CS27A - Concurrent Session 27A: Great I Own A Lake; Damn I Own A Dam

Abstract Description: This presentation will focus on the challenges and successes of creating and implementing a state-wide program to assess and validate the safe operation of an aging dam inventory.

The approximately 420 state-regulated dams in Arkansas are required to obtain – and maintain - Operation Permits assuring proper design, construction, maintenance, monitoring, and preventive measures as are necessary to provide an adequate margin of safety. Operation Permits are valid for a 50-year period commensurate with completion of construction.

As of December 2024, however, more than one-third of these permits have expired, including dams ranging in age from 50 to 150 years old. These older dams are not necessarily unsafe, but many were constructed following design standards and construction procedures that have since been superseded and improved.

The greatest challenges to this effort are dam owner resistance, lack of funding, a flexible understanding of “compliance assessment”, and local governments.

Over a period of four years, the State Dam Safety Office worked with subject matter experts and dam owners to develop a reasonable, implementable approach for permit renewal to ensure continued proper design, maintenance, monitoring, and supervision of the structures. This four-step process includes a statement of commitment from dam owners, an in-depth engineering assessment of current conditions, development of compliance plans, and renewal of permits with more stringent and focused requirements.

It is hoped that this effort will provide a more realistic assessment of current compliance, identification of widespread challenges and deficiencies, development of a general estimate of the magnitude of funding and resources required, and a re-commitment by dam owners and operators to long-term safety.