Johnny Long Pond Dam

The Johnny Long Pond Dam presented a difficult situation with no obvious path forward. Years of deferred maintenance had caught up with the structure. The primary spillway consisted of a deteriorating corrugated metal pipe, vegetation was unmanaged on the embankment, and no Emergency Action Plan was in place.

The dam had received multiple Notices of Deficiency from NCDEQ Dam Safety, but the required repairs had never been completed. As a result, the current owner had decided to breach the dam rather than take on the cost and uncertainty of rehabilitation.

At the same time, a prospective purchaser saw potential in the site but needed to understand whether the dam could be feasibly rehabilitated. The decision had to be made quickly, within the constraints of a due diligence period, and with incomplete information about risk, cost, and regulatory expectations.

RiskHydro executed a focused due diligence review built around the questions a buyer actually needs answered: What is the current condition? What will compliance require? What will it cost? The team pulled together inspection records, prior design data, and NCDEQ correspondence to establish a baseline understanding of the dam’s history before any new analysis began. Key tasks included:

• Compiling and reviewing all available inspection records, NCDEQ correspondence, and prior design documentation to document existing conditions and outstanding compliance obligations
• Performing hydrologic modeling (HEC-HMS) to evaluate spillway performance under the 50-year and one-third PMP design storms required by NCDEQ Dam Safety
• Completing a hydraulic assessment and spillway routing to determine whether the existing outlet works could meet regulatory performance standards or needed replacement
• Developing a conceptual rehabilitation plan that included a reinforced concrete riser and barrel, seepage controls, slope stabilization, and removal of embankment vegetation
• Preparing planning-level cost estimates tied to the rehabilitation scope, giving the client a defensible budget basis for acquisition negotiations
• Building a phased compliance roadmap that laid out the sequence of regulatory approvals and construction milestones a new owner would need to follow

RiskHydro delivered a comprehensive feasibility report within the due-diligence window, giving the client the technical and financial information needed to make a well-grounded acquisition decision. The study confirmed that rehabilitation was achievable, defined what it would take to get there, and gave the client confidence that the regulatory path forward was manageable.

• Feasibility confirmed within the due-diligence period, allowing the client to move forward with acquisition on an informed basis
• Compliance obligations clearly defined, including the regulatory history, outstanding NODs, and what a new owner would need to address under NCDEQ Dam Safety requirements
• Conceptual rehabilitation plan developed with sufficient detail to support cost estimating, funding conversations, and initial regulatory coordination
• Planning-level cost estimates provided to give the client a realistic picture of the financial commitment before closing
• Phased compliance roadmap delivered so the client understood the sequence and timeline of approvals and construction work that lay ahead
• Reservoir preserved as a viable outcome, replacing a breach scenario with a technically supported path to rehabilitation