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3 Current Dam and Levee Infrastructure, Management, and Governance
Pages 49-76

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From page 49...
... "Safety" to many dam and levee professionals is associated primarily with reducing the likelihood of flooding. Dam safety efforts since the 1972 failure of Buffalo Creek Dam1 have therefore focused on strengthening safety programs, reducing the potential for future failures, conducting periodic inspections, remedying deficiencies, and preparing emergency action plans (EAPs)
From page 50...
... DAM AND LEVEE INFRASTRUCTURE Before a community can address risks associated with dam or levee failure, it must know that a dam or levee is present and poses risk. Information on dam and levee location, physical properties (e.g., size and type)
From page 51...
... The National Inventory of Dams (NID) and the National Levee Database (NLD)
From page 52...
... It also contains inundation maps to show the emergency management authorities the critical areas for action in case of an emergency. The requirements for EAPs are established by dam safety regulatory agencies at the national level, by such individual agencies as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or by individual states.
From page 53...
... Based on entries in National Inventory of Dams as of September 28, 2008. Y = Yes, EAP exists; NR = EAP not required; and N = No, EAP does not exist.
From page 54...
... According to Washington state, high-hazard dams are those whose failure would place three or more homes at risk downstream, and significant-hazard dams one or two homes.7 National Levee Database The NLD is less mature than the NID, having been initiated as a result of the National Levee Database Authority (Public Law 109-148) following Hurricane Katrina.
From page 55...
... . Figure 3-1 bitmapped pretty low-res FIGURE 3.2 Distribution of dams cataloged in the National Inventory of Dams.
From page 56...
... About one-third are older than 50 years, and by the end of this decade, about 56 percent will be older than 50 years. Figure 4 shows the distribution of dam ownership in the United States.
From page 57...
... Current Dam and Levee Infrastructure, Management, and Governance FIGURE 3 Distribution of dams by date of completion in United States.
From page 58...
... USACE is developing guidance and providing assistance to states to improve submission of voluntary information for the NLD. The National Committee on Levee Safety has proposed a levee hazard potential classification system, shown in Table 3.1, similar in overall structure to that for dams (NCLS, 2009)
From page 59...
... States might not follow the same inspection schedules. DAM AND LEVEE SAFETY PROGRAMS ASDSO distributed a questionnaire to individual state dam safety officials in 2006 to determine what authorities and activities to manage and regulate levee safety existed in the 59
From page 60...
... Dam safety programs, in contrast, can be much more extensive, with formalized processes for dam engineering and design (including construction inspection and design requirements) , periodic dam safety inspections, development of EAPs, and public outreach -- all important for increasing community resilience.
From page 61...
... are using riskbased methods to evaluate dam safety. Public Relations Versus Public Involvement Dam and levee safety programs recognize the need for public outreach and public relations; they are vital for building relationships with the broader community that can lead to community resilience.
From page 62...
... Governance of dam and levee safety programs is discussed in the next sections with respect to the principal laws that define responsibilities, the policies that define how responsibilities are met, and practices -- standards and guidelines -- that are in place to comply with policies in place to achieve "safety." Finally, the status of the governance processes Riparian doctrine states that the right to water depends on ownership of land adjacent to water. All owners have equal 11 rights to water, and water shortages are shared among owners.
From page 63...
... is examined as it may be related to regional and community resilience. Governance with respect to legal liability will not be discussed in this chapter, but the committee recognizes how influential liability concerns can be with respect to dam and levee safety programs and decision making (see Box 3.5)
From page 64...
... States also are the primary regulators of levees, often through local or regional entities such as levee boards, water boards, and private owners. There is no national levee safety program to allow collaboration and unification of levee safety standards, authorities, or management.
From page 65...
... Dam and levee safety program governance in the United States is shaped by laws, policies, and practice, and is similar to the governance that has evolved for emergency response in the United States. Most of the responsibility for governance is in the hands of local and state governments.
From page 66...
... The director was given no regulatory authority over dam safety but was charged with "encouraging the establishment and maintenance of effective federal and state programs, policies and guidelines"18 National security considerations were added to the legal framework in 2002, and the program was reauthorized again in 2006.19 Since 1996, the Interagency Committee on Dam Safety (ICODS) 20 has generated and released a series of guidance documents in an attempt to provide a uniform and consistent dam safety framework for federal, state, and private dam owners and regulators.
