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<br />THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION <br />AND DAM SAFETY <br /> <br />Office <br /> <br />Howard Gunnarson <br />Bureau of Reclamation <br />Commissioner's Program Analysis <br />Denver. Colorado <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />Introduction <br /> <br />This paper briefly touches on some of the changes that have taken place <br />in the Bureau of Reclamation since the disasters of 1976 and addresses flood <br />mitigation activities, or preparedness activities as we call them. that have <br />been implemented throughout the Bureau of Reclamation. <br /> <br />Recent History <br /> <br />The Bureau of Reclamation has gone through major changes over the last <br />20 years. Our mission used to emphasize construction and maintenance of <br />water resource projects for reclamation of the arid and semiarid lands of the <br />west. Reclamation controls 472 dams and dikes throughout the 17 western <br />states plus associated reservoirs, power plants, irrigation projects, and <br />municipal and industrial (M&I) facilities. Our mission today centers around <br />management of water and related resources in an environmentally and <br />in the interest of the American public. We are <br /> <br />economically sound manner <br />no longer primarily a dam building agency <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />The Big Thompson <br /> <br />One of the projects built by Reclamation between 1938 and 1959 was the <br />Colorado-Big Thompson Project (CBT Project ) for hydroelectric power <br />production and supplemental irrigation. The project is operated by Reclama- <br />tion and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District. The Big <br />Thompson flood of 1976 impacted several features of this project. <br />Olympus Dam forms Estes Lake and is located at the head end of the Big <br />Thompson River Canyon. The dam experienced some erosion damage during <br />the flood from a tributary stream just downstream from the dam, but was in <br />