California’s recent round of wet weather has done a great deal to alleviate its drought, but it’s also caused some serious problems with regard to the Oroville Dam in the middle of the state, which developed a large hole in its main concrete spillway that threatened the integrity of the entire structure. As of this writing, the dam has not failed, but the whole incident has raised awareness of the possibility that other dams might be at risk, too.
Utah alone has 200 dams that are designated as “high hazard.” This does not mean they are on the verge of failure, but rather that if they were to fail, the impact to the surrounding population would be devastating. Yet currently, none of them appear to be posing any immediate danger. According to Dave Marble, the assistant state engineer overseeing dam safety, Utah has been keeping close watch on all the dams in the state, and they have “not been able to see anything that's happening, other than what you'd expect to be happening,” so there is no reason for “elevated concern.”
That’s a curious standard, as it requires an appreciation of what level of ongoing, non-elevated concern is appropriate. Certainly the state of dams across the country should merit a great deal more concern than is currently in evidence. The American Society of Civil Engineers issued a report last year that gave the nation’s dam infrastructure a D grade. The country has almost 2 million dams in total, and the majority of them are over half a century old, putting them well past their designated lifespans. Some of them are obsolete and ought to be demolished. Others will require a great deal of attention — and a great deal of money — to be modernized. But as is often the case in circumstances where politics is a factor in the decisions, it is generally only when a potential crisis arises that elected officials are willing to elevate their concerns.
The Oroville situation, then, ought to serve as a wake-up call to both Utah and the rest of the country. Lawmakers need to have a clear picture of the state of America’s dams that will allow them to address pressing and urgent needs as well as to prevent dams that are currently stable from deteriorating until they become an Oroville-like crisis. This isn’t a glamorous responsibility, but it’s an essential one, and apathy isn’t an option. Surely we can make the necessary improvements and adjustments before one or more “high hazard” dams collapse.