From page 67...
... constructs, owns, operates, jurisdiction on military lands and permits dams; limited to military lands with exception of USACE civil works programs U.S. Army Corps of Plans, designs, constructs, Jurisdiction over USACE dams, dams Engineers operates, and regulates dams; constructed by USACE but operated by permits and inspects dams others, and other flood control dams subject to federal regulation; 631 dams in the NID are associated with USACE Department of the Plans, designs, constructs, About 2,000 dams in the NID under Interior operates, and maintains dams five bureaus Department of Labor Regulates safety- and health- About 1,400 dams under Mine Safety related aspects of miners and Health Administration Federal Energy Issues licenses for, provides 2,530 dams in the NID affecting Regulatory Commission inspections of, and regulates navigable waters nonfederal dams with hydroelectric capability Tennessee Valley Plans, designs, constructs, 49 dams in Tennessee River Valley Authority operates, and maintains dams SOURCE: FEMA (2009)
From page 68...
... Levee Safety LawS and PoLicieS: HiStoricaL Setting, organizationaL roLeS, guidance, and StandardS The principal laws and policies that shape the governance of levee safety in the United States are provided in a simplified chronological list in Appendix C as Table C.2. Just as for laws that define dam safety policy, many laws related to levee safety have been amended multiple times.
From page 69...
... Federal Energy Regulatory Chapter 14: Engineering Dam Safety Performance Commission Guidelines updated July 1, Monitoring Program and Potential 2005 (FERC, 2005) Failure Modes Analysis U.S.
From page 70...
... Bureau of Reclamation Federal Energy Regulatory Commission DSAC Classification Routine Implement Risk Inspections Management Normal O&M Measures Monitoring Ongoing For All Dam Safety Dams Modification Study Intermediate Additional including Risk Inspections Issues Assessment Periodic DSAC Classification, Inspection and Decision about Tolerable Risk Risks, Update IRRM Assessment Does the Incident or Issue Incident or Inspection Finding Trigger Evaluation Special Yes DSAC Review and IRRM? including Risk Inspection Assessment No FIGURE 3.4 Schematic of emerging Federal Dam Safety Portfolio Risk Management Process.
From page 71...
... The 2005 authorization of the NLD and the 2007 Water Resources Development/ National Levee Safety Act have placed levee safety in phase with where dam safety was in the 1980s.22 These steps constitute an initial legal and policy scaffold from which levee safety can be designed and constructed into a nationally consistent and rigorous effort (given the appropriate attention and resources)
From page 72...
... But as stated earlier, few states keep lists of levees within their borders, and about half the states have no formal authority or program at the state level for levee safety or inspection programs (as of 2006) .30 Fewer than one-third of states have even modest safety programs, whose implementation is often delegated to local authorities or programs, and only about 20 percent of the states have relatively comprehensive authorities and programs.
From page 73...
... Louisiana has a state association of levee boards, ostensibly to coordinate activities of all Louisiana levee boards.31 Of formal state levee-safety programs, California's, in its Department of Water Resources, appears to be the most advanced (see Box 3.7)
From page 74...
... as a basis of characterizing return period relevant to surge levels is inadequate. In the 1960s, the levee systems for hurricane protection around New Orleans were designed according to the USACE criteria that, at the time, were thought to accommodate a 200- to 300-year event.
From page 75...
... was established in 1977 and is divided into five offices responsible for forecasting, integrated environmental stewardship and flood management, design and construction of flood control projects, rehabilitation of California system levees, and operation and maintenance of federally constructed flood control structures.a The California FloodSAFE initiative, formulated in 2007, is aimed at more effective floodplain management, risk reduction, and development of a comprehensive, systemwide flood management plan for the Central Valley of California. A major tenet of the FloodSAFE initiative is to require that building codes include flood damage-reduction measures for the estimated 200-year floodplain.b This applies to areas protected by facilities of the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan where flood depths exceed 3 ft for the 200-year flood event (0.5 percent annual chance of flood)


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