SINNEMAHONING — The George B. Stevenson Dam at Sinnemahoning State Park was rededicated on Monday following a multi-million-dollar rehabilitation project completed this year.

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources employees and a number of state officials marked the restoration and rededication of the dam at the boat launch area in Sinnemahoning State Park.

The wide-ranging, two-pronged project cost $12.2 million, and marked the largest funded project through the Commonwealth Finance Authority for infrastructure since its creation.

“Ensuring public safety is necessary to allow visitors and residents alike to enjoy the outdoor activities our great state has to offer,” said Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Director Richard D. Flinn Jr. “PEMA was proud to work with DCNR and county and local officials to help with emergency planning and notification systems to ensure that visitors to Sinnemahoning State Park and local first responders have the tools they need to protect the public.”

The Stevenson Dam was built to protect life and land downstream of First Fork from catastrophic flooding, which had already occurred on several occasions. The dam’s high-hazard classification implies that there is potential risk for significant property damage or loss of life downstream if a breach were to occur. The high-risk classification is determined by the storage volume of the impoundment, the height of the dam, and the potential extent of personal and economic loss if the dam failed.

“These resource management and remediation projects improved fish and wildlife habitat in the lake while decreasing potential for future sedimentation buildup,” stated DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn. “The northeast U.S. has seen more than a 70 percent increase in heavy rain events because of climate change, and this has led to a significant increase in sedimentation in many of our lakes…. Returning the streams that feed these lakes to their natural contours, dredging, strengthening our dams and installing water level monitoring systems, as we’ve done here, helps to ensure that we can adapt as our climate changes.”

In December of 2010, a high-water event forced dam officials to implement emergency procedures due to the potential for a dam breach. The move required notifying communities downstream of the dam, far removed from Cameron County, of the potential of such a large volume of water flowing down the stream all at once. Once officials were notified downstream, Commonwealth officials took notice, and focused efforts on restoring the dam to safe conditions.

The dam was originally constructed in 1955, and is the only one of the four flood-control dams on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River operated by the DCNR. The other three are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The reconstruction project began in 2011 and included electrical, sensor, siren and computer upgrades; toe drain and filter improvements; dredging, stream realignment, shore line stabilization, and wildlife habitat improvement. For habitat improvement, more than 200 fishing structures were installed in the dam’s lake and the streams upriver of the lake.

In addition to Dunn and Flinn, Marcus Brown, Director of Pennsylvania Homeland Security, Roger Adams, acting director of the Bureau of Waterways Engineering and Wetlands, Scott Dunkelberger, deputy secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development, Greg Paxson of Schabel Engineering, Cameron County Emergency Management Director Kevin Johnson, and State Rep. Martin Causer (R-Turtlepoint) spoke during the ceremony.

“DCNR’s work here at Sinnemahoning and other state park impoundments across the state has not gone unnoticed,” noted Dunn. “The department recently was recognized on a national level at the Association of State Dam Safety Officials’ 2017 Dam Safety Conference, and presented with the 2017 ASDSO Northeast Regional Award of Merit for ‘outstanding work done improving the condition of it’s high-hazard dams’.”

In addition to the safety and well-being of those living downstream from the reservoir outflow, visitors to the state park, one of many enriching the Pennsylvania Wilds, also share in the rewards of these projects, the DCNR secretary said. Sediment removal and dredging in the upper half of the lake increases water depth in the lake for fishing and boating. In hand with sediment dredging, stream alignment and shoreline stabilization projects were completed while the lake level was down.

“These resource management and remediation projects improved fish and wildlife habitat in the lake while decreasing potential for future sedimentation buildup,” Dunn said.

George B. Stevenson Dam is part of a comprehensive four-dam initiative to control flooding on the West Branch Susquehanna River. By controlling runoff from these areas, the reservoirs provide significant flood prevention to the towns downstream.

More than 70 people attended Monday’s rededication ceremony. Following the event, a luncheon was held at the Sinnemahoning State Park Wildlife Center, catered by Aroma Café of Emporium.