THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DAM SAFETY PROGRAM FOR THE STATE OF DELAWARE
April 2003
In 1996, the President signed Public Law 104-303 that established a National Dam Safety Program Act. The law authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide funding and technical assistance to states willing to “work toward” developing a Statewide Dam Safety Program. The purpose of the National Dam Safety Program is to reduce the risk of loss of life, economic loss, and property destruction that could result from dam emergencies.
Delaware is presently one of only two States in the USA which do not have a State Dam Safety Program. Alabama is the other state. The FEMA has advised Delaware to join the other 48 States in working toward developing a State Dam Safety Program. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers National Inventory of Dams, eleven (11) dams in Delaware are rated as high hazard structures (potential downstream loss of life and property damage in the event of unlikely failure). Twenty-seven (27) dams in Delaware have a significant damage hazard (potential downstream property damage). Fifty-five (55) dams have a low hazard potential (low potential for property damage). A total of ninety-three (93) dams are listed in the State of Delaware according to the inventory. Hoopes Reservoir owned by the City of Wilmington is a high hazard structure and is the largest dam in Delaware (Figures 2 and 3).
In 1999, the FEMA and the Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) jointly awarded funding to the University of Delaware, Institute for Public Administration, Water Resources Agency to develop a Dam Safety Program for the State of Delaware. The President of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) was instrumental in lobbying for funding to develop the Delaware Dam Safety Program. The UDWRA developed the program using model legislation and criteria adapted from the National Dam Safety Program, Implementation Plan, September 1999; Model State Dam Safety Program, March 1998; and National Inventory of Dams, updated 1995-1996.
The UDWRA prepared the draft legislation and delivered it to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the DEMA. The draft dam safety legislation will be introduced by DNREC to the Delaware General Assembly during 2003 and, if adopted, the Delaware Dam Safety Program will be underway. Utilizing graduate research students from the engineering technology curriculum and public policy students from the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, the University of Delaware developed the Delaware Dam Safety Program with the following elements: (1) Develop a Dam Safety Law and Legislation for consideration by the Delaware General Assembly by the end of the legislative session in June 2003, (2) Develop a dam permit application package for the construction, rehabilitation, or abandonment of dams in Delaware, (3) Develop a program of regular dam inspection including an inspection checklist and recommended frequency of inspection, (4) Update the National Inventory of Dams in CD-ROM for Delaware to year 2000 conditions, and (5) Develop a Delaware dam owner education and training program with brochures, fact sheets, newsletter, news releases and a web site and also set up a dam safety publications library at the University of Delaware.
The Development of a Dam Safety Program for the State of Delaware, April 2003