Volume 5, Number 3 • winter 2003/2004
ASDSO Estimate to Fix Nation’s Dams
The Association of State Dam Safety Officials is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to improving dam safety through research, education, and communication.According to the ASCE Report Card for America’s Infrastructure – 2003 Progress Report, "the condition of our nation's roads, bridges, drinking water systems and other public works have shown little improvement since they were graded an overall D+ in 2001, with some areas sliding toward failing grades." ASCE’s 2003 Progress Report for America’s Infrastructure, released in September, judged dams as being in worse condition than reported in 2001. As dams merited a grade of ‘D’ on the 2001 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, their continued deterioration is valid cause for concern, if not alarm.
In response to these concerns, the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) has compiled state and national estimates of the cost of dam rehabilitation. A nine-member task committee of ASDSO has concluded that the cost of upgrading or repairing all of our nation’s non-federal dams would exceed $36 billion. The committee’s report, The Cost of Rehabilitating Our Nation’s Dams: A Methodology, Estimate and Proposed Funding Mechanisms, states that almost one-third of this amount — $10.1 billion — is needed for the nation’s most critical dams, those whose failure would cause loss of human life. The states currently regulate more than 10,000 of these "high-hazard-potential" structures, and this number is increasing.
In the past two years, at least 21 dam failures have occurred in the U.S. The May 2003 failure of 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.
Also in May, 2003, 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.
Well over 50 percent of U.S. dams are privately owned; state and local governments, federal agencies and utilities own the remainder. Most dam owners are not wealthy and even those who possess considerable financial resources are often overwhelmed with the staggering costs of dam maintenance, repairs and upgrades.
"Maintain ‘em or drain ‘em," a motto adopted by the National Park Service Dam Safety Program, aptly expresses the dam owner’s dilemma. Faced with the choice of repairing or upgrading a dam, or the less expensive option of draining a lake, many owners choose the latter course; however, where dams provide drinking water or flood control, dam removal may not be a viable alternative.
Dam owners faced with the options of dam repair or dam removal often need financial assistance. In order to estimate the magnitude of this need, ASDSO established a nine-member task committee to develop a reliable estimate of the national cost of dam rehabilitation.
The task committee has recommended the creation of a national dam rehabilitation loan program. ASDSO has worked with lawmakers to draft legislation that provides funding for repairs to high-hazard-potential dams and is currently seeking a sponsor for the legislation.
Commented ASDSO Legislative Chairman, Brad Iarossi, "Congress just approved a bill that allocates $18.6 billion toward infrastructure investments in Iraq, including $125 million for dam construction and repair. Is America’s infrastructure less of a priority? Our lawmakers should also be concerned with the poor condition of U.S. infrastructure, which currently threatens our safety and well-being."
The ASDSO report notes that many states cannot afford to wait for a national funding program; thus, it provides guidelines for establishing state revolving loan funds for dam rehabilitation, repair and removal. Any future federal loan programs could then supplement these state funding mechanisms. Funding programs for dam repairs now exist in fewer than a dozen states, but ASDSO is working to improve this situation.
Last fall, New Jersey voters approved a dam rehabilitation funding bill that provides $15 million to pay for state projects and $95 million in low-interest loans to private and municipal dam owners. John Moyle, Manager of the New Jersey Dam Safety and Flood Control Section, noted, "Having an effective program requires not only staff and a strong enforcement program but also a dam repair funding mechanism for dam owners. The funding mechanism is a win-win situation since it provides assistance to the owners, stimulates the economy by providing jobs and protects our citizens from potential dam failures."
Raul Silva, co-chair of the ASDSO task committee, applauds the New Jersey initiative, and hopes that federal lawmakers will take the cue.
"When public safety is an issue, the federal government often takes a proactive approach to repairing other elements of the national infrastructure," emphasized Silva. "Unfortunately, dams have not gotten this kind of comprehensive attention, maybe because they’re usually built in out-of-the-way locations and they’re not something that people actually see and use directly in their daily lives. But the benefits that dams provide are tangible and the risks posed by dams that are not properly maintained and repaired are real."
"For a long time, we in the profession have said that inspections alone are not enough to make dams safe; that dam owners facing expensive maintenance and repairs need financial help. Now, for the first time, we have a realistic answer to the question, how much will it take to fix the problem?" said Silva.
ASDSO Conference:Dam Safety 2004 September 26-29, 2004, Phoenix, AZ For more information, visit http://www.damsafety.org
"Maintain ‘em or drain ‘em," a motto adopted by the National Park Service Dam Safety Program