Heavy Rains Effect Camp Casey

Sounds like someone is trying to make a buck:

Temporary measures to prevent the flooding that damaged Camp Casey and local businesses on July 12 now are in place until a permanent solution is found, Area I commander Col. Rick Newton said Friday.

Newton also disputed an earlier Area I damage assessment blaming the flooding primarily on the design of a dam built on the base in 2005.

He said it was too early to tell exactly what steps should be taken to shore up a water system that was overwhelmed by 8 inches of rain in 10 hours.

¿The dam was built to provide us with 50 percent of our water supply ¿ it does what it is supposed to do,¿ Newton said. ¿That¿s the same water supply we use to fight fires and that in the past the city has drawn to fight fires.¿

The dam was simply overrun by too much water, Newton said. As water rose several feet beyond the limits of Casey Creek, which runs for about 3.5 miles through the base, it poured over the top and sides of the wall.

After the flood, base workers dug trenches along the culverts that drain waters coming from the mountains behind the base, Newton said, and built a temporary mesh wall that adds 3 to 5 feet to the dam wall.

Dongducheon officials Thursday in part blamed the flooding of 69 businesses on the base¿s not opening the flood gates until that afternoon. Newton said the gates were opened by 11 a.m., the same time the water pumps began operating.

The city also plans to ask the Army for compensation for damages, Kang Hong, city director of current issues for U.S. Forces counter plan division, said on Thursday.

The term dam is actually misleading because it is not really what one would consider a dam.  It is a small structure built on what is commonly known as doo-doo creek on Camp Casey and COL Newton is correct that the water on the camp has been used to help local farmers and the city during droughts.  The claims being made now sound dubious at best.