Heavy rain potential underscores need for emergency plans for TX dams
New Outreach Program
This month’s 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 Texas dams. More than 1,700 of those dams are classified as “High-Hazard Potential” (HHP) or “Significant-Hazard Potential” (SHP), meaning potential loss of life should the dam breach. Hundreds of these dams still need Emergency Action Plans (EAPs).
An EAP can provide a blueprint for the prompt notification and evacuation of people who may be in harm’s way. For example, the EAP for Lake Livingston was implemented when brutal weather from Hurricane Rita caused damage that threatened the dam. New Texas dam safety regulations require EAPs to be completed on SHP and HHP dams by December 31 unless the owner has been granted an extension of time by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Dam Safety Program.
A new outreach and communications program has been launched to help increase the number of EAPs completed for Texas dams. Supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the outreach program will assist the TCEQ 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.
A dam can fail due to heavy rains beyond its capacity or it can fail on a sunny day because of factors such as poor maintenance or weaknesses created by animal burrowing and vegetation. Persons at risk in a dam failure include those who live and 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.
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. FEMA has brochures and videos about how to prepare an EAP. The TCEQ has posted EAP guidelines, forms and recommendations on the Dam Safety Program website.
City or county Emergency Management Coordinators can work with dam owners and county assessors to help build a notification “tree” that starts with a call to 911 and emergency responders, who will depend on the EAP. The list also should include homes and businesses in the dam’s inundation zone. Maps of that zone are an important part of an EAP and are strongly recommended by TCEQ dam safety engineers.
An EAP can be started and largely completed without an inundation map, but the maps help emergency responders know the estimated timing and depth of potential flood wave fronts that could sweep through an area for many miles below a dam. Inundation maps help emergency managers establish safe evacuation routes and know who is outside the inundation zone and does not need to be evacuated.
Nationally, there are 13,859 HHP dams and only 6,974 have an EAP. 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. Texas state-regulated SHP and HHP dams are inspected at least once every five years. Currently the TCEQ objective is to have all SHP and HHP dams reinspected by August 2011.
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 Texas EAP initiative, but is not a consultant or provider of EAPs for dam owners.
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LOGO: http://www.damsafetyaction.org/TX/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 Texas Dam Safety Program inspections and Emergency Action Plans:
Warren Samuelson, State Dam Safety Manager
Dam Safety Program, MC 174
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
P.O. Box 13087
Austin, TX 78711-3087
Phone: 512-239-5195
Email: WSamuels@tceq.state.tx.us
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