National Dam Safety Awareness Day is May 31st
We join together with the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) to commemorate National Dam Safety Awareness Day. On this day, we remember the lessons learned from past dam failures, encourage strong dam safety programs, and maintain our investment in the District’s critical infrastructure to keep our dams safe, operational and resilient.
The issue of dam safety was not widely recognized until 1889 when the failure of South Fork Dam near Johnstown, Pennsylvania claimed more than 2,200 lives. As we observe the 131th anniversary of this tragedy on May 31, we encourage you to understand the importance of dam safety, the role various parties play, and current dam safety issues.
It is important to understand that both safe operation and maintenance are key to avoiding disaster. Dam failures can and have occurred in the U.S. causing loss of life and severe economic and environmental damage. ASDSO has more than 700 failures in its Dam Safety Incident Database from the last decade.
Despite understanding the need for safe operation and maintenance, the dam safety community still faces many challenges. One challenge is the increase in high-hazard potential dams (those whose failure could cause loss of life.) As our population grows and development continues, the overall number of high-hazard potential dams increases as well, with the number climbing to more than 15,000 in 2018. The increase is in part due to "hazard creep". Hazard creep describes the growth of development (buildings, businesses, and people) moving closer to dams that were originally located in agricultural areas. See a video on hazard creep.