Editorial: Dams are hidden infrastructure risk

The pictures from California are riveting and terrifying.

Millions of gallons of water spill each minute over the Oroville Dam, north of Sacramento. Heavy rains and clogged drainage have filled the reservoir behind the dam, forcing engineers to relieve the pressure by opening an emergency spillway nearby.

Then the spillway partially failed, forcing the evacuation of 200,000 nearby residents.

Water levels eventually started dropping, and a catastrophe — the failure of the dam itself — now seems unlikely. Yet the video of workers frantically shoring up the dam is a reminder that infrastructure concerns aren’t limited to potholed streets or cracked sidewalks.

And those concerns aren’t limited to California, either.

In 2013, the American Society of Civil Engineers issued a 50-state report card on the condition of the nation’s infrastructure, including its dams.

“By 2020, 70 percent of the total dams in the United States will be over 50 years old,” it found. “Many dams are not expected to safely withstand current predictions regarding large floods and earthquakes.”

The group issued letter grades to every state. Missouri and Kansas both received D- grades, the lowest ratings for any infrastructure category in either state.

Are residents in either state at immediate risk? The answer appears to be no. Many of the dams are privately-owned earthen dams, whose failure would not pose a significant problem. Those dams are built on agricultural land for farm uses.

But there are hundreds of public dams whose failure would be a greater concern. Kansas — which has the second-largest number of dams in the country — has 234 “high-hazard” dams, structures whose failure would likely result in a loss of life. Twenty-six are considered in poor condition, according to state officials.

Missouri has 1,457 high-hazard dams, the most in the nation. In 2013, none were in poor condition.

It’s clear the United States needs to spend more on dam repair and safety upgrades. Yet among all the nation’s infrastructure needs, dams and reservoirs typically receive the least attention.

That’s understandable. Most of us live far from the water and are at no risk from catastrophic dam failure. The same is true when it comes to flood control: High water is a major issue for those who live near the water, but less of a worry for the rest of the nation.

But California reminds us infrastructure repairs extend beyond streets and bridges. Dams, levies, the electrical grid, airports and mass transit need attention, too. In any infrastructure bill, they should get it.

This story was originally published February 13, 2017 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Editorial: Dams are hidden infrastructure risk."