The future of the Webster dam will likely be determined by ongoing litigation between the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Webster Lake Conservation Association, as well as the association’s efforts to form a conservancy district.
Mike Wyrick, president of the Webster Lake Conservation Association (WLCA), approached the Kosciusko County Commissioners on Tuesday to request funding, leaving it up to the commissioners to determine how much, to help with the creation of the conservancy district.
“It turns out that Webster Lake needs to create a conservancy district for the future maintenance of the dam on Lake Webster,” he said.
Giving a brief history of the dam, Wyrick said in the 1950s the dam was in bad shape. The mill, which was the reason for the dam in the first place, had burned down and the property was put up for sale. The property included the gates to the dam that holds up Webster Lake and takes care of the 54-square-mile watershed above it.
“The DNR - at what was the Department of Conservation at that time - did not step up to take care of the vacated dam. So 27 people around Lake Webster formed the Webster Lake Conservation Association for the purpose of buying that property, including the gates and the dam, for the purpose of maintaining that dam,” he explained.
Noting that “things were easier back then,” Wyrick said through the sale of the land that they bought, they raised money. Volunteers and business people contributed, and the lake population and the town of North Webster restored the dam in the 1950s. That restoration lasted until 2011, at which time the DNR stepped in under contract and took care of some repairs on it.
The contract was an agreement with the Department of Conservation in 1993, Wyrick said, and that same contract was written “word for word” when the department became the DNR in 1996.
“That agreement basically said that the DNR is responsible for reconstruction, repair of the dam (outlet control structure). And the only thing that WLCA was responsible for was the maintaining of the water level from the lake,” Wyrick said. “And that was our sole responsibility.”
In 2011, the DNR undertook reconstruction of the dam. The DNR had done an engineering inspection in 2009, grading the dam as being in poor condition. In 2017, after the DNR made repairs, they did another inspection of the dam, rated it as being in poor condition and changed its classification from significant hazard to high hazard. Wyrick said the DNR then came to the WLCA and told the WLCA that they had to fix it.
The WLCA disagreed with the DNR because the agreement was still in place. Ending in deadlock, the two parties took it to court to get a summary judgement on whether or not the contract was valid. The Circuit Court held the contract was valid, but the DNR appealed. The Appellate Court held the contract was valid.
“We sent a demand letter to them, asking them to fix the dam and the things they didn’t do in 2011 that they should have done, and they refused. So now we’re in court, asking the court to force them to fix the dam. That’s where we are in litigation; however, we know that’s not going to be a long-time fix because during the litigation, the DNR did terminate the agreement on May 6, 2022. When the agreement was cancelled, then that forced the responsibility of the maintenance of the dam onto WLCA and also unto four unsuspecting property owners that happened to have purchased those lots back in the 1960s and built homes in that area,” Wyrick said.
Two of those four homes are on the landing because there were no zoning regulations back in the 1960s when they were built.
Wyrick said the DNR has suggested that it’s WLCA’s job to remove the homes, but the WLCA has questioned whether or not they need to be removed, plus the WLCA doesn’t have the money for that because the homeowners aren’t voluntarily going to give up their homes without compensation.
“So the answer seems to be the creation of a conservancy district that can handle all of this and come up with enough tax-supported money to do it,” he said.
To start a conservancy, Wyrick said it’s going to take $62,000 in engineering costs; $15,000 in attorney fees; and $41,000 for more in-depth analysis and an engineering report on the dam.
“And then after all of that gets done, and after a conservancy is set up, we have close to ($500,000) worth of studies and investigations that have to be done,” he stated. “That’s more money than we can handle until/unless a conservancy is set up, and we can also use some help” with the costs of setting up the conservancy.
The WLCA has been doing some fundraising, asking for voluntary tax-deductible contributions. Wyrick said they’ve asked those contributions be made payable to The Watershed Foundation (TWF) instead of to the WLCA.
“The reason for that is because during litigation, the DNR has been threatening us with notices of opportunity to correct and notices of violation, and if they choose to force those things, they can fine and fee us out of business, but that’s OK we gladly go out of business anyway,” Wyrick said. “But, anyway, we don’t want them to be able to get to any of the money we’re collecting for this dam frustration project.”
Commissioner Brad Jackson asked what he thought it would actually take to fix the dam. Wyrick said he had no idea because “we have not got to the point to find out what it’s going to take to make that acceptable to the state of Indiana.”
Jackson said it all seemed like a “huge waste of money,” and Wyrick suggested taking that up with the state legislators. Jackson said they were just trying to fix a problem, but money and time have been wasted because the DNR continues to appeal the case instead of just fixing the dam.
“The engineers feel that the main reason the DNR walked away from the project is because of this nearly half million dollars in studies,” Wyrick said.
The studies are federal and state requirements.
“Government!” Jackson responded.
Wyrick pointed out Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams did a study in 2018 on the economic impact of the lakes in the county. The liberal estimate on Webster Lake was that it brought in over $32 million into the county, but Wyrick said that the WLCA feels that estimate now is on the conservative side.
“We do have a large economic impact on the county because of the number of people who summer there,” he said, estimating that about one-third of Webster Lake is occupied by year-round residents, while two-thirds are “lakers. But bless their hearts, they bring that kind of money to town.”
Jackson asked Wyrick if he had a specific amount of money the WLCA was requesting, and Wyrick responded they could use anything the county wanted to provide for the dam. Jackson said it was ridiculous that the DNR was forcing them to raise that amount of money.
County Surveyor Mike Kissinger told the commissioners the dam is 6 to 8 feet high and there’s approximately six to eight homes and businesses downstream from it.
“And there’s a reason that the state made this ... a high hazard area. State wants no part in this. They realize this is a life situation, and I know during a historical rain event, the local emergency folks up there had to sandbag to try to save the dike, because if the dike goes, then it’s catastrophic. And if the dam goes, it’s catastrophic,” Kissinger said.
He said while Wyrick was at the meeting for the WLCA, it’s about more than that. “This is the people directly downstream within just a couple hundred feet, and I mean it would be catastrophic,” Kissinger said.
Wyrick said the dam is not designed to be a flood control structure.
The commissioners decided to table the request for now so they can look into it further.
For more information, visit https://watershedfoundation.org/blog/twf-fund-established-for-critical-webster-lake-dam-project/