There is a new blog post out at the Southern Plains Perspective. Read below:
We had a special day last week.
May 31 doesn’t get the attention of other noteworthy days like “Christmas” or “Independence Day.” It’s not a Federal or State Holiday. As a general rule, there are no parades or major celebrations to mark its passing. There are no big holiday sales or televised events.
All that said, May 31 is a day that deserves at least some special attention by most of us because it’s on this day each year that we recognize the important role that dams and dam safety play in the lives of many (if not most) Americans.
I would probably be true in saying most people are unaware of Dam Safety Awareness Day. Even in my home of Oklahoma, a state that is home to more than 200 large man-made lakes that offer over 1 million surface acres of water and more shoreline than the Gulf and Atlantic coasts combined, a state that is clearly dependent on the safety of dams for both water supply and the protection of life and property, this day goes by largely unnoticed.
In a way, I guess that’s a good thing. We have a tendency not to think about dam safety unless something is amiss. Years ago, when I worked with the Conservation Districts in Oklahoma, we coined the term “Silent Sentinels” to describe the state’s system of more than 2,100 USDA upstream flood control structures—they do their job, hold back the water, and you never hear from them…unless there is a problem. At that point, they can make a lot of noise—if you’re not thinking about them, everything must be fine, right?
Well, maybe.
While we can be proud of the fact that USDA and its sister agencies in the Federal Government and the various States (and with them countless local communities and sponsors) are working to maintain the integrity of our water impoundment infrastructure, we would do well to remember that May 31 actually marks the day that 2,220 people lost their lives in the 1889 South Fork Dam failure near Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
According to the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) “The collapse of the South Fork Dam was a tragedy and is not an isolated incident. As we observe and reflect on the South Fork Dam tragedy 133 years later, we encourage you to understand the continued importance of dam safety, the roles various parties play, current issues, and why investment in this infrastructure is urgently needed.” Unfortunately, you can’t sit back and forget about dam safety and the important part these structures play, both in holding back flood water and in providing water resources for human consumption; functions that are both becoming more and more critical as we deal with more extreme swings in weather.
For its part, USDA is working with its state and local partners to maintain and improve the system of over 11 thousand dams that it has helped construct nation-wide. In addition, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is working to determine better ways to monitor dam safety and design dam structure through the work of the Hydraulic Engineering Research Unit in Stillwater, Oklahoma as well as researching how land treatment practices can impact water availability downstream as well as impacting sedimentation levels in watershed structures (for more information on this research check out : (https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publication/?seqNo115=344516or https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/publications/ceap-watershed-2021-summary-UpperWashitaRiver.pdf) Dam Safety Awareness Day probably will never rival Christmas in the public’s imagination. That said, it’s important that we keep in mind the critical role these structures play in our lives and why they have to be maintained for the future.
