GAO recommends FERC develop standardized inspection procedures, assess safety risks to US dams
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently recommended that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) begin development of standardized procedures for recording inspection data and use that information to assess safety risks to the nation’s dams.
FERC, which oversees 2,500 dams for hydropower, agreed with the assessment, which took on greater importance after the near failure of a FERC-licensed dam in California last year. FERC is in charge of inspecting and reviewing engineering studies linked to these dams to assess risk. GAO found that FERC employees generally follow established guidance on collecting this information.
GAO found that a lack of standard language and procedures limits FERC’s actual ability to compare risks between its dams. Procedures fail to specify how and where staff should record safety identified issues, leading to the use of multiple systems for recording, with little connection between them. Traditionally, FERC officials note that this is because individual dam inspections and troubles take precedent.
The incident at Oroville Dam in California changed that view. Following the damaging of its main and emergency spillways in 2017, and the consequential evacuation of nearly 200,000 people living downstream, FERC pulled up the data and begin to examine comparable dam structures. They found 27 similar dam spillways with varying degrees of safety concerns.
GAO said changes like this, and looking at dams as an overall portfolio, could help identify future safety risks.
