Description
The National Dam Safety Program (NDSP) supports state dam safety programs in the development and maintenance of dam safety programs. The program enables statutory state dam safety programs to take precautions that ensure the safety of the dams. The key objectives of the program are to ensure that new and existing dams are safe, encourage acceptable engineering policies and procedures, and develop mechanisms to provide Federal technical assistance for dam safety to non-Federal dam safety practitioners. Some of the key tasks that will be performed under this program include:
• Developing and implementing a comprehensive dam safety hazard education and public awareness initiative
• Developing technical assistance materials, seminars, and guidelines to improve security for dams in the United States
• Maintaining procedures for conducting more detailed and frequent safety inspections, if necessary
• Maintaining a requirement that all inspections be performed under the supervision of a state-registered professional engineer with experience in dam design and construction
The program will also support the development of regulatory authority for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of dams, and the undertaking of dam inspections, development of Emergency Action Plans for dams, and educating dam owners and the public about the necessity of dam safety.
Some of the key performance metrics that will be used to measure the success of the program include:
• The number of high hazard potential dams inspected
• The percentage of high hazard potential dams that have emergency action plans in place
• The percentage of high hazard potential dams with condition assessments entered into the National Inventory of Dams