Work to stabilize Lake Purdy Dam, the failure of which could cause catastrophic damage downstream, has stopped unexpectedly and without explanation.

The work suspension was revealed during a Central Alabama Water Board of Directors meeting Monday when a director asked for a status update on the large-scale rehabilitation project to strengthen the dam and address leakage.

“The contractor demobilized on Dec. 23, and they are not remobilized,” said Jeffrey Thompson, chief executive of CAW, which owns the dam and Lake Purdy reservoir, a critical water source for metro Birmingham. Demobilization is the process of removing equipment, materials and personnel from a construction site, typically after work is completed or a contract is terminated. Thalle Construction Co. is the contractor for the project.

No other information about the project suspension was provided.

Board members Jarvis Patton Sr. and Sheila Tyson pushed for public discussion about why the project was suspended, but the board voted to hold that discussion in a private executive session after the meeting.

“What position does that put the residents in?” Patton asked, referring to the work stoppage. “Can somebody answer me that?”

“No, they cannot,” board Chairman Tommy Hudson responded. “Not in this forum.”

Alabama law allows public boards to hold private sessions only in a handful of circumstances. The water board had scheduled an executive session before questions about the dam arose that Shan Paden, an attorney for CAW, said was necessary to discuss threatened or pending litigation.

Aging Dam Provides Much of Area’s Water

The Lake Purdy reservoir, in southeastern Jefferson and northern Shelby counties, is a major source of water for CAW customers, supplying water to residents in Birmingham, Homewood, Hoover, Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills. Twenty percent of customers in the system can’t get their water from any source besides Lake Purdy, Patrick Flannelly, senior vice president of Arcadis North America, an engineering firm for CAW, said during a previous board meeting.

Lake Purdy Dam has needed repairs for years. A previous board approved the rehabilitation project in September 2024, prompted partly by a study showing the dam would not be stable in an extreme flood.

The current board, installed in May after a state law effectively dissolved the old one, paused work on the dam briefly in July because of cost concerns. It then voted to complete phase one of the $88 million project. At the time, Flannelly told the board that phase one of the project would have to be completed or additional money would have to be spent returning the site to its original condition.

“We can’t stop because the contractor has already begun excavation into the slope downstream of the existing dam, which makes the dam actually less safe than it was when we started,” he said.

Phase one of the project now involves constructing concrete buttresses and installing a deep foundation to shore up part of the structure after engineers discovered it wasn’t strong enough to support the buttresses. In November, the board hired three independent experts who examined the dam and gave conflicting opinions on how to best continue with the stabilization project.

The 2026 budget the board approved Dec. 10 includes $22 million to finish the first phase of the project, which had been expected to be completed in April.

Alabama lacks a dam safety program that mandates inspections. A 2023 state law established a dam safety program — Alabama was the last state to do so — but participation is voluntary. Dam owners that opt in agree to have an engineer inspect their dam at least every two years.

In a July 2025 CAW board meeting, Vice Chairman Phillip Wiedmeyer expressed concern about adequate monitoring of Lake Purdy Dam and others CAW owns. Derrick Murphy, assistant general manager of engineering and maintenance for the utility at the time, said it had recently begun a dam-inspection program and had inspected two dams, with two more to go.

The 115-year-old Lake Purdy Dam is one of the most prominent of Alabama’s more than 350 high-hazard-potential dams, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers classification that means their failure could cause significant loss of life and property. Areas that would be affected by the dam’s failure include Cahaba and Brook Highland.

Flannelly said in July that if the dam were to break: “The water will flow down the Little Cahaba River. It’ll then primarily go downstream on the Big Cahaba River. The wave stream goes about 40 miles downstream.”

Thompson said last month that CAW’s new leadership team would look closely at Lake Purdy Dam, but completing phase one was the most they thought could be done this year.

“We are absolutely going to ensure that our customers are safe and protected and that there are no issues with the structural integrity of the dam, but at this point in time, we’re really looking at trying to mitigate our cost exposure for 2026,” he said.

Board Sends CEO Back to Drawing Board on Financial Adviser Search

Also during Monday’s meeting, the board tabled a decision to hire a new financial-advising firm and instructed Thompson to conduct a more comprehensive search.

Thompson had recommended Porter White and Company, an investment bank in Birmingham.

“We do believe that Porter White and Company is an outstanding firm that has a stellar reputation and that has experience with this utility, specifically, and other utilities, and we believe that they are the best fit for Central Alabama Water,” Thompson said.

Under questioning by board members, he said managers evaluated other firms based on publicly available information but did not solicit proposals. Terminus Municipal Advisors, the utility’s previous financial adviser, also submitted a proposal, he said.

“I would submit that that was not a proper evaluation and that we should get formal proposals from multiple firms,” said Wiedmeyer, who made the motion to table the vote and called for “a more structured, objective approach and evaluation that is appropriate for utilities in the public sector and not a private company.”