Eye kept on Springdale pond after dam break

Springdale officials are keeping watch on a pond in the Shadblow neighborhood after it overflowed briefly.

Water from the pond spilled onto roads below it when a dam in its middle ruptured after a tree on it fell Saturday during a storm associated with Hurricane Matthew, officials said.

“With all this rainfall, it went,” town Police Chief Kevin Cornett said.

The privately-owned dam on the lower part of the pond held despite water going over its top for nearly an hour, officials said.

There was no damage besides mud flowing into the swimming pool at a home downstream as water went into woods and sewers, town administrator Jeff Stilwell said.

Travel on roads below the pond has been banned after erosion was discovered in the earthen dam in the lower level during flooding last fall after record rain across the Columbia area, he said.

The upper level of the pond is empty, with dam repairs up to surrounding homeowners, Stilwell said.

State dam safety officials have been called in to assess conditions.

Rupture of the dam was discovered by town police, Cornett said.

The pond is one of a half dozen in the Lexington County community of 2,800 residents that are routinely checked by officers during downpours as a precaution, he said.

This story was originally published October 11, 2016 at 12:06 PM with the headline "Eye kept on Springdale pond after dam break."