Three Schuylkill County flood control dams, all in the Delano area, will be assessed by U.S. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources Conservation Service to make sure they are in good shape.

County commissioners on Wednesday approved the assessments, which won't cost the county any money even though it is responsible for the dams' operation and maintenance."They'll determine whether the emergency spillways are adequate," said county engineer Lisa Mahall. "It's a routine assessment to make sure the dams are in proper condition to be able to handle a probable maximum flood."A probable maximum flood is the flood that can be expected from the most severe combination of critical meteorologic and hydrologic conditions that are reasonably possible in a region, according to the national Meteorological Society.The dams are Neifert Creek and Little Schuylkill, both in Rush Township, and Hosensock in Ryan Township.If the assessment reveals any problems, the county will pay 35 percent of the cost of repairs, with the federal government picking up the remainder.The dams are inspected annually by Mahall, who sends her reports to the state Department of Environmental Protection. DEP also performs annual inspections."Additionally, the county does routine maintenance throughout the year," Mahall said."We have the grass and brush mowed in order to see if there are any signs of deterioration, plus we remove debris that collects around the trash rack. We have made repairs to the breast as ATVs and motorcycles have damaged them in the past."The federal assessment will generally consist of obtaining and reviewing existing data, evaluation of the structural condition of the dams, breach analysis, failure and risk index computations, and an overview of potential rehabilitation alternatives, if necessary.The last federal assessments were done in 1978 for the Little Schuylkill and Neifert Creek dams, and 1979 for the Hosensock.The Hosensock dam, 35 feet high, was built in 1960.The 87-foot-high Little Schuylkill dam, which protects Tamaqua from flooding, was built in 1968.The Neifert Creek dam, 55 feet high, was built at the same time as the Little Schuylkill.