The National Dam 

Safety Program: 

25 Years of Excellence 
Contents 

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Cover Photo: 

Theodore Roosevelt Dam, Arizona 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation 

The National Dam Safety Program: 

25 Years of Excellence 

The Federal Agencies and Dam Safety 

The Benefits of Dams 

The Interagency Committee on Dam 

Safety 
The Bureau of Reclamation recently completed modifications to the Horsetooth Reservoir Dams in 

north-central Colorado. The project, originally estimated to take up to 5 years at a total cost of $105 

million, was completed in half the time and for about half of the estimated costs. 

The National Dam Safety Program: 

25 Years of Excellence 

“If there is magic on the planet, it is contained in water.” 

Loran Eisely 

The Immense Journey, 1957 

Water is one of the most powerful Today, dams are a critical and vital 

natural forces to shape the part of the American infrastructure. 

American landscape and one of our They provide a range of benefits, 

most precious resources. To ensure including hydroelectric power, 

continued benefits from our rivers, river navigation, water supply, 

dams and other water control wildlife habitat, waste 

structures have been built to management, flood control, and 

manage water and keep rivers in recreation. Although the Federal 

their channels, rather than let them Government owns or regulates 

wander at the whim of nature. only about 5 percent of the dams 

Without dams and other water in the United States, many of the 

control structures, the rivers we these dams are significant in terms 

rely on can change course during of size, function, benefit to the 

times of flood, with severe public, and their hazard potential. 

economic and social consequences. 

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Over the past 25 years, the National Park Service has completed 30 dam modification projects and 

deactivated over 100 dams. Cascade Dam in the Yosemite National Park, California, was recently 

removed by the National Park Service. 

The Federal Agencies and Dam Safety 

“When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.” 

Benjamin Franklin 

Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1746 

This year marks 25 years of 

leadership of the National Dam 

Safety Program by the Federal 

Emergency Management Agency, 

now the Department of Homeland 

Security’s Federal Emergency 

Management Agency. Under 

FEMA’s leadership, the National 

Dam Safety Program is dedicated to 

protecting the lives of American 

citizens and their property from 

the risks associated with the 

development, operation, and 

maintenance of America's dams. 

In June 1979, the ad hoc 

interagency committee on dam 

safety issued the first guidelines for 

federal agency dam owners. The 

Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety have 

withstood the test of time. Since 

their publication, all of the federal 

agencies responsible for dams have 

implemented their provisions and 

all of the federal agencies have 

done an exemplary job in ensuring 

the safety of dams within their 

jurisdiction. They have 

accomplished this by sharing 

resources whenever and wherever 

possible to achieve results and 

realize improvements in dam 

safety. Many of the federal agencies 
also maintain very comprehensive 

research and development 

programs and training programs. 

The federal agencies are now 

incorporating security 

considerations into these programs 

to protect their dams and the 

American population against all 

types of threats. 

“Throughout history, in all parts of the 

world, dams built to store water have 

occasionally failed and discharged the stored 

waters to inflict sometimes incalculable 

damage in the loss of lives and great damage 

to property...These guidelines are intended to 

make as small as possible the failure risk 

inherent in constructing new dams, and to 

prioritize needs to improve existing dams 

according to hazard potential.” 

Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety 

June 1979, FEMA 94/Reprinted April 2004 

The Benefits of Dams 

“Dams are one of a series of infrastructure projects aimed at the economic development of a 

region, nation, or river basin.The direct benefits they provide to people are typically reduced to 

monetary figures for economic analysis and are not often recorded in human terms. In addition, 

simply accounting for these direct benefits often fails to capture the full societal benefits 

associated with providing water, electricity, flood control, and including any indirect economic 

benefits or multiplier effects.” 

Dams and Development: A New Framework for Decision-Making 

The Report of the World Commission on Dams, November 16, 2000 

Irrigation 

Ten percent of American cropland 

is irrigated using water stored 

behind dams and thousands of jobs 

are tied to producing crops grown 

with irrigated water. The Bureau of 

Reclamation is the largest 

wholesaler of water in the United 

States. The Bureau of Reclamation 

brings water to more than 31 

million people and provides one 

out of five Western farmers with 

irrigation for 10 million acres of 

farmland that produce 60 percent 

of the Nation’s vegetables and 25 

percent of its fruits and nuts. 

