After an extensive review of the history of the Mamaroneck Dam (see article HERE), the Editorial Board of The Mamaroneck Observer concludes that the Village taxpayers should not be responsible for general maintenance of the Mamaroneck Dam.
The Dam is owned by Westchester Joint Water Works (WJWW) – a fact that is not disputed. In 1977, believing the Dam offered some flood relief during minor rain events, Westchester County and the Village of Mamaroneck installed two conduits in the Dam to allow the reservoir to be lowered in the event of a storm.
Prior to installation, the Village entered into an agreement with WJWW In December 1977. The agreement states “The Village of Mamaroneck shall have the control and custody of the dam and related pond areas for maintenance purpose which includes but is not limited to…..” Four narrow elements of maintenance of the infrastructure to be installed are spelled out.
Context matters. Based on the history of the Dam and the reason for the 1977 Agreement as well as the fact that no reference is made to any other maintenance tasks, we do not believe that this Agreement was meant to include all Dam maintenance, or it would have definitively stated that. New York State requires dam owners to create and follow a Maintenance Plan and Schedule that must be filed with NYS. We believe that if WJWW was transferring all responsibility for Dam maintenance to the Village, the Agreement would have said so.
Some have said the problem with the Dam may have been caused by the Village’s failure to maintain it. This argument is mistaken as the issue with the Dam is based on its design – the spillway is inadequate to handle water once the Dam is overtopped, which happens frequently because it was never designed as a flood control dam.
After careful analysis of the history of the dam, the context of the Agreement, and the fact that the 2015 study of the Dam’s future was jointly funded by the Village and WJWW, we posit that the Village is not responsible for the general maintenance of the Dam.
The Editorial Board
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