Thousands Face Life-Threatening Floods From Aging Dams

Stevicus · Nov 11, 2019

https://www.usnews.com/news/politic...tigation-aging-us-dams-pose-risk-to-thousands

On a cold morning last March, Kenny Angel got a frantic knock on his door. Two workers from a utility company in northern Nebraska had come with a stark warning: Get out of your house.

Just a little over a quarter-mile upstream, the 92-year-old Spencer Dam was straining to contain the swollen, ice-covered Niobrara River after an unusually intense snow and rainstorm. The workers had tried but failed to force open the dam's frozen wooden spillway gates. So, fearing the worst, they fled in their truck, stopping to warn Angel before driving away without him.

Minutes later, the dam came crashing down, unleashing a wave of water carrying ice chunks the size of cars. Angel's home was wiped away; his body was never found.

"He had about a 5-minute notice, with no prior warning the day before," Scott Angel, one of Kenny's brothers, said.

Apparently, there's very little warning when a dam is about to collapse, but the article notes a 2-year investigation into the nation's dams:

A more than two-year investigation by The Associated Press has found scores of dams nationwide in even worse condition, and in equally dangerous locations. They loom over homes, businesses, highways or entire communities that could face life-threatening floods if the dams don't hold.

A review of federal data and reports obtained under state open records laws identified 1,688 high-hazard dams rated in poor or unsatisfactory condition as of last year in 44 states and Puerto Rico. The actual number is almost certainly higher: Some states declined to provide condition ratings for their dams, claiming exemptions to public record requests. Others simply haven't rated all their dams due to lack of funding, staffing or authority to do so.

Deaths from dam failures have declined since a series of catastrophic collapses in the 1970s prompted the federal and state governments to step up their safety efforts. Yet about 1,000 dams have failed over the past four decades, killing 34 people, according to Stanford University's National Performance of Dams Program.

Part of the problem appears to be that most dams in the US are privately owned:

The association estimates it would take more than $70 billion to repair and modernize the nation's more than 90,000 dams. But unlike much other infrastructure, most U.S. dams are privately owned. That makes it difficult for regulators to require improvements from operators who are unable or unwilling to pay the steep costs.

"Most people have no clue about the vulnerabilities when they live downstream from these private dams," said Craig Fugate, a former administrator at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "When they fail, they don't fail with warning. They just fail, and suddenly you can find yourself in a situation where you have a wall of water and debris racing toward your house with very little time, if any, to get out."

It's apparently not just due to the age of the dams, but also due to more intense storm activity which the dams weren't constructed to handle:

A National Climate Assessment released by the White House last year noted growing frequency and intensity of storms as the climate changes. That can push some dams beyond what they were designed to handle.

Even if kept in good condition, thousands of dams could be at risk because of extreme rainstorms, said Fugate, the former FEMA official.

"These are like ticking bombs just sitting there, waiting for the wrong conditions to occur to cause catastrophic failure," he said.

Other information in the article indicated that there is no national standard for dam safety. Also, the ratings appear to be subjective and different depending on the inspector:

There is no national standard for inspecting dams, leading to a patchwork of state regulations. Some states inspect high-hazard dams every year while others wait up to five years. Some states never inspect low-hazard dams — though even farm ponds can eventually pose a high hazard as housing developments encroach.

Dam conditions are supposed to be rated as unsatisfactory, poor, fair or satisfactory. But the ratings are subjective — varying by state and the interpretations of individual inspectors — and are not always publicly disclosed.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the U.S. government has cited national security grounds in refusing to include dams' conditions in its inventory, which was updated most recently in 2018. But the AP was able to determine both condition and hazard ratings for more than 25,000 dams across the country through public records requests.

One of the most common problems for aging dams are spillways incapable of handling an extreme rainfall event.

If water can't escape quickly enough through spillways, it could flow over the top of a dam, which increases the probability of rapid erosion that can cause it to collapse.

The spillway at the 107-year-old Willett Pond Dam near the Boston suburb of Norwood is capable of handling just 13% of the water flow from a serious flood before the dam is overtopped, according to a recent state inspection report. If the dam were to give way, it could send hundreds of millions of gallons of water into the heart of the city of nearly 30,000 people.

It appears that the inspectors and the federal and state governments are aware of the issue, but the main problem is that there's just no money in the budget to make the needed repairs and upgrades to get these dams up to standard.

