$36.2 Billion Required to Fix Dams

“But even for those who had somehow succeeded in getting to the high ground in time, even for those who were uninjured or were lucky enough to have a roof to sleep under, there was the indescribable agony of remembering what they had seen, and not knowing what had become of others. No one really knew for sure the extent of what had happened, but they knew it had been terrible beyond belief, and if the whereabouts of someone was not known, then only the worst could be imagined. All that could be done now was to wait for morning, and hope.” – David McCullough, The Johnstown Flood

John Gangemi, AW’s Western Conservation and Access Director, is fond of observing that “All dams fail.” By this, John means that it is inherent to dams to fail over time, whether through geologic actions, heavy precipitation, or poor engineering.  In order to prevent this failure, dam owners and operators have to be vigilant and maintain their structures.

Unfortunately, as a November 2003 peer-reviewed study by the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) notes, our nation’s dam “infrastructure is falling apart” and “Nowhere is the deterioration of our infrastructure more apparent than in our nation’s dams.”

The committee’s report, The Cost of Rehabilitating Our Nation’s Dams: A Methodology, Estimate and Proposed Funding Mechanisms has concluded that a minimum of $36.2 billion is required to upgrade or repair existing dams.

The report adds that “$10.1 billion is needed for the nation’s most critical dams, those whose failure would cause loss of human life.”  Given that the states currently regulate at least 10,000 of these “high-hazard-potential” structures, each of these aging dams requires about a $1 million for simple safety modifications.

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) supported the basic finding that the nation’s dams are at risk. ASCE’s September 2003 Progress Report for America’s Infrastructure, released in September, found that dams were in even worse condition than reported in 2001 when dams rated ‘D’ on the 2001 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure.  Thus the rapid deterioration of America’s dams is cause for worry.

When the Johnstown Flood occurred in 1889 with the failure of Pennsylvania’s South Fork Dam, more than 2200 people died and more than 27,000 were made homeless. The river banks and canyon were scoured bare of every living thing and the town and train tracks destroyed. 

Dam failures are not simply history though, they continue to occur today. In fact, at least 21 dams have failed in the since 2001. The ASDSO website cites the following examples:

“Silver Lake Dam, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, caused the failure of downstream Tourist Park Dam and the evacuation of more than 1,800 people in the city of Marquette.  The failures resulted in more than $100 million in damage, including about $10 million damage to utility facilities, $4 million in environmental damage and $3 million to roads and bridges.  Twenty homes and three businesses were damaged or destroyed.  The We Energies power plant, which generates half the electricity produced in the Upper Peninsula, was flooded, causing the closure of two nearby iron mines, and the layoff of about 1,100 mine workers for several weeks, until the power plant was repaired.  The mine owner estimated that the shutdown cost the local economy about $1 million a day.

Also in May, several dams failed in North Carolina, causing the evacuation of approximately 75 homes and damages estimated at $12 million.  The state is spending nearly $5 million to rebuild the Hope Mills dam, which provides a critical stream crossing.”

 As we consider new energy and water resources policies, including new dam construction, it is vital to consider the lost recreation opportunities, harms to the environment, and potential threat to public safety.  Is it really reasonable to consider building new dams when we can not even take care of the ones that have already been built?