KIMBALL -- The State of Nebraska will be visiting Kimball next month to conduct surveys of the active dam. 

City Administrator Annette Brower said that the dam undergoes a yearly inspection, and for decades, it has been noted to have poor soil, which comes with the fear of the dam breaking if there were to be a huge flood. 

“The state reached out to me; since ours is one of the dams rated poor, they wanted to see if we’d come on board to get surveys in play,” Brower said. “We as a city would have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in engineering fees and do all the research ourselves, but the State of Nebraska is going to assist us in doing that through FEMA funds, so it won’t cost us anything.” 

A team of state officials and experts including hydrologists and engineers will be visiting mid-December to inspect it, which could take several days. 

Brower said the process will include inspecting the condition of the soil and determining what they need to do to get it where it needs to be. The other part of the process will determine if the dam would actually fill up and if it’s necessary for the city to have a dam.

“They used to have an aqueduct that ran through town, but when I-80 was built in the 70’s, they put in all new storm drain systems and figured out a different flow if there was a flood, so the thought is ‘do we really have to have this,’” Brower said. “The soil is poor, and it probably won’t hold a 40-year flood, but does it need to because we have all this other infrastructure – so that’s part of the process.” 

The dam was built in the 1950’s and is located at the top of Oak St. in the area of the dog park and the walking trail. 

Brower said if the state de-classifies it as a dam, the city could utilize it for other purposes like community activities, a bigger park, or whatever the city council would choose to be the best use of it. 

“After all the inspections, they may decide we have to keep it as a dam, then the next step would be determining what it would take to solidify the dam so it’s no longer poor soilage,” she said.