Director James Promotes Emergency
Planning During National Dam Safety Awareness Day
JEFFERSON CITY, May 30, 2006-As National Dam Safety
Awareness Day approaches, Director of Public Safety Mark James reminds
Missouri families emergency planning is essential.
Missouri experienced flooding from a breech in the Taum
Sauk Reservoir dam in December 2005, which poured over a billion gallons
of water through Johnson Shut-Ins State Park. Under Gov. Matt Blunt’s
direction, a coordinated emergency response directed from the state’s
Emergency Operations Center ensured swift and comprehensive support
in mitigating the incident.
“The Taum Sauk flooding serves as a constant reminder
there is no substitute for pre-disaster planning,” James said.
“As the state continues to strengthen its emergency response
capabilities, Missourians must take responsibility for their own personal
family planning.”
National Dam Safety Awareness Day is May 31st and is
designed to empower citizens to advocate for safe dams, and to become
active partners in local emergency action plans.
In Missouri, there are approximately 5,000 dams, 2,700 of which pose
a high or significant hazard if they failed. The Missouri Department
of Natural Resources’ Water Resources Center, which includes
the department’s Dam and Reservoir Safety Program, is responsible
for inspecting 600 of those.
“By state statute, our staff is responsible for
inspecting non-agricultural Missouri dams over 35 feet high,”
said Mike Wells, deputy director for water resources. “The frequency
of these inspections depends on the extent of likely damage and injury
if it were to fail.”
Agricultural dams and dams smaller than 35 feet in height
are exempt from inspection under current state law. Because many dams
are not regulated, the department does not have current information
on the condition of the majority of dams in the state. The Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission regulates power-producing dams, like
Taum Sauk and Bagnell Dam at the Lake of the Ozarks.
According to the Department of Homeland Security’s
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), there are more than 80,000
dams nation-wide. Of that number approximately 9,000 have been designated
by their state as "high hazard dams." A "high hazard"
designation has less to do with the strength of the dam than with
threats posed to downstream populations if a given dam does fail.
While, FEMA does not own or regulate dams, the federal
agency does serve as an independent adviser on dam safety and disaster
plans. This year, FEMA is sponsoring two Advanced Technical Seminars
on Dam Failure Analysis: July 25-28 in Burlington, Vermont, and October
24-27 in Portland, Oregon. For more information or to enroll in the
seminars visit: www.damsafety.org/documents/pdf/Advanced 2006 20Flyer.pdf
to register. For more information on Dam Safety, visit www.fema.gov/plan/prevent/damfailure/information.shtm.
The state’s Ready in Three program provides guidelines
for families to set up emergency plans. For more information about
Ready in Three visit www.dhss.mo.gov/Ready_in_3/.