Heavy rain potential underscores need for emergency plans for NC dams
This month’s Atlantic hurricane forecast still predicts an active storm season, which may mean very heavy rains inland. Heavy ongoing downpours from tropical storms and even intense seasonal rains can produce severe stresses on North Carolina dams. More than 800 of those dams classified as “High-Hazard Potential” (HHP) do not have Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) even though a breach could mean the loss of lives as well as extensive property damage.
North Carolina statutes do not require that most HHP dams have EAPs, though an EAP can provide a blueprint for the prompt notification and evacuation of people who may be in harm’s way.
A new outreach and communications program has been launched to help increase the number of EAPs completed for North Carolina’s HHP dams. Supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the outreach program will assist the state Dam Safety Program by increasing public awareness of the importance of EAPs for the protection of lives.
The centerpiece of the outreach program is the website www.damsafetyaction.org. The website is intended for the public, dam owners and emergency managers. It contains educational materials about the importance of EAPs, links to state and national sources of EAP information, EAP forms, and completed samples of EAPs. Also included are sections on the importance of inundation maps, links to organizations involved in dam safety, news and graphics. Many of these tools will help guide and ease the EAP process for dam owners and those working with them.
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) dam inventory data lists 4,627 state-regulated dams, of which 1,129 are HHP. Of those HHP dams, just 300 have EAPs. Nationally, there are 13,859 HHP dams and only 6,974 have an EAP.
Persons at risk in a dam failure include those who live or work in an inundation zone or merely travel through the area. Downstream farmers and ranchers also are at risk. Especially on major holidays and busy weekends, there will be campers, hunters, anglers, hikers, and other recreationists who would need the warning system an EAP can provide.
A dam can fail due to heavy rains beyond its capacity or it can even fail on a sunny day. An 8-inch rain over Memorial Day weekend in 2003 brought down North Carolina’s 80-year-old Hope Mills Lake dam. Several years and $14 million later, the dam was rebuilt. Then in June this year muddy water was seen flowing from a subsurface drain, and within 48 hours the dam had failed and emptied the lake. This time an EAP was in place because the state dam safety engineers can require an EAP for new construction. Unfortunately hundreds of the state’s older HHP dams without EAPs are well beyond their typical 50-year design life.
The dam owner bears the liability for a dam breach and the responsibility for preparing an EAP. Help preparing EAPs is available at the federal, state, and local levels. School and civic groups also could help owners of nearby HHP dams in the preparation of EAPs as a project benefitting themselves, their neighbors and community.
The HHP designation does not reflect the current condition of the dam’s structural integrity. Hazard classification takes into consideration the characteristics of downstream residential, business, and public use development. North Carolina HHP dams that fall under state regulation are inspected every two years.
Creative Communications Network, Inc. (CCN), based in Liberty, Missouri, is the FEMA contractor for this outreach program. CCN provides information and communications support for the North Carolina Dam Safety Program, but is not a consultant or provider of EAPs for dam owners.
# # #
LOGO LINK: http://www.damsafetyaction.org/NC/news-events/downloads/DSA-logo.jpg
Contact Information
For www.damsafetyaction.org information:
Ron Butler, Executive Vice President, Creative Communications Network, Inc.
Phone: 816/407-9194 ron@ccnmarketing.com
For North Carolina Dam Safety Program inspections and Emergency Action Plans:
Steve McEvoy, P.E.
State Dam Safety Engineer
Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources
Division of Land Resources - Land Quality
512 North Salisbury Street
Raleigh, NC 27604-1148
Phone: 919-733-4574
Email: Steve.McEvoy@ncdenr.gov
Tags: