HomeMy WebLinkAboutM1997-271 - 09/30/1997MOTIONS - 9~30~97
I-2,
Motion adopting the report, findings, and recommendations of the Wesley Seale
Dam Oversight Committee; that the City Manager be directed to submit to the
Council within 60 days a plan for implementing the recommendations of the
committee; and that the committee's work be concluded.
ATTEST:
City Secretary
Mayor / ~'
City of Corpus Christi
M97 - 271
MI OJ:JL.M£1)
REPORT OF THE CITY COUNCIL DAM
OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
cCity of
orpus
Christi
September 30, 1997
REPORT OF THE CITY COUNCIL DAM OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
GOALS OF THE COMMITTEE
To create a chronology of the City's discovery, response and communication of
the Dam problems.
To conduct a thorough investigation pursuant to Article 11, Section 17, of the
City Charter, of the City's discovery, response and communication of the Dam
problems internally within the staff, with the City Council, and with the
community, to determine if the City's staff and outside consultants handled the
Dam problems in a reasonable and prudent manner.
3. To recommend changes as warranted by the results of the investigation.
To conduct the Oversight Committee's duties in an open and frank manner,
consistent with the belief that elected officials represent and serve the people.
INTRODUCTION
Based on the results of a soils test in April 1997 and a subsequent calculation of the
estimated safety factors for stability of Wesley Seale Dam, the City's outside
engineering consultants recommended on May 15, 1997 that the water level at Lake
Corpus Christi not be allowed to exceed 91 feet as an interim measure. The lake is full
at 94 feet above sea level. The consultants recommended that a detailed engineering
investigation be undertaken to determine if the dam will be safe at full level, or if the
interim limitation should be continued until any necessary modifications can be made to
assure the safety of the dam at full level. The engineering investigation will take four to
five months. Major modifications to the dam, if needed, could take at least two years to
complete.
Wesley Seale Dam was constructed in 1958 by the Lower Nueces River Water Supply
District. For the first three years of operation, the lake was operated with a maximum
water level of 88 feet. Subsequently, the lake was operated at a maximum water level
of 94 feet. The Nueces River watershed is semi-arid, and much of the time the lake
was not full. Following an unusually rainy period ending on June 30, 1993, a major
drought extended over the next four years, finally ending in June 1997. During this
period lake levels were Iow. On June 23, 1997 the lake rose to 91 feet. The spillway
gates were set at 91 feet, and the lake began to spill. An additional 55,000 acre-feet of
water could have been captured over the next few weeks if the lake level had been
allowed to increase to 94 feet.
Report of City Council Dam Oversight Committee
Page 2
Public concern was expressed that the engineering investigation and any necessary
modifications could have been done during the drought beginning in June 1993 so that
loss of the opportunity to capture the additional 55,000 acre-feet of water could have
been avoided. On June 26, 1997 the City Manager directed the internal audit staff to
perform a review of five years of maintenance records for the Wesley Seale Dam, and
the Mayor appointed a City Council Dam Oversight Committee. On July 31, 1997 the
Internal Auditor issued a report of a review of five years of maintenance records, and
copies were provided to the City Council.
The City Council adopted a motion concerning the goals of the Dam Oversight
Committee on July 22, 1977. The City Council authorized the Dam Oversight
Committee to conduct an inquiry and investigation under Article II, Section 17, of the
City Charter. The charge of the Committee is stated above under "Goals of the
Committee".
On August 12, the City Council adopted a motion expanding the Dam Qversight
Committee to include all City Council Members, and establish a quorum requirement of
three committee members. The Committee held public meetings on August 6, 8, 13,
19, and 26, and September 9, 16, 23 and 30 during which Committee members heard
testimony from City employees and the public, asked questions, and discussed matters
related to the history and oversight of Wesley Seale Dam.
As a result of the work done by the internal audit staff and the dam oversight
committee, a substantial amount of information about the operation, maintenance, and
repair of the dam has been reviewed. The related processes including communications
have been identified. A number of facts about the matters leading up to the current
situation and controversy arising from the interim need to limit the elevation of the lake
to 91 feet above sea level are now known with a great deal of certainty. This report
includes findings of facts, conclusions based on facts, findings and recommendations
by the Dam Oversight Committee.
FINDINGS OF FACTS
1. The City acquired ownership of the dam in 1986.
The Lower Nueces River Water Supply District financed and constructed
the dam. The District was dissolved when the debt for construction of the
dam was paid off. Until 1986, oversight of the dam was vested in a three
member elected board of directors of the district. Generally during the
history of the district, a district office with a full time engineer and a
secretary attended to the district's responsibilities for stewardship of the
dam. Records maintained by the district were extensive and meticulous.
Report of City Council Dam Oversight Committee
Page 3
When oversight by the district board was terminated in 1986, no process
was established to enable the City Council to continue oversight of the
dam. The internal processes revealed by the internal audit staff in the
form of a flow chart, attached hereto as Exhibit "A", were not reduced to
writing at the time. The internal processes provided for information flow to
the City Council only if a problem involved the integrity of the dam, safety
issues, or operations. There were breakdowns in the process as matters
identified by outside engineering consultants and state agency dam safety
staff as potential threats to the integrity of the dam were not reported to
the City Council.
When the City acquired ownership in 1986, there were no changes in
staffing, budget, or organization of the water department. New
communication protocols were not developed, and record keeping was
greatly diminished compared to record keeping by the district.
Annual Inspections were performed by outside consulting engineers
beginning in 1970.
The system of annual inspections identified deficiencies, and
recommendations were made timely to respond to the noted deficiencies.
Each report followed up on recommendations previously made. The
inspection reports were formal reports easily reviewable by responsible
parties. The same consulting firms performed the annual inspections and
follow up work for a number of years, assuring continuity and familiarity
with the dam.
After 1986, communications about inspection deficiencies was lacking.
Required communications were made to the State agency, but internal
record keeping and communications were inadequate. Particularly, the
City Council was not notified of the results of annual inspections.
Since 1987, two major repair projects were not implemented in a
reasonable time between the identification of the deficiency and the award
of engineering and construction contracts.
Corrosion of crest gates was identified by the outside consultants as the
most important maintenance problem in 1987, and in 1988 a study of the
crest gate situation was recommended. In 1989 this recommendation
was characterized as a major recommendation, and in 1990 a proposed
scope of work and cost estimate for the study was provided. The study
Report of City Council Dam Oversight Committee
Page 4
was accomplished in 1991, and construction plans for a major
rehabilitation project were begun in 1992 and completed in 1995. A
construction contract was awarded in 1994, and the rehabilitation work is
nearing completion.
Buttress cracking and differential movement of the buttress-stilling basin
slab were identified in the annual inspection report dated October 1991 as
problems needing additional engineering study. The report also stated
that the north spillway floor slab appeared to be not level. These matters
were also raised in subsequent annual inspection reports and in letters
from the state agency dam safety staff. In 1992 the north spillway floor
slab was surveyed; a heave was quantified and described in the survey.
In 1993 the south spillway floor slab was surveyed, and it was determined
that no heave existed there. The annual inspection report dated April
1993 contained an extensive review of these problems emphasizing that
the additional engineering study previously recommended should be
undertaken in the near future. In 1994 an outside engineering firm began
preparation of a proposal for the additional engineering study, and the
proposal was provided to the City in 1995. The study was authorized in
October 1996, including the soil sampling and stability analysis completed
in April 1997, which led to the May 15, 1997 report recommending limiting
the lake level to 91 feet, modifying and expanding the scope of the study,
and installing monitoring systems and equipment. This work is ongoing.
4. Communications with City Council were inadequate.
Actions related to the award of contracts involving expenditures greater
than $15,000 were the only matters involving the maintenance and repair
of the dam that were communicated by staff to the City Council between
1986 and 1997.
Capital improvement plans presented to the City Council by staff at
various times from 1992 through 1996 described capital improvement
needs of the utility systems, including the crest gate rehabilitation project,
the bunger valve repair, and repair of the control building at the dam, but
failed to include the need for additional engineering study of buttress
cracking, differential movement of the buttress-stilling basin slab, and the
heave in the north spillway floor slab.
The City Council meeting consent agenda was used for the only two
actions related to the additional engineering study of buttress cracking,
differential movement of the buttress-stilling basin slab, and the heave in
the north spillway floor slab. The first was a written recommendation in
Report of City Council Dam Oversight Committee
Page 5
January 1995 to the City Council for approval of a contract for the annual
inspection of the dam, which was placed on the consent agenda and was
not discussed at the City Council meeting. The second was a written
recommendation in October 1996 to the City Council for approval of a
contract for spillway structural and stability analyses, which was placed on
the consent agenda and was not discussed at the City Council meeting.
The latter item was also inappropriately identified with the crest gate
rehabilitation project.
