The Bureau of Reclamation’s (Reclamation) processes for performing periodic reviewson dams have changed and evolved over time. In the mid-1990s Reclamation’s damsafety reviews shifted to focus on potential failure modes, and a probabilistic approach todam safety risks was adopted. The goal of the Comprehensive Facility Review (CFR)process is to document the current condition and performance of a dam, assess the safetyof the dam (by defining the potential failure modes and estimating their risks), and definedam safety activities and monitoring that should be performed to better define and reducerisk. The information developed in the process is used to identify the risk to the public,and help in prioritization of future dam safety activities. Although the process has beensuccessful in accomplishing these goals, with at least two CFRs being performed on allReclamation dams, it is believed that the process could be more efficient.The new Comprehensive Review (CR) process involves updating existing reports fromthe previous CFR process and relies on a multi-disciplinary team, rather than a fewindividuals, to perform the review. In 2011 Reclamation performed a pilot program ofthe new CR process on 8 Reclamation dams, and 4 other dams under the jurisdiction ofother Department of Interior (DOI) agencies (i.e. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fish andWildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management). Lessons learnedfrom the pilot program influenced the new CR process. This paper describes the new CRprocess, the changes that Reclamation is implementing to the overall dam safety reviewprocess, and the benefits that the new CR process brings to Reclamation as well as otherDOI Bureaus.
展开▼
