3.1 History

3.1 History



In California, there are a lot of water resources and always exposed to a variety of hazards. The most concern in California on dam safety is huge fault and earthquake potential. Dam safety issue due to earthquake or other sources has been on the horizon since recent China earthquake. Therefore, national dam safety program and act should be firmly established always. The following table summarized the history of dam safety related events.



Major Events in Dam Safety in the U.S. (Originally by National Performance of Dams Program; http://npdp.stanford.edu, added after FEMA Guidelines)



Dates
Events

1600
Spanish colonists made diversions in New Mexico on the Rio Grande and other streams.

1634
One of the first American water power projects at Lower Falls, Neponset River, Massachusetts, was completed.

1824
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began water project development on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

1868
Compaction in earthfill construction first recommended.

1874
Failure of the Mill River Dam in Massachusetts due to uncontrolled seepage.

1889
Failure of South Fork Dam in the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania due to overtopping.

1913
W. E. Fuller proposes a flood frequency formula for flood estimation.

January 27, 1916
Failure of Lower Otay Dam in San Diego, California due to flood overtopping.

June 29, 1925
Failure of Sheffield Dam in Santa Barbara, California due to seismic forces.

March 12, 1928
Failure of St. Francis Dam in Los Angeles County, California focuses public scrutiny on safety of dams in the U.S.

1933
The Procter test revolutionized the design and construction of earthfills.

1965
The Federal Power Commission issued Order No. 315 defining the responsibilities of power licensees to ensure safe construction and operation of dams.

August 8, 1972
Public attention to the hazards created by water reservoirs after the February 26, 1972 failure of a mine tailings embankment at Buffalo Creek, West Virginia led to the enactment of the National Dam Inspection Act (Public Law 92-367).

May, 1975
The Army Corps of Engineers issued a report, "National Program of Inspection of Dams" including an inventory of U.S. dams and inspection guidelines.

June 5, 1976
Failure of Teton Dam in Idaho due to internal erosion. This failure led to widespread review by federal agencies regarding dam inspection, evaluation, and modification.

April, 1977
President Carter issued a memorandum directing the review of federal dam safety activities

November 6, 1977
Failure of the Kelly Barnes Lake Dam in Toccoa, Georgia. There were 39 fatalities due to the resulting flood.

1979
Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety was published.

1982
U.S. Committee on Large Dams (USCOLD) passed a resolution urging state governments to give high priority to enacting dam safety legislation and to allocating resources to dam supervision.

1984
Morgan Hill earthquake near San Jose, California brought new attention to dam safety.

1985
National Research Council issued the report "Safety of Dams: Flood and Earthquake Criteria."

1985
The Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) became active. The Interagency Committee on Dam Safety (ICODS) formed.

1994
National Performance of Dams Program (NPDP) officially started.

October 12, 1996
The Water Resources Development Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-303) was signed into law by President Clinton. A National Dam Safety Program was established (Section 215 of Public Law 104-303).

1998
Newly convened dam safety guidelines were completed

2002
The Act into the National Dam Safety and Security Act of 2002 was amened

2004
FEMA subcommittee updated guidelines