Revoltingest · Nov 11, 2019

People have an illusion that when something is built, the job is done.
But in reality, it's just the start of maintenance & planning for replacement.

Stevicus · Nov 11, 2019

Revoltingest said:
People have an illusion that when something is built, the job is done.
But in reality, it's just the start of maintenance & planning for replacement.

I think most people understand that things get old and worn out. They budget for road repair, and I think they're taking a closer look at bridges these days. But dams might escape people's notice because most people don't see them or get a chance to look at them close up.

Revoltingest · Nov 11, 2019

Stevicus said:
I think most people understand that things get old and worn out. They budget for road repair, and I think they're taking a closer look at bridges these days. But dams might escape people's notice because most people don't see them or get a chance to look at them close up.

Bridges only recently gained notice when some spectacularly failed.
It's still human nature to lack imagination about future burdens.
To get our attention, dams too must throw some tantrums.

icehorse · Nov 11, 2019

We ALL benefit from public infrastructure like roads and dams. It still amazes me that when a politician says to a businessman "You didn't build your business without the public's help", that politician gets booed.

Revoltingest · Nov 11, 2019

icehorse said:
We ALL benefit from public infrastructure like roads and dams. It still amazes me that when a politician says to a businessman "You didn't build your business without the public's health", that politician gets booed.

That's an interesting paraphrase.

beenherebeforeagain · Nov 11, 2019

some engineering society regularly grades America's infrastructure...the roads, bridges, airports, ports, dams, electrical generating system, pipelines, and so on. That only a small amount of our infrastructure ranks at a grade of C or better is not new news...and in the field of risk management and response, dams are among the most hazardous has long been known...

American politicians like to have things built, almost regardless of cost...but be assured, it's built by cronies and the lowest bidder...but no one wants the ongoing cost of maintaining and upgrading...

When Hurricane Katrina hit, many of the levees that failed had not been subject to much maintenance or improvement for more than six decades...and had been built under the fair and honest administration of Huey Long...

icehorse · Nov 11, 2019

Revoltingest said:
That's an interesting paraphrase.

oops - I meant "help", not "health", fixed it.

sun rise · Nov 11, 2019

Revoltingest said:
Bridges only recently gained notice when some spectacularly failed.
It's still human nature to lack imagination about future burdens.
To get our attention, dams too must throw some tantrums.

One failing is a random event. So if say, 6000 die, it's a tragedy but life goes on.

Two failing is a perhaps enough to start to wake up people. Let's double the death toll.

Three failing will cause politicians to wave their arms around 18,000 die.

Four failing will cause people to start getting angry and fearful but they'll be told it won't happen to them - but to someone else 24,000 dead.

Five? A real fight will break out over the socialist government daring to take over private property.

Six? A real fight will break out over raising taxes to pay to repair the dams.

And so it will go. Any predictions how many have to fail before real, effective action is taken? I'm leaning to 10 right now.

Revoltingest · Nov 11, 2019

sun rise said:
One failing is a random event. So if say, 6000 die, it's a tragedy but life goes on.

Two failing is a perhaps enough to start to wake up people. Let's double the death toll.

Three failing will cause politicians to wave their arms around 18,000 die.

Four failing will cause people to start getting angry and fearful but they'll be told it won't happen to them - but to someone else 24,000 dead.

Five? A real fight will break out over the socialist government daring to take over private property.

Six? A real fight will break out over raising taxes to pay to repair the dams.

And so it will go. Any predictions how many have to fail before real, effective action is taken? I'm leaning to 10 right now.

Hmmm....I never thought to quantify it.

leov · Nov 11, 2019

icehorse said:
We ALL benefit from public infrastructure like roads and dams. It still amazes me that when a politician says to a businessman "You didn't build your business without the public's help", that politician gets booed.

I guess our rulers had opinion that money are better spent ruining dams and bridges in Iraq or other countries...

icehorse · Nov 11, 2019

leov said:
I guess our rulers had opinion that money are better spent ruining dams and bridges in Iraq or other countries...

I think our leaders have been seriously corrupted by oligarchs.

columbus · Nov 11, 2019

icehorse said:
I think our leaders have been seriously corrupted by oligarchs.

But,
But,
Raising taxes will prevent the rich from creating jobs(in Mexico and China)! It's socialism to expect a billionaire to pay more than Joe Blue-collar does.

