The Reporter (Vacaville)

Aging dams could benefit from $7B loan program

- By David A. Lieb

Eight years after Congress created the program, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is taking a first step toward offering more than $7 billion of federally backed loans to repair aging dams owned by states, local government­s and private entities across the U.S.

The Corps published a proposed rule for the lowinteres­t loan program Friday, starting a process expected to open applicatio­ns for the aid in 2023, said Aaron Snyder, interim director of the Corps' Water Infrastruc­ture Financing Program.

The Corps' National Inventory of Dams lists more than 92,000 structures across the U.S., most of which are privately owned. The safety of the nation's dams has garnered increased public scrutiny in recent years, in part because of high-profile failures that forced the evacuation of thousands of residents in Michigan and California.

“There is a need to rehabilita­te quite a number of our dams in the U.S.,” said Chuck Thompson, chief of the New Mexico Dam Safety Bureau and president of the Associatio­n of State Dam Safety Officials.

But he added: “The rehabilita­tion of a large facility like a dam requires quite a bit of funding, and it's the sort of thing that even the larger owners often struggle with.”

A recent Associated Press analysis tallied more than 2,200 dams in poor or unsatisfac­tory condition that are classified as highhazard, meaning their failure likely would unleash a flood killing at least one person. That figure was up substantia­lly from a similar AP analysis three years earlier.

The nation's dams have an average age of 61 years and often pose a greater risk than when they were designed and constructe­d. Homes, businesses and highways have been built below dams that once were in remote locations. A changing climate with intense rainstorms has strained some dams beyond their original designs. Maintenanc­e also has been deferred, often because dam owners lack the money to pay for it.

The Associatio­n of State Dam Safety Officials estimates it could cost nearly $76 billion to rehabilita­te the almost 89,000 dams owned by individual­s, companies, community associatio­ns, states, local government­s and other entities besides the U.S. government.

 ?? BILL HUSA — THE CHICO ENTERPRISE-RECORD FILE ?? Damaged concrete on Lake Oroville Dam's spillway in Oroville.
BILL HUSA — THE CHICO ENTERPRISE-RECORD FILE Damaged concrete on Lake Oroville Dam's spillway in Oroville.

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