Communications with public officials in the region were inadequate.
Reports were not made to customers outside the City of Corpus Christi or to city
and county officials in the seven counties served by the City's water supply about
dam inspection results and dam repair projects.
CONCLUSIONS BASED ON FACTS
The dam is a unique asset, in magnitude and importance. The dam and its
water supply reservoir deserve more attention than do many other assets.
Written policies are needed, and measures to assure adherence to the policies
are needed, if the dam is to receive the appropriate level of attention.
The informal communications process failed. Relying on individual judgment
by people, the informal process for operation and maintenance is not sufficient
for an asset such as the dam. This is a systemic problem, which calls for
assessing the need for more written policies throughout the organization.
Acquisition of a major asset demands change in the way we do business.
Adjustments in organizational structure, budget, staffing, and training are needed
when additional responsibility is assumed. Also, written policies and procedures
are needed. Failure to recognize this in 1986 resulted in the workload previously
performed by district personnel to be either added to the workload of existing
water department staff or left undone.
Slow progress and inadequate communications were the result of
judgement errors. The facts show that the needed repairs were identified, and
actions were taken to accomplish those repairs. The shortcomings were delays
and lack of reporting, not actual accomplishment of needed repair work. Timely
reporting would have allowed the City Council to make decisions about priorities
and scheduling.
Report of City Council Dam Oversight Committee
Page 6
FINDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE
It is the finding of the Wesley Seale Dam Oversight Committee that the City's staff failed
to act in a reasonable and prudent manner in regard to the discovery, response and
communication of the Wesley Seale Dam problems. The Committee did not make a
similar finding in regard to the outside consultants.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Wesley Seale Dam
The City Manager shall provide monthly written and oral reports to the City Council
on the progress of the engineering consultant on the work underway to install
monitoring systems at the dam and to investigate the stability of the dam.
The City Manager shall complete a corrected chronology of the City's discovery,
response, and communication of the problems at Wesley Seale Dam in accordance
with the first goal of the Wesley Seale Dam Oversight Committee.
The City Manager shall conduct an operations analysis of Wesley Seale Dam
management, operations, and maintenance.
The City Manager shall create written policies and procedures regarding the
oversight, management, operations, maintenance communication of conditions,
reporting process, staffing, duties, records management and inspections of the
Wesley Seale Dam.
The City Manager shall develop a formal internal communications policy related to
the Wesley Seale Dam.
The results of each annual inspection of the dam shall promptly be reported
to the City Council. This shall be done in writing and also orally at a City
Council meeting.
The internal processes such as identified in Exhibit "A" shall be formalized
in a written policy.
Report of City Council Dam Oversight Committee
Page 7
Choke Cn~
The City Manager shall provide a written and oral report on the current status and
condition of Choke Canyon Dam.
The City Manager shall develop and maintain for City Records a chronology of the
City's discovery, response, and communication of any problems that may arise at
Choke Canyon Dam, if a similar situation arises.
The City Manager shall conduct an operations analysis of Choke Canyon Dam
management, operations, and maintenance.
The City Manager shall create written policies and procedures regarding the
oversight, management, operations, maintenance communication of conditions,
reporting process, staffing, duties, records management and inspections of the
Choke Canyon Dam.
10.
The City Manager shall develop a formal internal communications policy related to
Choke Canyon Dam.
The results of each annual inspection of the dam shall promptly be reported
to the City Council. This shall be done in writing and also orally at a City
Council meeting.
The internal processes such as identified in Exhibit "A" shall be formalized
in a written policy.
Other Recommendations
11.
The City Manager shall develop an expanded internal audit program which shall
consider written policies and procedures regarding the oversight, management,
operations, maintenance communication of conditions, reporting process, staffing,
duties, records management and inspections for all departments and major projects
and infrastructure.
12.
The City Manager shall initiate a program of operating department performance
reviews.
13.
The City Manager shall establish policies and procedures to inform area city and
county officials about activities related to the dams and other significant issues.
Report of City Council Dam Oversight Committee
Page 8
14.
15.
16.
The City Manager and City Secretary shall conduct a study of staffing needs for the
City Council.
The City Manager and City Secretary shall conduct a review of the current records
management system to determine the need to update and expand current
procedures for all departments and upper level management.
The City Manager shall create written policies and procedures for the proper
transition of infrastructure, property and/or projects to City ownership or operation.
This report was adopted by the Committee September 30, 1997.
ATTEST:
City Secretary
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