Dam Safety: Federal Programs and Authorities

Abstract

In recent years, several incidents have highlighted the public safety risks posed by the failure of dams and related facilities. From 2015 to 2018, over 100 dams breached in North Carolina and South Carolina due to record flooding. In 2017, the near failure of Oroville Dams spillway in California resulted in a precautionary evacuation of approximately 200,000 people and cost more than $1.1billion in emergency response and repair. The 2019 failure of Spencer Dam in Nebraska resulted in the first dam failure fatality in the nation since 2006. In response to these incidents, Congress may consider additional oversight and legislation that could improve dam safety.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 09, 2019
Accession Number
AD1170121

Entities

People

  • Anna E. Normand

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Congress
  • Dams
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Disasters
  • Emergencies
  • Emergency Response
  • Engineering
  • Flood Control
  • Floods
  • Governments
  • Law
  • Materials
  • National Governments
  • Public Administration
  • Puerto Rico
  • Risk
  • South Carolina
  • United States
  • United States Government

Readers

  • Aviation Safety Risk Assessment.
  • Facility/Structural Engineering.
  • Hydrologic Risk Analysis and Mitigation.