FLOOD10196

• County: Statewide
• Community: State of Colorado
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: National Dam Safety Program
• Date: 4/1/1986
• Prepared By: FEMA
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

and the Association of state Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO),
together with the designation of FEMA as coordinator of
Federal interagency dam safety efforts. Prior to these
developments, which have occurred within the last seven
years, dam safety efforts within the united states had been
badly fragmented. Each Federal agency responsible for dams
was largely on its own in trying to determine appropriate dam
safety standards and procedures to assure dam safety. Each
state dam safety agency was in the same position.

Before the advent of FEMA, rCODS, and ASDSO, profes-
sional engineering organizations such as the American
Society of civil Engineers and the united States committee
on Large Dams (USCOLD) provided opportunities for exchange
of technical information on engineering for dams and con-
tributed to the large body of technical literature on the
subject. For the most part, however, technical exchange
was devoted to problems in the design and construction of
dams. There was little exchange of information on techniques
for, and management problems related to, assuring the safety
of existing dams.

More important, no organization had both the status and
the stature to promulgate standards for dam safety. Some
fifteen years ago, US COLD promulgated a model law to serve as
a guide for statutory authorizations of state dam safety
agencies. Later, in 1974, the Corps of Engineers issued
Recommended Guidelines for the Safety Inspection of Dams for
use in the national program for inspection of non-Federal
dams authorized by P.L. 92-367. Both the model law and the
Recommended Guidelines became informal standards used by
a number of Federal and state agencies. Many state agencies,
dam owners, and private engineering firms used other
standards developed by Federal dam-building agencies for
their own projects.

As discussed in more detail in Appendices 6 and 13,
rCODS and ASDSO, with the aid of FEMA, are moving to provide
authoritative models and standards for safety of dams
developed cooperatively by agencies that have the responsi-
bility for protecting the public from the hazards of unsafe
dams. This must be regarded as a major step in attaining
reasonable dam safety programs throughout the united States.

4. Bases for this Report

By memorandum dated October 4, 1979 (Appendix 11),
President Carter directed each of the Federal agencies
responsible for the safety of dams to implement the then-new
Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety (Appendix 14). He also
directed that each of those agencies submit to the Director
of the newly-established FEMA a report indicating progress

Chapter 1 - page 9