Dams Sector Concerns & Preparedness.
ANSWER
Thank you for your thoughtful discussion on the dam sector and the critical issues it faces, Scott. You’ve raised several important points and concerns that highlight the complexities and challenges associated with privately owned and operated dams, their proximity to various sectors, and the potential risks associated with their operation and maintenance.
The issue of dams and levees being built in areas with increasing urban development, especially in regions prone to natural disasters, is indeed a significant concern. The examples you provided, such as Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Hurricane Harvey in Texas, clearly illustrate the potential for devastating consequences when dams and levees fail. The fact that many dams across the United States are in need of repair or upgrading and that there are limited resources available to address these issues adds to the urgency of the situation.
You also rightly question the decision-making process of elected officials and city leaders when it comes to ignoring the potential impacts of dam failures. In some cases, it might be a combination of factors, including budget constraints, a lack of awareness, and a focus on immediate concerns rather than long-term infrastructure maintenance and improvements. Additionally, the political landscape and competing priorities can influence decisions regarding infrastructure investments.
The concern about the Hoover Dam and its potential impact on Las Vegas and Los Angeles is valid. The Hoover Dam is indeed a critical piece of infrastructure, and its failure would have far-reaching consequences. The safety and maintenance of such large dams should be a top priority.
Your reference to the Homeland Security Information Network – Critical Infrastructure (HSIN-CI) is important. Information sharing and preparedness are key aspects of addressing the potential threats to critical infrastructure, such as dams. While information portals like HSIN-CI play a significant role in sharing intelligence and raising awareness, they are just one part of the broader strategy to mitigate risks. Physical infrastructure maintenance, adherence to safety regulations, and disaster preparedness planning are equally critical.
In summary, your discussion highlights the need for a comprehensive approach to addressing the vulnerabilities in the dam sector, including better infrastructure maintenance, updated regulations, and improved disaster preparedness. It’s essential that all stakeholders, from government agencies to private dam owners, work together to address these challenges and reduce the risks associated with dam failures.
QUESTION
Description
reply to discussion
This was an interesting week learning on the various sectors; however, I would like to key in on the Dams sector. As we see with other sectors, it was hard to believe that private community owns the sector; in this case, the dam sector is 65% privately owned and operated. The dam’s sector is in close proximity to other sectors such as Communications, Energy, FA, Transportation, and Water. A sub-category of dams is levees. I noticed that (Emergency Action Plans) EAPs are created and based on 100-year flood plans. In the early 1900s, dams were constructed in rural areas and in lower risk criteria areas. Over time as we see in large cities such as New Orleans and Houston, industrial, manufacturing, and residential areas have located near dam locations.
In other words, these locations are not following typical federal guidelines to the 100-year flood plans and EAPS have not been enforced or updated. We saw this happen in 2005 and again in 2017. An example of this is when the levees broke in three locations during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and during Hurricane Harvey, which hit TX and LA. The Army Core of Engineers are the leaders in construction of dams and levees and they are failing. The dam had three reservoirs surrounding the city of Houston; Harvey took out one of them and flooded down town Houston. Due to Harvey, I did was unable to vacation in Houston and had to go north to Dallas.
Besides Natural disasters that took out large cities in the south, it makes you curious on what dams there are in the West or in the Midwest region. Around the US, dams are ranked a D; why do elected officials and city leaders choose to ignore the potential impact if these dams or levees break? There are over 90,000 dams in the U.S. and it will cost $45 billion to fix all of them. Depending on the location of these dams, if you take a step back, how many more sectors will be destroyed after the Hoover dam breaks for example. While above the national average of a D, Nevada’s CI is a C and the Hoover dam is not part of the report card by ASCE. It makes you wonder if the Hoover dam were to break, Las Vegas and potentially Los Angles may be flooded.
Dams are crucial to the water sector and energy sector, we speak of information sharing in all levels of government, private, tribunal, and other sectors and DHS has created a portal. The Homeland Security Information Network – Critical Infrastructure (HSIN-CI) is an application-based internet portal. The portal leads into a Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) tool which aids in information sharing, access to dam sector awareness and training, and allowing people to stay current with threats and incidents from the Intelligence community. Assuming HSIN-CI is a mitigation strategy from years of Risk Assessments and other assessments, does the portal compensate the physical CI and potential threat to other cities dams?
-Scott
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