It’s a Dam Shame

One of the scariest situations I can imagine is a dam failure, yet a recent review of federal data revealed that there are 1,688 dams across the U.S. that are currently rated as being in poor condition.  The “good news” is that the majority are located on small lakes, but the bad news is that most have residential neighborhoods located downstream from them.  And when a dam fails, it typically happens without any kind of advance warning – you blink and all of a sudden, you’re facing a wall of water coming at you at a high rate of speed.

Origin of the Dam Problem

Dams typically become deficient due to old age, lack of maintenance, poor workmanship at the time of the initial build, or a change in classification that necessitates a design change.  In terms of maintenance, this generally includes:

• Regular inspections to look for seepage or structural issues
• Vegetation control or removal
• Animal control and removal
• Repair of intake / outtake pipes and valves
• Patching cracks
• Backfilling eroded areas

There seems to be two primary reasons for the relatively large number of substandard dams in the U.S. – first, most are privately owned, and second, fixing them is extremely costly.  According to a spokesperson from the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, it would cost a whopping $70 billion to repair and/or improve our country’s 90,000+ dams. 

These two factors are inherently interrelated.  Because they are mostly privately owned, regulations generally cannot be imposed to force the owners to invest in maintenance.  But the other side of the coin is that when disaster strikes, the owner will be hit with a lawsuit.  So, one way or another, owners will eventually pay, it’s just a matter of how and when.

If your utility has dams in the service territory, it might be a good idea to incorporate this risk into emergency plans and protocols.  In addition, a dam-related malfunction should be incorporated into emergency exercises and drills.  To do otherwise would be a dam shame!