Everyone knows that.
Tom

Altfish · Nov 11, 2019

I assume the US has an inspection and licensing system for dams?
The UK has a system that specially qualified civil engineers must inspect each dam every 3 years (IIRC) - this year a problem with a slipway was discovered on one that led to a town being evacuated.
In the end it did not fail; but the system worked.

It Aint Necessarily So · Nov 11, 2019

Stevicus said:
there's just no money in the budget to make the needed repairs and upgrades to get these dams up to standard.

Why should there be any public funds spent on private projects? Sure, the government's function is to protect citizens whereas that is of no concern to private industry, but much of America hates government involvement, calling it socialism while holding their nooses, and hopefully is pleased that these dams are making a profit for somebody. Let's see what the free market does for the people living downstream from these distressed dams.

sun rise said:
A real fight will break out over the socialist government daring to take over private property.

Well, that would likely be the opinion of most of the people wiped out by dam failures, as I imagine that most people living downstream from a dammed river live in rural environments and are MAGA conservatives. I'm sure that they are in good hands depending on private industry to protect their interests.

wandering peacefully · Nov 11, 2019

It Aint Necessarily So said:
Why should there be any public funds spent on private projects? Sure, the government's function is to protect citizens whereas that is of no concern to private industry, but much of America hates government involvement, calling it socialism while holding their nooses, and hopefully is pleased that these dams are making a profit for somebody. Let's see what the free market does for the people living downstream from these distressed dams.

Well, that would likely be the opinion of most of the people wiped out by dam failures, as I imagine that most people living downstream from a dammed river live in rural environments and are MAGA conservatives. I'm sure that they are in good hands depending on private industry to protect their interests.

You beat me to it. Exactly! Dams which are privately owned, and especially if they are selling hydro power, which many do should absolutely pay for upkeep or replacement if need be. Not to mention the damages to lake shores and rivers many dams cause. They Do Not follow the regulatory laws they are supposed to and state DEP officials are now beholden to the special interests who profit in one way or another from the dams. They need to pay for their own dams, damnit!

beenherebeforeagain · Nov 11, 2019

There are a wide variety of laws and regulations governing the design, construction and maintenance of dams in the US. One outstanding problem is that many old and private dams...and even some public dams...predate the laws and regulations, and have not been brought up to current standards, and some were built to early standards but have not been updated to the modern. especially regarding seismic durability and rare flood events.

We have had a number of disasters, and will have more in the future.

Stevicus · Nov 11, 2019

It Aint Necessarily So said:
Why should there be any public funds spent on private projects? Sure, the government's function is to protect citizens whereas that is of no concern to private industry, but much of America hates government involvement, calling it socialism while holding their nooses, and hopefully is pleased that these dams are making a profit for somebody. Let's see what the free market does for the people living downstream from these distressed dams.

Regarding the one dam that collapsed which was mentioned in the article (where someone's house was washed away and they never found the man's body), the widow is suing the utility company for $5 million. So, maybe they figure they'll save money if they just wait for the dam to collapse and then pay out in lawsuits. Although, there was one dam which, if it collapsed, could wipe out an entire town of 30,000 people.

Stevicus · Nov 11, 2019

Altfish said:
I assume the US has an inspection and licensing system for dams?

Actually, no. That was one of the problems mentioned in the article:

There is no national standard for inspecting dams, leading to a patchwork of state regulations. Some states inspect high-hazard dams every year while others wait up to five years. Some states never inspect low-hazard dams — though even farm ponds can eventually pose a high hazard as housing developments encroach.

Dam conditions are supposed to be rated as unsatisfactory, poor, fair or satisfactory. But the ratings are subjective — varying by state and the interpretations of individual inspectors — and are not always publicly disclosed.

Shadow Wolf · Nov 11, 2019

It Aint Necessarily So said:
Why should there be any public funds spent on private projects? Sure, the government's function is to protect citizens whereas that is of no concern to private industry, but much of America hates government involvement, calling it socialism while holding their nooses, and hopefully is pleased that these dams are making a profit for somebody. Let's see what the free market does for the people living downstream from these distressed dams.

This is a massive and severe threat to public safety, meaning the state has a very strong interest in it. Private corporations aren't necessarily concerned about the safety and welfare of citizens. This is evident by the numerous times the state has had to intervene on behalf of the citizens to restore and preserve public health and safety. Private damns are probably going to have to be no different, and where the lives and well beings on non-owners are at stake the government should probably play a very strong role in upkeep and regulations, if not outright assume ownership.

Thousands Face Life-Threatening Floods From Aging Dams

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