Background: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers owns and operates over 700 dams nationwide that serve a variety of purposes. These include holding and releasing water to reduce flood risks, providing water supply for municipal and irrigation uses, and generating hydropower. Supporting navigation, recreation, environmental stewardship, and many combinations of these purposes can be found at these projects across the country. The Omaha District currently owns and operates 28 dams and reservoir project across five states.
Although dams do not completely eliminate flood risk, Omaha District takes proactive steps to manage the storage and release of water from its dams to reduce risk to life, property, critical infrastructure, and the environment during both normal dam operations and extreme floods.
The Omaha District Dam Safety Program consists of:
- Regular inspections by on-site project personnel.
- Regular maintenance and repairs to ensure continued safe operation.
- Evaluation of the performance of the dam through the collection, interpretation, and evaluation of data from monitoring instruments.
- Annual inspections performed by project personnel and District dam safety engineers.
- More thorough periodic inspections performed every five years by dam technical experts from across USACE and government officials from outside USACE to include review of all components of the.
- Evaluation of potential risks identified through periodic assessments completed in conjunction with periodic inspections every 10 years.
- Special inspections performed during high water events, seismic events, and other unusual conditions.
- Emergency action planning and exercises unique to each dam.
- Communicating dam risks to state and local agencies and communities so they can make informed decisions about further improving their safety.
In addition, USACE considers the potential consequences of dam failure. For example, a dam failure upstream of a large metropolitan area like Denver is more likely to cause major threats to human safety and property damage than a dam in a rural area. Many dam safety issues can be addressed through normal maintenance. Some, however, require extensive and expensive modifications. The evaluation of alternatives to reduce risks and then take the recommended actions can take many years.
During this time, teams of engineers, maintenance specialists, park rangers, and others work closely with state and local emergency management agencies with responsibilities in communities potentially affected by high flows to improve preparedness, evacuation planning, and public awareness of flood risks. This continuous risk assessment, communication, and management demonstrates USACE’s commitment to dam safety.
For more information about the USACE Dam Safety Program, visit: www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Dam-Safety-Program.