Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Congress still has time to address Dam Safety issues in 2008
« Taking Transit Because Gas is too Expensive? Get in Line | Main | Gone with the Wind (and Rain) »Dams are a vital part of our nation's infrastructure—providing drinking water, flood protection, renewable hydroelectric power, navigation, irrigation and recreation—but, these daily benefits are also inextricably linked to the potential harmful consequences of a dam failure. On Sunday, June 8, National Public Radio explored the current problem of the nation's aging dams. Click here to listen.
In 2005, ASCE published the Report Card for America's Infrastructure, giving the condition of our nation's dams a grade of D, equal to the overall infrastructure grade.
The United State Senate can do something about this aging dams by passing by S. 2238 -- Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act which was introduced by Sens. Daniel Akaka, D-HI, and George Voinovich, R-OH, with 8 additional Senators as cosponsors. The legislation would provide $200 million over 5 years for the repair, rehabilitation or removal of publicly owned dams.
The House of Representatives passed this legislation by a vote of 263-102 on October 29, 2007. The House legislation was introduced by Reps. John Salazar, D-CO, and Randy Kuhl, R-NY.
The Association of State Dam Safety Officials, in its October 2003 report, The Cost of Rehabilitating Our Nation's Dams, estimated that $10 billion would be needed to repair the most critical dams over the next 12 years. Also, state dam safety programs have identified more than 3,500 unsafe or deficient dams, many of which are susceptible to large flood events or earthquakes.
To learn more about fixing our nation's aging infrastructure please visit http://www.asce.org/reportcard/2005/index.cfm