WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., a member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, is supporting legislation aimed at preventing dam failures and improving dam safety throughout the country. The “High Hazard Potential Small Dam Safety Act” – introduced by Senators Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Jack Reed, D-R.I. – would provide federal grant assistance for the rehabilitation and repair of non-federal, high-hazard-potential dams.

“Dams play a critical role in our nation’s water supply, flood control, recreation, and other commercial needs,” Wicker said. “There are more than 300 high-hazard dams in Mississippi, many located in small communities that cannot afford to make repairs. I am hopeful that this new effort will improve safety and protect this important infrastructure.”

The bipartisan bill, S. 2835, would expand FEMA’s existing National Dam Safety Program to allow non-federal entities to apply for matching grants for the repair and removal of non-federal, non-agricultural, non-hydroelectric small dams that a state dam safety agency has identified as having high-hazard potential. The program is not mandatory, but allows states to determine which, if any, dams they would submit for assistance. The legislation is supported by the Association of State Dam Safety Officials and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

High-hazard-potential dams are categorized as those where failure is probable to cause loss of human life and endanger population centers and ecosystems, especially in periods of extreme weather and flooding. According to the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, the number of high-hazard potential dams increased nationally from 9,281 in 1998 to more than 14,700 in 2013. 

There is currently no federal program to assist states with the repair or removal of these non-federal, high-hazard-potential small dams. This leaves many dams vulnerable and some states without the ability to address the risks posed by small dam failures that would likely result in the loss of lives, homes, and businesses.

The state of Mississippi has 5,680 dams on the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality inventory, 305 of which are classified as having high-hazard potential.