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The Dam Safety Coalition favors the creation of a federal funding program to repair the nation's unsafe dams.
Dams provide tremendous benefits to society but they also represent a public safety issue. A dam failure can result in severe loss of life, economic disaster and extensive environmental damage.
Dams are a vital part of our nation's infrastructure - providing drinking water, flood protection, renewable hydroelectric power, navigation, irrigation and recreation. These critical daily benefits are also inextricably linked to the potential harmful consequences of a dam failure.
The Need for a Dam Rehabilitation Program - It is estimated that $10.1 billion is needed to address the nation's most ciritcal dams. Needed repairs to publicly owned dams are estimated at $5.9 billion. The case for a national program to fix these dams summarized in the this brochure.
Latest News --
July 27, 2010, Des Moines Register, Experts worry about increase in deficient U.S. dams
The failure of the 88-year-old dam at northeast Iowa's Lake Delhi comes when experts have been warning of potentially catastrophic consequences involving thousands of aging U.S. dams. The American Society of Civil Engineers, in a report on infrastructure last year, gave a "D" to the nation's system of 85,000 dams. The average dam is 51 years old, and more than 4,000 are deemed deficient, including some 1,800 that could potentially cause a loss of life if they failed. Read full article
July 26, 2010, New York Times, Lake’s Views and Revenue Yield to Muck and Fears in Iowa
After heavy rains forced a dam break over the weekend, people here in eastern Iowa were coming to grips on Monday with the jarring reality that their beloved lake was gone. Lake Delhi, a popular getaway in Delaware County surrounded by waterfront vacation homes, had drained itself to a stream.
The water on the west side of the dam, which was a quarter-mile wide last week, spanned 100 feet on Monday, according to Jeff Driscoll, a state trooper. He said it had dropped a foot in four hours that day. Read full article
July 24, 2010, CNN, Dam fails in eastern Iowa, causing massive flooding
A dam on an eastern Iowa lake suffered a "catastrophic" failure Saturday, sending a massive amount of water into nearby communities and forcing residents to flee, officials said. The Lake Delhi dam, about 45 miles north of Cedar Rapids, failed as a result of "massive rain -- a very unusually high amount this season," according to Jim Flansburg, communications director for Gov. Chet Culver. Read full article
July 22, 2010, Des Moines Register, Rathbun Lake has too much water
Bill Empson, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said Wednesday that release gates at Rathbun dam, which had been closed earlier to help alleviate some of the downstream flooding, are being opened again to move water out of the huge lake. The outlet is being opened slowly as officials monitor the consequences of higher water in the Chariton River downstream. Read full article
July 22, 2010, Foster’s Daily Democrat, The dam bill is $500g: Newmarket weighs whether to repair or remove structure
The Town Council delved deeper into the financial ramifications of problems with the downtown Lamprey River dam when engineers informed the panel it could cost upward of $500,000 to repair a structure that two years ago was issued a "letter of deficiency" by state officials. Read full article
July 22, 2010, Arizona Daily Sun, Cracks found in dam
Several cracks in the dam at the new 71-acre flood control basin in west Flagstaff were found during a recent inspection by the Arizona Department of Water Resources. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which finished building the Clay Avenue Detention Basin off West Route 66 west of Railroad Springs last summer, is currently investigating the cause of the cracks, most of which are less than an inch wide. Read full articleJuly 15, 2010, Devils Lake Journal, US Army Corps of Engineers Holds hearing Session
On Wednesday, July 14 federal officials representing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers put together a panel to gather information at a listening session to come up with recommendations to bring to Washington for short-term and long-term solutions to Devils Lake flooding. It was a diverse group made up of federal employees from BIA, US Game and Fish and the EPA as well as from the Corps itself. Read the full article
July 12, 2010, Telegram and Gazette, ‘Urgent' dam repairs delayed
All earthen dams leak, and the Corps of Engineers flood control dam at Westville Lake is no exception. Whether holding back the flood waters of rising streams during heavy rain and flooding or the drinking water supply of small towns and big cities, earthen dams are designed that way. Read full article
