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<br />Recognizing the limitations of the data in Table 3, it <br />is nevertheless valid that these data do indicate the probable <br />magnitude of the dam safety problem in the united states. In <br />fewer than six years, about 100 Federally-owned dams <br />experienced failure or other serious safety problems. In the <br />same period, at least the same number -- and probably many more <br />-- of non-Federal dams experienced similar severe problems. As <br />may be inferred from the names of the agencies making the <br />reports, many (or even most) of the Federal dams listed in <br />Table 3 were small dams in fairly remote locations and, in most <br />cases, the failures or other incidents caused no loss of life <br />and very limited property damages. <br /> <br />Some of the incidents listed, however, had much more <br />serious consequences. One of the more serious failure events <br />reported was the tandem failures of two non-Federal dams in <br />the Rocky Mountain National Park in July 1982. These failures <br />resulted in three known deaths, one missing person, and an <br />estimated $50,000,000 in damages. As noted in Appendix 4, the <br />survivors of one man killed in the flooding of downstream <br />areas have been awarded $480,000 in a civil damage suit <br />against the U.S. Government by a Federal judge in Illinois. <br /> <br />Some of the events listed as other safety-related inci- <br />dents in Table 3 had quite serious results. In one incident at <br />a Bureau of Reclamation project, the structural failure of a <br />needle valve on the outlet works of the dam caused the death of <br />the operator. In another incident reported by the Federal <br />Energy Regulatory Commission, failure of a penstock at a <br />hydropower dam killed four employees and caused extensive <br />damages. <br /> <br />Events such as those summarized in Table 3 illustrate the <br />enormous potential energy in stored water, and the consequences <br />if control of this energy is lost. <br /> <br />Dam Safetv Research and Develooment <br /> <br />The largest Federal research and development programs <br />currently directed toward safety of dams are those of the <br />Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers. Smaller <br />research programs and individual problem-directed investiga- <br />tions related to some phase of dam safety are being accom- <br />plished or funded by the following agencies: <br /> <br />Aaencv <br /> <br />TvPe of Research <br /> <br />Agricultural Research <br />Service <br /> <br />Dam-related problems referred by <br />Soil Conservation Service <br /> <br />Forest Service <br /> <br />passing flood flows over small earth <br />dams <br /> <br />Chapter 3 - page 28 <br />