Residents unhappy after Rawson Pond dam failure in Cumberland
CUMBERLAND, R.I. (WLNE) — What was once a pond is now a muddy mess after the dam at Rawson Pond in Cumberland broke late Friday night.
The Department of Environmental Management said the dam’s flashboards, which are used to control water levels in the spillway, failed overnight.
“It’s a disaster,” said Cumberland resident Mark Dalton.
The Town of Cumberland bought Rawson Pond and its dam back in 2017, and, in 2021, a warning came across Mayor Jeffery Mutter’s desk from the DEM, saying the dam was considered a significant hazard.
Dalton lives along the pond and stream on Newell Road.
“I have seen this dam forever, and it’s old and beat up,” Dalton said. “There are people in the neighborhood that were communicating with the town their concerns about it, and…as far as I know, I don’t think [the town] updated any aspect of it physically.”
Public works crews were out assessing the damage Tuesday.
“The most important thing is what are we going to do from here,” said Joseph Duarte, director of public works for Cumberland. “We have already tried evaluating downstream issues if they may have arise, we have not seen any at this point.”
Nearby residents said it is hard to see the pond in this state and are worried about the effects on wildlife that previously frequented the pond.
“It was heart wrenching to see [the pond],” Dalton said. “Then after a few minutes, I realized…the geese…the ducks and the pair of swans that live here, it is heartbreaking to think of that. You can still see them, they are trying to fly around and find a place to be. It’s devastating.”
Cumberland resident Linda McDermott shared a video of dead fish in the now-empty pond.
Town officials tell ABC 6 they met with a consultant engineer Monday and are expecting an early assessment and some kind of cost analysis to restore the dam.
“This is a perfect example of what’s going to happen these 100-year-old, 140-year-old dams,” Duarte explained. “People have to consider, what are we going to do in the future?”
