My family is currently dealing with an old dam that was deemed out of compliance with safety regulations by the DCR. As the costs of rehabilitating the dam to be compliant are far too great for us to consider as private land owners, we are working with DCR to determine how we will safely decommission (i.e. lower dam level below regulatory thresholds) or remove the dam entirely. This is unfortunate because the 17 acre pond created by the dam is a rich ecology providing valuable habitat to many species, along with beauty and recreation for us, but we simply do not have the means to pay for the dam to be re-engineered and brought up to current safety standards. 

This is a burden for any private landowner facing this situation, but it is especially disappointing there aren't any specific modes of assistance for dams, like ours, that were built well before we owned the property and prior to the passing of the first U.S. dam safety regulations. 

I appreciate and understand the paramount value of safety and the immense costs associated with dam failures. I also feel, however, that the state is painting very broad strokes with the current DCR programs to bring private dams into compliance that do not adequately capture the nuance of these old and varied dams. Further, it feels appropriate that state legislation regarding dam safety should consider and rehabilitate existing dams differently than dams built after the legislation is passed.

Without providing the necessary assistance (i.e. more than matching fund grants) to private dam owners in our commonwealth, this program is placing the burden of addressing these old dams unfairly on citizens who cannot afford this scale of this infrastructural improvement.