Dam Safety Tool Box
Fact Sheets
DWR Special Publications
Other Resources
The Association of State Dam Safety Officials offers timely information relevant to a variety of audiences. For example, see The Costs of Rehabilitating Our Nation's Dams; Living With Dams: Know Your Risks; and animated dam failure examples: Failure Modes: Overtopping and Failure Modes: Piping. Also, see other organizational publications and tools such as the following from the Natural Watershed Coalition:
State programs, too, often have resources of interest, for example, this Dam Safety Manual from Indiana has a useful section on maintenance; Texas’ Hydrologic and Hydraulic Guidelines for Dams provides detailed information on dam failure and inundation analysis; Oklahoma recently produced guides for maintenance and inspection; and Ohio has several publications, including fact sheets on lake drains, seepage, upstream slope protection, and concrete repair. Also see Montana's Manual on Corrugated Metal Pipe in Dams for Montana Dam Owners: Problem Identification and Evaluation, Inspection, Rehabilitation, Repair and Replacement and the new West Dam Engineering Technical Notes, including Siphons, Filter Design Outlet Pipe Rehabilitation and Wave Runup, Rip Rap Design and Outlet Pipe Venting.
On the federal government level, the FEMA National Dam Safety Program publishes various media of interest to dam owners, emergency management, and engineers, including the popular collaborative product Pocket Dam Safety Guide. Also see:
Formerly the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, The National Resources Conservation Service publishes information regarding dams such as Dams in Danger: Kansas. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation offers Design of Small Dams, a classic text on dams, and Prediction of Embankment Dam Breach Parameters: A Literature Review and Needs Assessment. Also of interest is the National Resource Conservation Service that has state specific and general information available on dams, including Filter Diaphragms, and Earth Dams and Reservoirs (TR60) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which offers:
These U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration publications, too, have proved helpful in dam design, including Stilling Basin Design.
Kansas Dam Safety Conference
Beginning in 2003, the Water Structures Program at the Division of Water Resources has hosted an annual conference to increase stakeholder knowledge of dam safety and state regulations. Research, case studies, state regulations, environmental impacts, emergency response, yearly legislative updates, DWR program news, and other presentations continue stakeholders’ knowledge about dams.
Additional Education and Training
Small Dam Owner Seminar
Aging dams, population growth in floodplain areas, state regulations— there’s a lot to know about dam safety, ownership, operation, and maintenance. To increase owner and public awareness, state dam safety personnel from the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources, can present a free, 2-hour Dam Safety Seminar for your group. This seminar can be tailored to meet the needs of individual dam owners, facility managers, maintenance personnel, emergency planning and response agencies, neighborhood associations, and others. Learn about owner liability and responsibilities, operation and maintenance, failure problems, solutions, and related information. For more information, contact Terry Medley at (785) 564-6650 or terry.medley@ks.gov.
Significant and High Hazard Dam EAP Seminar
This free non-technical seminar reviews the regulations and basic information needed for an emergency action plan. For more information, contact Terry Medley at (785) 564-6650 or terry.medley@ks.gov.
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