Funding
The Dam Safety Program receives funding for two main tables; the Safety of Dams Evaluation and Modification Program and the Department of the Interior Dam Safety Program.
The Safety of Dams Evaluation and Modification Program identifies and evaluates Safety of Dams issues and implements modifications to reduce associated risks to the downstream public when warranted. There are three sub-tasks in this part of the program: Safety Evaluation of Existing Dams, Initiate Safety of Dams Corrective Action and Safety of Dams Corrective Action Studies. The Department of Interior Dam Safety Program provides for Reclamation's management of the program, which includes facilitation and guidance to other Interior Bureaus for their individual Dam Safety Program.
The Safety of Dam Corrective Action Studies sub-task includes program management, studies, and support activities for Safety of Dams Corrective Action issues. These activities are non-reimbursable under the 1978 Safety of Dams Act, Public Law 95-578. This law provided $100,000,000 for corrective actions on needy dams. There is not repayment responsibility for the corrective actions completed under the authority. Eighteen dams were repaired under this authority.
The Initiate Safety of Dams Corrective Action sub-task provides funding for Safety of Dams Corrective Action sub-task provides funding for Safety of Dams modifications. The costs of these modifications are subject to a 15% repayment requirement under the law which is a 1984 amendment to the 1978 Safety of Dams Act. The 1984 amendment, Public Law 98-404 provides $650,000,000 for the modifications necessary to make Reclamation dams safer. This authority is subject to inflation cost indexing, while the original authority is not subject to such indexing. Twenty-seven dams have already been repaired under this amended authority and five more dams are currently being repaired.
Three additional dams have been repaired with Safety of Dams funding, but they are not subject to the existing legislation. Two of them were completed before the legislation was signed and the other is a Bureau of Indian Affairs dam.
Funding for Modification of Dams Analyses, Safety Evaluation of Existing Dams Exams, Performance Monitoring of dams, and Seismic studies is provided in the SEED program, the third sub-task of the Safety of Dams Evaluation and Modification Program.
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