\n\t\t\t\t\t\tOfficials with El Paso Water issued an urgent update on escalating risks at Cement Lake Dam, also known as Portland Reservoir, as engineers observe signs that could indicate a potential dam failure.According to EPWater, recent assessments have identified slow-moving slope failures, slight embankment shifts and water seepage \u2014 conditions consistent with structural instability and a possible breach. While earlier mitigation efforts helped reduce some immediate danger, officials say the situation has become increasingly concerning.As a precaution, all personnel have been moved away from the immediate hazard zone to higher ground. EPWater is also working closely with experts from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate the dam and guide ongoing stabilization efforts.Crews are working to lower water levels in the reservoir in an effort to reduce pressure on the structure. So far, approximately 30 inches of water have been removed. However, current estimates suggest that up to 10 feet may need to be drained to improve stability. Additional pumping equipment is being brought in to accelerate the process.\u201cOur crews and contractors are working around the clock to monitor, assess risk and reduce pressure on the dam,\u201d said John Balliew, president and CEO of EPWater. \u201cPublic safety is our highest priority.\u201dAuthorities have closed roadways in areas that could be impacted by potential flooding. Officials warn that, in the event of a breach, water would likely inundate those restricted zones.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tEL PASO, Texas \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Officials with El Paso Water issued an urgent update on escalating risks at Cement Lake Dam, also known as Portland Reservoir, as engineers observe signs that could indicate a potential dam failure.<\/p>\n
According to EPWater, recent assessments have identified slow-moving slope failures, slight embankment shifts and water seepage \u2014 conditions consistent with structural instability and a possible breach. While earlier mitigation efforts helped reduce some immediate danger, officials say the situation has become increasingly concerning.<\/p>\n
As a precaution, all personnel have been moved away from the immediate hazard zone to higher ground. EPWater is also working closely with experts from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate the dam and guide ongoing stabilization efforts.<\/p>\n
Crews are working to lower water levels in the reservoir in an effort to reduce pressure on the structure. So far, approximately 30 inches of water have been removed. However, current estimates suggest that up to 10 feet may need to be drained to improve stability. Additional pumping equipment is being brought in to accelerate the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur crews and contractors are working around the clock to monitor, assess risk and reduce pressure on the dam,\u201d said John Balliew, president and CEO of EPWater. \u201cPublic safety is our highest priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
Authorities have closed roadways in areas that could be impacted by potential flooding. Officials warn that, in the event of a breach, water would likely inundate those restricted zones. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Officials with El Paso Water issued an urgent update on escalating risks at Cement Lake Dam, also known…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[98946,62781,3166,15530,54200,24209,81751,138,14246,98947,52332,12257,18367,12520,98949,98950,98948,8020,98951,98952,27,29,28,12378,410,4161],"class_list":{"0":"post-264285","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-breach","9":"tag-break","10":"tag-cement","11":"tag-ceo","12":"tag-concern","13":"tag-crew","14":"tag-dam","15":"tag-el-paso","16":"tag-epwater","17":"tag-fail","18":"tag-failure","19":"tag-flood","20":"tag-lake","21":"tag-official","22":"tag-portland-reservoir","23":"tag-possible-breach","24":"tag-pressure","25":"tag-risk","26":"tag-slight-embankment-shift","27":"tag-slow-moving-slope-failure","28":"tag-texas","29":"tag-texas-headlines","30":"tag-texas-news","31":"tag-watch","32":"tag-water","33":"tag-water-level"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}