Work to oversee dams more critical than ever

THROUGH the heat of brutal summers and the paucity of rainfall, the focus on dams hasn’t been the dams themselves but on what’s behind them. Water levels dominate any attention paid to lakes and ponds. When levels fall, worry sets in about the ability to supply water to cities and farmers, and to offer recreational opportunities.

For some state officials and professional engineers, though, water level isn’t the main focus. It’s the dams. This is something the rest of us take for granted, especially when rainfall is normal or lower. It was far above normal 125 years ago this summer in Johnstown, Penn., site of the deadliest dam failure in American history.

Association of State Dam Safety Officials statistics for 2012 show Oklahoma has 4,656 state-regulated dams, of which 324 were rated as having a “high hazard potential” and 214 as having a “significant hazard potential.”

Hazard ratings are related not to the condition of the dams but to the probable consequence if a dam fails. A high hazard dam failure carries a high probability of the loss of human life. Such dams are inspected frequently by a registered professional engineer.

According to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, this state has the fourth-largest number of state-regulated dams in the country. Fewer than 5 percent of Oklahoma dams are exempt from regulation.

Dam safety awareness is ratcheting up around the Southwest — not because of the effects of flooding but because of the effects of drought. Most dams are earthen; prolonged dry spells can weaken them. When the rains return, concerns over water supply go down but concerns over dam safety go up.

A 2012 Association of State Dam Safety Officials report said the national average for state dam overseers was 210 dams per regulator. In Oklahoma, the figure was nearly 850. The national average budget for state dam regulatory agencies was $886,217. In Oklahoma, it was less than $200,000.

The American Society of Civil Engineers last year reported that the average age of an Oklahoma dam is 46 years.

The number of “high hazard potential” dams in Oklahoma is likely to increase. This isn’t because of age and condition per se. It’s because more people are moving into vulnerable areas downstream from a dam.

Dam safety isn’t on the radar of most citizens or even most lawmakers. Dam failures are relatively rare. Dams do their job without much fanfare.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Texas has stopped inspecting 44 percent of its dams because a new state law exempts most privately owned dams from meeting safety requirements. Texas has more such dams — over 7,300 — than any other state. And Texas has suffered from drought conditions for years. Similar conditions in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona have regulators on high alert for signs of dam failures.

“It’s a time bomb,” Arizona dam regulator Charles Thompson told the Journal. “These dams degrade in safety slowly, and then it’s sort of a waiting game for, ‘When will our flood occur?’”

Droughts come at crawl, worsening over a period of months and years. Floods come in a rush. May 31 marked the 125th anniversary of the Pennsylvania dam failure, which killed 2,200 people.

The country had far fewer dams then and fewer people living in vulnerable areas. Of the more than 80,000 dams in the U.S. today, about a third pose a high or significant hazard to life and property.

The takeaway from this for policymakers in Oklahoma is that dam safety is a legitimate component of public safety. It can’t be taken for granted. It could be better funded. As our dams continue to age, efforts to oversee them are more critical than ever.