July 11, 2010, Boston Globe, River Wild
Several environmentalists in the New England region, particularly in Massachusetts believe that the overuse of dams in the early 1900’s has resulted in the loss of valuable water resources throughout the region. The Army Corps of Engineers estimate that there are 1,602 dams in Massachusetts; but other organizations claim this number to be higher since the Corps follows certain regulations to count dams in its National Inventory. Removal of these dams is sought because some wish to see the ecosystem around this area thrive. Read the full article
July 8, 2010, The Columbian, Feds OK with plan for North Fork dam repairs: Regional engineer had raised alarm about condition of spillway gates
Federal energy regulators say they’re satisfied with PacifiCorp’s plan to repair spillway gates at three major dams on the North Fork of the Lewis River. The regional engineer for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last month raised alarm about the condition of the gates. FERC Regional Engineer Patrick J. Regan in Portland, in a letter dated June 2, summarized a series of concerns with the findings from a 10-year inspection report conducted by PacifiCorp and submitted to the federal agency earlier this year. Read the full articleJuly 6, 2010, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, Meeting to determine future of Clausen Springs Dam
The town of Kathryn, N.D., has been waiting for news about the nearby Clausen Springs Dam since it was damaged in the spring 2009 flood. They’ll know more about the process after a meeting July 21 in Valley City.
Specifics on the project are not yet available, but officials hope the cost will be no more than $3 million. The dam has been an issue in Kathryn, 17 miles south of Valley City, since erosion from the flooding forced the evacuation of the town’s 55 resident. Read the full article
July 3, 2010, Chicago Tribune, Most Indiana dams in private hands, evade enforcement
In Indiana the majority of Dams are privately owned and maintained, even though most private owners do not have the funding to properly maintain the dams which they own. This results in the majority of dams within Indiana being structurally deficient. This problem is finally being felt at the local level. Read the full article
July 1, 2010, TCPalm.com, Corps reduces releases of Lake O water to St. Lucie Estuary
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced it is reducing the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie River Estuary from 1,170 cubic feet per second to 200 cubic feet per second. The influx of nutrient-rich fresh water from the lake has significantly lowered the salinity of the brackish estuary and been blamed for wiping out the oyster population. The releases also have been suspected of contributing to high levels of enteric bacteria, including fecal coliform, and blue-green algae blooms in the estuary. Read the full articleJune 18, 2010, The Fayetteville Observer, Sediment Buildup Around Dam Perplexes Engineers
Two professional engineers who are dam experts said Thursday they were surprised to see severe soil erosion around the Hope Mills Lake dam. The engineers said the soil erosion appears to be what is known as "piping." But both John P. Osterle, vice president for dams and water projects at Pittsburgh-based Paul C. Rizzo Associates Inc., and Brad Iarossi, who used to be Maryland's chief of dam safety, were puzzled that piping occurred at a concrete dam. Read the full article
May 10, 2010, The San Diego Union-Tribune, Reservoir's Capacity to More Than Double
Construction crews will soon begin the painstaking work of raising East County’s San Vicente Dam, a project the San Diego County Water Authority calls the largest of its kind in the world. The $568 million effort involves boosting the 220-foot-high dam by an additional 117 feet. Work is expected to begin this spring and finish in early 2013. When the dam raise is completed, the capacity of the adjoining San Vicente Reservoir will more than double. Read the full story
May 5, 2010, The Courier Express, East Branch Dam Price Tag: $280 Million It will likely take about seven years and cost about $280 million for repairs to the East Branch Dam. During Tuesday's Elk County Commissioners meeting, Mike Rattay, project manager, said construction was completed in 1952. Its three main purposes were, and are, flood control, water quality and recreation. Five years later, seepage was discovered and corrected, but since then it has been heavily monitored because the way the dam is built, the problem could occur again. The dam was evaluated by the Army Corps of Engineers in 2007 and a more in-depth risk analysis was done in January 2008. It was determined that a seepage-related failure exists not only in the area where was a problem in 1957, but in other areas as well. Read the full story
