About Dam Time

2007-10-31T11:52:43-04:00

Last night by a vote of 263 to 102, the U.S. House of Representatives Passed the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2007 a bill that would provide $200 million to address deficiencies in the nation’s publicly owned, non-federal dams. ASCE and its partner organization, the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) , have been long-time champions of this legislation and applaud the House for taking this important step in ensuring the safety of the nation’s dams. Late last week, Sen. Daniel Akaka D-HI introduced the Senate version of the bill (S. 2238), and we hope that action on it will be swift.

Lack of funding for maintenance, combined with rapid downstream development, puts dams and individuals who live below them at risk. The 2006 failure of the Ka Loko Dam in Hawaii, which killed 7 people, is a sobering reminder of how dangerous a deficient high-hazard dam can be. Even more frightening, yesterday’s Washington Post features a story about an Iraqi dam in danger of failure. Should the Mosul Dam fail, the death toll could be as much as 500,000. While obviously not covered by the U.S. legislation, the Mosul Dam gives an idea as to the magnitude of disaster a dam failure could produce.

ASDSO estimates that $36.2 billion is needed to rehabilitate all dams across the nation, with about $10 billion needed just for the most critical dams over the next 10 years. The nation’s 3,300 unsafe dams are not getting the attention they need. The Dam Rehab and Repair Act is a small, but important, step toward realizing those goals. The need for a concentrated effort to improve the nation’s dams is real and ASCE and its members will continue to advocate for this vital program.

For more information on dams watch these two news segments from CNN and Fox News .

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About Dam Time