By Rod Hansen
Staff Writer

Dams on the Piscataquog River operated properly during the Mother’s Day floods, but record rainfall exceeded their capacity.

That was the message an official with the state Department of Environmental Services gave to residents at a recent information session about dam operations during the floods.

“You have to remember how big this flood was and how it overwhelmed the capacity of so many structures,” said James Gallagher, chief engineer with the dam bureau of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.

Gallagher spoke to a group of about 50 citizens and officials at the information center of Goffstown High School on July 11. The main thrust of his speech concerned dam control during the Mother’s Day floods, while he also took questions from residents on the topic.

Gallagher’s appearance came partly in response to a petition circulated by resident Ron Lavalliere and sent to Governor John Lynch on May 20, asking why dams were not released early to accommodate the heavy rains of May 14.

That petition also proposed the state appoint a single official in charge of releasing waters contained in the state’s dams to combat potential flooding.

Due to scheduling problems, Gallagher’s presentation began a half hour later than expected, causing some discord among some residents already angry about the results of the flooding.

After apologizing for the delay, Gallagher opened his presentation with a comparison of the Mother’s Day flood against other major storms since the 1930s.

A chart on flows of the Mother’s Day floods showed a peak flow of 10,067 cubic feet per second in the Piscataquog River. By comparison, the October floods of 2005 carried a peak flow of 4,750 cubic feet per second in the same location.

Gallagher focused primarily on the Greggs Falls and Kelleys Falls dams during the storm. Those dams, which straddle the affected area in Goffstown, are leased to power companies and owned by the state.

The Greggs Falls Dam operator activated the emergency action plan at 3:15 p.m. on May 14, Gallagher said. Prior to that, the operator contacted emergency personnel and affected residents.

The Kelleys Falls Dam flash boards tripped at 8 p.m. the previous night, providing full discharge, Gallagher said.

Some residents asked if the Kelleys Falls Dam could have been opened further, but Gallagher said the structure was open as far as it could go.

“If we wanted any more spillway capacity (at Kelleys Falls), we’d have to modify the dam,” Gallagher said.

Residents questioned Gallagher about the dams’ relationship with the power companies that hold leases on them. Greggs Falls is leased by Algonquin Power of Ontario, while Kelleys Falls is leased by Enel North America of North Andover, Mass.

Some residents questioned whether power generators on the floodgates may have prevented full discharge of water during the storm. Gallagher stressed that the sheer volume of water was more than the dams were meant to handle.

State Rep. Robert Wheeler asked if some money could be taken from the dams’ rental fees to benefit people affected by the flooding.

“The money we make renting out the dams doesn’t even cover dam maintenance,” Gallagher said.

When asked about dam modification, Gallagher said it would be less expensive to raise houses in the area than it would be to modify the dam.

That assessment drew complaints from one resident, who said she’d already spent enough time and expense modifying her house since the floods.

“That makes it sound like we’re expendable,” said Jan Hobs, a resident of Danis Park Road. “I’ve already put thousands of dollars into my house since the floods.”

State Sen. Lou D’Allesandro said the recent flooding illustrates the need for the state to examine its funding of dam maintenance.

“The repairs to state owned dams is a problem, because we have not allocated enough funds to that,” D’Allesandro said.

Wheeler said officials should also devote some time to studying what could have been done to keep the flood waters down.

“It seems a lot of the damage in the flood was to private property. I think some thought needs to be given to ... identifying what happened to us here. We need to develop an ability to deal with that,” he said.