New spillway for Boiling Spring Lakes dam

By Makenzie Holland StarNews Staff
Posted Apr 6, 2018 at 10:37 AM
Updated Apr 6, 2018 at 11:14 AM

Project, to be largely funded by $1.7 million FEMA grant, should help control lake’s water level

BRUNSWICK COUNTY -- Boiling Spring Lakes has been awarded a $1.7-million federal grant to help fund a new spillway project for Patricia Lake, known locally as the Big Lake.

City Manager Jeff Repp said the project is something the small Brunswick County city has been pursuing for years due to problems with the existing spillway for the Sanford Dam on Alton Lennon Drive. The Sanford Dam is an earthen dam that was constructed in 1961 to form the 285-acre lake.

Repp said the existing spillway is controlled by manually operated mechanical gates, which are at the bottom of the lake. When the city needs to drain the lake in anticipation of a hurricane or heavy rain event, the gates are opened and water is sent through the bottom of the spillway, draining the lake. The mechanical gates cannot be operated during stormy weather due to the possibility of lightning strikes, so the city predicts when to lower levels.

That method of draining water causes “significant fluctuation” in the lake’s water level that can cause sinkholes on the bottom of the man-made lake, which can in turn cause damage by draining the lake even more.

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