The Dams of the Letchworth State Park Area: A Case Study

Dam: There are nine dams leading directly to Letchworth State Park in New York State. These dams were built for various reasons and affected freshwater rivers near 400 miles of the Genesee River Basin in western New York (Fish, n.d.). The dam of Elitsac Manufacturing Company affected 14.08 miles of Wolf Creek (Fish, nd). The original purpose of the dam was not recorded in the state dam inventory and it was no longer maintained (dam, nd). Another dam of Wolf Creek is also Hopkins Mill Dam, which was also canceled.

As a case study on the cause of the collapse of the dam, I will study the disassembly of the South Fork dam of Conemaugh Lake, an artificial waters area near South Park, Pennsylvania, USA. On May 31, 1889, the South Folk Dam collapsed, 20 million tons of water flowed down from Cornmore Lake and flowed down 14 miles (23 km) downstream, flooding occurred in Johnstown. South Folk Dam was built by the federal state of Pennsylvania from 1838 to 1852 as a reservoir of the Johnstown canal valley. The dam is located 14 miles upstream of Johnstown. The Komenawa River passed through the center of Johnstown and narrowed to build more buildings on the levee. Because the river is on the floodplain, it is susceptible to floods. In 1857 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania sold the dam to the Pennsylvania railroad. With the arrival of the railway service in 1852, transport of canals to transport goods was sluggish.

Coolidam is a small town in Douglas, Grant and Okanogan County, Washington State. Coulidam's Douglas County District is part of the Wenatchee - East Wenatchee Metropolitan statistics area. Part of Okanagan County is in Colville Indian Reservation, forming the southern boundary of Okanagan Heights. As of 2010, the population was 1098 people. Coulee Dam was founded in 1933 as the headquarters of the Grand Coulee Dam by the American Council Development Bureau. A part of Okanogan County is called Mason City and it is the place of the contractor. Part of Douglas and Grant County, known as an engineering town, is owned by the government. In 1942, when the contract was over, CBI handed over Mason City's management to the municipal sector of the Colombian basin project. In 1948, Mason City was founded in Coolidam. The government began selling the town in general in 1957 and was completed in 1959.