Electrical generation 

The United States is one of the 

largest producers of hydropower in 

the world, second only to Canada. 

Dams in the United States produce 

over 103,800 megawatts of 

renewable electricity and meet 8 to 

12 percent of the Nation’s power 

needs, or enough electricity to 

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supply the nearly 35 million 

residential customers in California, 

New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and 

Texas. 

Flood control 

Dams are a critical feature of the 

Nation’s ability to reduce the 

effects of flooding along river 

courses. Under the Flood Control 

Act of 1944 and the Watershed 

Protection and Flood Control Act of 

1954, the Natural Resources 

Conservation Service has assisted 

watershed project sponsors in the 

construction of 11,000 flood 

control dams in 2,000 watersheds 

in 47 states. These projects provide 

an estimated $1.7 billion in annual 

benefits in reduced flooding and 

As proof of the integrity of dams operated and 

maintained by the Tennessee Valley Authority, a 

major flood in May 2003 on the Tennessee River 

caused no damage to any Tennessee Valley 

Authority dams. The Tennessee Valley Authority 

operates and maintains 49 dams, including the 

Norris Dam. The Norris Dam was the first in a 

series of dams built by the Tennessee Valley 

Authority beginning in 1933. 

erosion damage, recreation, water 

supplies, and wildlife habitat. 

Besides producing electricity, the 

Tennessee Valley Authority system 

of dams prevents an average of 

about $280 million in flood 

damage each year. 

Renewable, clean energy 

As a renewable source of electricity, 

hydropower is considered clean 

because it does not contribute to 

global warming, air pollution, acid 

rain, or ozone depletion. In 1999, 

hydropower avoided the release of 

an additional 77 million metric 

tons of carbon equivalent into the 

atmosphere. Without hydropower, 

the United States would have to 

burn an additional 121 million 

tons of coal, plus 27 million 

barrels of oil, and 741 billion 

cubic feet of natural gas combined. 

The Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, the licensee of about 

2,000 hydroelectric projects in the 

United States, is now strengthening 

the Saluda Hydroelectric Project in 

South Carolina so that it can 

protect thousands of people from 

an earthquake the size of the 1886 

Charleston earthquake. 

Water storage 

Dams create reservoirs that supply 

water for a multitude of uses, 

including industrial, municipal, 

and agricultural. The U.S. Section of 

the International Boundary and 
The U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission has jurisdiction of the Amistad 

Dam and Reservoir, which was constructed by Mexico and the United States in the 1960’s. 

Water Commission has jurisdiction 

of two large international storage 

dams and four small diversion 

dams on the Rio Grande and 

Colorado Rivers. The Falcon Dam 

and Reservoir was the first of the 

international multi-purpose storage 

dams to be constructed on the Rio 

Grande. Built in the 1950’s, Falcon 

Dam has a maximum capacity of 

almost 4 million acre-feet. The 

Amistad Dam and Reservoir, which 

was constructed by the United 

States and Mexico in the 1960’s, 

sits 254 feet above the riverbed 

and its reservoir has a maximum 

capacity of 5.29 million acre-feet. 

Both Falcon and Amistad provide 

important water conservation, 

flood control, recreation, and 

electrical power generation that 

benefit both U.S. and Mexican 

border residents. 

“Black Start” capabilities 

There are 4,316 megawatts of 

“incremental” hydropower 

available at sites with existing 

hydroelectric facilities. During the 

August 2003 blackout in the 

Northeast, which affected an 

estimated 50 million people from 

New York City to Michigan, 

hydropower projects in upstate 

New York and several other states 

continued to run, leading the way 

to restoring power to millions of 

Americans. Two projects licensed 

by the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, the Niagara and St. 

Lawrence-FDR, operated 

continuously during the blackout. 

