Spillway work to begin at Nodaway Lake

Work will begin soon on a spillway replacement project at Nodaway Lake south of Greenfield.

According to Greenfield Municipal Utilities General Manager Scott Tonderum, the condition of the concrete on the bottom of the existing spillway has deteriorated over time.

“We’re going to cut all the way down on each side, probably a foot away from where it goes up on the embankment, and cut it off at the top side and fill it in with concrete, then bring the concrete up a little higher on the walls,” Tonderum said. “It’s getting a new concrete floor. It’s a pretty good undertaking. It’s going to have to be done in sections.”

Scott Concrete will perform the work, which is expected to cost more than $100,000.

“This is designed to handle any overflows to the lake that will flow over the dram, and then it flows down that spillway,” Tonderum said. “The way it is right now, there are some holes in it and there are some cracks. Some of the water is getting underneath and could possibly wash out underneath the spillway, and we want to eliminate that from happening anymore. It’s also something that the DNR looks at when they come here and inspect our dams, so we need to be mindful of their wishes also.”

According to a Greenfield history book, the land for Nodaway Lake was acquired in 1935. The dam and spillway were completed the next year, ensuring Greenfield an adequate supply of drinking water.

Today, Nodaway Lake serves as a secondary drinking water source for Greenfield, while Lake Greenfield is the primary source. GMU can pump water from Nodaway Lake to Lake Greenfield but primarily pumps water from Lake Greenfield and its wells to the water treatment plant.

Tonderum said the water treatment plant has struggled to keep up with Greenfield’s needs for a while and will soon need to be replaced. GMU expects to seek bids on that project sometime this spring, with construction beginning this fall.

“Scheduled completion would be in the fall of ’28 with final completion in the spring of ’29,” Tonderum said. “It’s a combination of it’s getting old and the treatment process doesn’t do as well as it used to, so that’s the reason for the need of replacement.”

On the electric side, GMU is upgrading its north power generation plant and substation near the Adair County Health and Fitness Center. The project will double the generating capacity of that plant.

“That will hopefully wrap up this spring,” Tonderum said.

GMU also plans to complete water line replacement in the tornado-damage area in the next few years, is working to recap service lines that were not reconnected after the tornado and continues its efforts to bury all power lines in town. Tonderum said GMU is more than 92% complete with that project.

“We probably have two good summers left. It may trickle into a third summer, but we’re going to be close, and then we’ll have everything buried,” Tonderum said.

“We do have a lot going on. We’re trying to manage and prioritize it,” Tonderum said. “Hopefully we’ll get all of this done and this town will be a lot better place in the future [because of it].”