South River W/s Str. #29

About South River W/s Str. #29

The primary purpose of South River W/s Str. #29 is flood risk reduction. The dam is designed to control downstream flooding by temporarily storing excess water during storms and releasing it at a controlled rate. The dam is owned by Madison County Board Of Commissioners Broad River S&wcd (state). It impounds the Brush Creek near Comer.

The dam stands 44 feet tall and stretches 860 feet across, creates a reservoir covering 61 acres, has a maximum storage capacity of 8,732 acre-feet, and collects water from a drainage area of 19,000 square miles. Completed in 1971, the structure is well into its service life at over 50 years old.

This dam carries a high hazard potential classification, which means that a failure or uncontrolled release of water would likely cause loss of human life. This classification reflects the consequences of failure, not the likelihood — it indicates that people live or work in the area downstream. Its condition is rated satisfactory, indicating no existing or potential dam safety deficiencies are recognized. An emergency action plan is in place for this dam. The most recent inspection on record was 03/23/2017. That was 9 years ago, which is on the longer end for a high-hazard structure.

At 44 feet, this dam is taller than 90% of dams nationwide.

Living Downstream

If you live or work downstream of this dam, consider taking these steps: learn your local evacuation routes, check whether your county emergency management office has a dam failure inundation map, and sign up for local emergency alerts. The Georgia dam safety program can provide more specific information about emergency planning for this structure.

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