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Sediment/hazardous 

materials control 

inbound foreign, 399 million 

outbound foreign, 1,042 million 

domestic). The overall value of 

Dams on the Susquehanna River in 

Pennsylvania have been 

foreign commerce handled at ports 

in 2000 was $756.9 billion. 

instrumental in preventing largescale pollution of the Chesapeake Fisheries 

Bay from sediment. The 

Susquehanna River Basin Dams can enhance wetlands and 

encompasses about 64,000 square support healthy fisheries. Wildlife 

miles, and the River contributes preserves can be created around 

about 50 percent of the fresh water reservoirs, which in some cases 

supply to the Bay. The River also provide stable habitats for 

carries 3.1 million tons of endangered or threatened species. 

sediment each year. Since 1928, Since 1999, the Fish Passage 

over 70 percent of those sediments Program of the U.S. Fish and 

have been retained by the Wildlife Service has restored access 

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Holtwood, Safe Harbor, and 

Conowingo Dams. Thus, the states 

to over 3,443 miles of river habitat 

and 65,088 acres of wetlands for 

bordering the Bay have time to fish spawning and growth. 

develop better sediment controls to 

protect the valuable resources of Recreation 

the Bay. 

Dams provide prime recreational 

Navigation facilities throughout the country. 

There were a total of 81 million 

Dams, locks, and levees provide for recreation user days provided at 

a stable system of inland river Federal Energy Regulatory 

transportation throughout the Commission-licensed hydropower 

heartland of the Nation. The projects alone in 1996. Created by 

United States Army Corps of Congress in 1916, the National 

Engineers navigation projects in the Park Service, which is part of the 

United States serve 41 states, Department of Interior, manages 

maintain 12,000 miles of over 500 stream-flow control 

channels, carry 15 percent of U.S. structures that are within or 

freight carried by inland adjacent to park boundaries. Ten 

waterways, operate 275 locks, and percent of the American population 

maintain 926 harbors. Nearly visits at least one United States 

2,600 companies operate vessels Army Corps of Engineers facility 

on waterways, with nearly 2.4 each year. Boating, skiing, 

billion tons of goods (945 million camping, picnic areas, and boat 
launch facilities are all supported of the Nation’s coal and other vital 

by dams. minerals while protecting the 

environment. These impoundments 

Mining are privately owned and their safe 

design, operation, and 

There are more than 1,300 mine maintenance are regulated by the 

tailings impoundments in the Department of Labor, Mine Safety 

United States that allow the mining and Health Administration. 

The Interagency Committee on 

Dam Safety 

“FEMA’s role in national dam safety is unique. Although it neither owns dams nor has 

regulatory responsibility for dams, FEMA is responsible for coordinating all of the activities of 

the National Dam Safety Program.” 

Dam Safety and Security in the United States: A Progress Report on the 7 

National Dam Safety Program in Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003 

FEMA 466/April 2004 

The Interagency Committee on 

Dam Safety (ICODS) was 

established in 1980 and has met 

on a quarterly basis since that time. 

of representatives from all the 

federal agencies that build, own, 

operate, or regulate dams. 

ICODS encourages the Albeni Falls Dam, Idaho 

establishment and maintenance of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

effective federal 

programs, policies, 

and guidelines to 

enhance dam safety 

and security, and 

serves as the 

permanent forum 

for the coordination 

of federal activities 

in dam safety and 

security. ICODS, 

which is chaired by 

FEMA, is composed 
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•	 Department of Agriculture


Agricultural Research Service 


Farm Service Agency


•	 Department of Labor, Mine 

Safety and Health 

Administration 

U.S. Forest Service 


Natural Resources 


Conservation Service


Rural Housing Service 


Rural Utilities Service 


•	 Department of State, 

International Boundary and 

Water Commission (U.S. 

Section) 

•	 Department of Defense


Department of the Air Force 


Department of the Army


Department of the Navy 


•	 Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

• Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

•	 Tennessee Valley Authority 

•	 Department of Energy 

For more information on the 

•	 Department of the Interior National Dam Safety Program, see 

Bureau of Indian Affairs www.fema.gov/hazards/damsafety 

Bureau of Land Management 

Bureau of Reclamation 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service


National Park Service 


Office of Surface Mining 


U.S. Geological Survey