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<br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />. <br /> <br /> <br />ti\ENt.....FOR THE FUr(/; <br />. . ~O~ ~1'"l\iMENiOFTHEINTI:: ~<? <br />1;. ." ",<1> ~ \)j'>.Q_......~ _ 1i/0-9 <br />4, t'lRCH 3 \'0 A ~ ~....-....~ <br />"t'7'Qk RESOURCV "--- <br />eUI/EAU OF ~ECL~tA""'{\O~ - <br /> <br />The mission of the Bureau of Reclmnation is to manage, deverop, and protect water and related resources in an <br />environmentally and economkaJ1y sound manner in the interest of the American public. <br /> <br />BUREAU OF RECLAMATION -- HOWARD GUNNARSON <br /> <br />The Bureau of Reclamation controls 472 dams and dikes throughout the 17 Western States. <br />Three hundred seventy-nine of these dams and dikes which are located at 259 facilities <br />(reservoirs), could result in loss oflife and/or significant damage if they were to fail. These <br />facilities are classified as high or significant hazard. Home construction and other development <br />downstream from these structures continues to increase which thereby increases the potential for <br />downstream impacts. <br /> <br />The focus of RecIamation's nearly 20-year-old dam safety program has been in ensuring the <br />structural integrity of its dams. During recent years, that focus has shifted to include the need to <br />coordinate and network with local jurisdictions that could potentially be impacted by flooding <br />from large operational releases and/or failure of its dams. This effort is specifically in response <br />to a heightened awareness in the agency of the need for local authorities to have the information <br />and capability to safely warn and evacuate populations at risk. <br /> <br />Reclamation's recently adopted emergency management policy states that the agency will take <br />reasonable and prudent actions to ensure the safety of the public and to protect environmental <br />resources potentially affected by incidents at its facilities. These mitigation efforts are largely <br />geared to planning, exercising, and other preparations prior to occurrence of a life threatening <br />event. <br />