag debris with log booms in key locations on the lake where it tends to collect. We will then tie it off to the shore, let it go dry in the summer drawdown, come back in the fall and stack it and burn it. This method will take far less manpower and effort than hauling it all to the Merry's bay log boom buoys. I highly doubt we will get to this work this year, but will plan for next season.

-The state failed to drain the water system at Freeman Cr resulting in freezing and damage to the system. Funds to repair that could have been used to enhance other recreation on the lake and probably funds that came from boat moorage fees that should have been used to fix marina items such as the deteriorating steps. (Support post concrete cracking off.) Campers complained of the mud from repairs.

State Park Response: The state drained the Part of the Freeman Creek water system that is always drained. A portion of the system does not get drained during the winter for staff to use at the shop. The water treatment center, which does not get drained, had a heater failure, which resulted in some frozen valves. Funds from the marina and Freeman Creek are separate. I will need more specifics on what concrete they are speaking of. I also am not aware of what mud they are speaking of as we have not dug anything. The contractor for the power trenched one line to the amphitheatre.

The water system was off most of the spring because of the electrical contract work, not because of damage to the system.

-The state failed to drain their own boat motor and it froze and had to be repaired. Again this used suing funds that could be utilized elsewhere.

State Park Response: The state park boat stays in the water year round so we do not drain it, as it is not stored. The issue with the boat is we loaned it to fish and game and they lost the prop. Then when we repaired the prop, there was a problem with the shifting lever and gears. The marine repair shop suggested that they had possibly hit a under water object that had caused the prop loss and damage to the gears.

-The state failed to let the tension off the anchor platforms resulting in the cable breaking and closure of the marina from their negligence.

Joint COE and State Park Response: The cable break was caused by 15 yr old deteriorating steel cable and excessive tension this year due to improper adjustment because of earlier than normal pool rise. The maintenance on the marina cables was done as employees of the state had been trained to operate. The state and the Corp are working together to evaluate and change maintenance routines.

-The State Park office at the marina can't seem to get a proper letter or bill for services out on time. The long awaited buoy moorage letter arrived with out the bill it was supposed to contain and had one contract for customers to sign and keep for their records? The office is not run very well, hard to get service.

State Park Response: Buoy moorage contracts were delayed as we were working with the COE on modifications to the contracts. We apologize for the bill not being included with the contracts.

-The state failed to release the gas line that runs from the parking lot to the floating gas dock. Divers were called into to swim down and release the line from the stairs.

State Park Response: The gas line was not released from the stairs, during a large rise in the water level over a weekend this winter. Thanks to the search and rescue dive team who used this as a practice deepwater dive to retrieve the line.

-The Corps of Engineers awarded a contract for six more large boat buoys. The Corps approved a faulty design and ended up having to pay for materials they authorized. The buoys have never been installed. Added large boat moorage may not be coming for a while and we may lose what we have.

COE Response: In a nutshell that is correct. We have learned that mooring buoys for large vessels in a fluctuating pool is not as easy as it appears. To complicate matters, submerged forests and rock ledges tangle the cable. We are working on a design for a type of counterbalance system, similar to the destination docks, but have not had much time to focus attention there right now with the marina dock anchor needing immediate attention. The best long term answer is to expand the existing marina with a wave attenuator that can also accommodate large vessels.

- The Corps indicates that the six buoys they did put at a cost of $64,000 a piece were not designed properly and they had to add 100 feet of cable to each as the water comes up and remove it as water comes down.

COE Response: Not sure on the cost per buoy. The additional lengths of cable added were specific to each buoy to give enough angle on the tether so the anchor would not pull free at high pool. Lengths varied from 80 feet to 120 feet. With the additional cable added, each mooring buoy system has a holding capacity of no less than 3000 pounds. This is the minimum needed to hold a boat with a surface area profile of 12'X15' in a 70 mph gust. Wind data from previous years show that gusts in the 60 - 70 mph ranges do occur on the lake. As the reservoir level drops this summer, we will be removing the additional tether lengths. We are not excited about adding to our maintenance duties on the lake.

-The Corps is having to fund the repair of the marina cables and time and money spent there could working on other stuff. The first attempt to repair the broken cables at the marina resulted in the brand new equipment breaking. Another engineering design fault? Marina occupation will be delayed another week or so.

COE Response: We are funding the repair of the cable system for the marina. These funds are the same color of money as all other recreation related work we perform on the reservoir and camps. Yes, some work we wanted to get done this year will not be completed because we are spending money to fix the marina anchors.

As per our lease agreement with IDPR, the COE is responsible for all substructures and anchors systems below the water surface as well as individual damages above $5000.00 for the above water surface portions of the dock system.

We have a requirement to inspect the cable systems every ten years and had just completed a cable inspection in March, all looked well. We used a remote underwater camera and traveled all the way down to the anchors. All looked good from the video inspection, but we could not know the condition of the interior strands and windings of the cable. Future inspections will include divers to feel the cable for broken strands or corrosion.

When repairing the anchor system we wanted to avoid the corrosion problems we found after fifteen years of use of standard wire rope. We went with similar strength, stainless steel of a slightly smaller diameter.

Design failure? I would not be that harsh. I would call it an unanticipated installation problem. The cables were all cut to the proper length with plenty of extra cable at the end. The cable was rated at 46,000 lbs of tensile strength; the floating winch platform had floatation capacity of 12,000 lbs. During installation we separated the winch platform and the barge so the cables would not get tangled up on the way down. The problem came when the anchor was accelerating toward the bottom and the winch platform was stationary on the surface. When the slack came out of the cable between the two, the anchor pulled the winch platform with great force trying to reach equilibrium with the platform over the top of the anchor. The floats on the winch platform have a large surface area and created a huge amount of drag in the water as it partially submerged, exceeding the strength of the cable. We knew there would be some drag from the water, but never expected it to be great enough to break ¾ inch stainless Steel cable.

The planned fix is to go back to the design that lasted 15 years. We have enough 1 inch wire rope, (66,000 lbs strength), and a couple more concrete blocks to make another anchor system. We will have to buy some ends and smaller parts and pieces. We have plenty ½ Stainless cable to connect the dock to the anchor and winch platform. If all goes well we might try a second deployment of the anchor late this week.

Marina occupation will be delayed until the anchor system is fixed properly. We know this is a huge inconvenience for the users of the marina and appreciate the remaining shreds of their patience. Please be aware we will not compromise safety to rush this job. Anytime we are dealing with such enormous weights, cables, moving barges etc. there are plenty of things that could go wrong. We will minimize all risk that we can.

Thanks for asking and giving us the opportunity to respond back.

Paul Pence
Natural Resources Manager
Dworshak Dam and Reservoir

Kristi Stephens
Park Manager
Dworshak State Park