National Dam Safety Program Publications
The National Dam Safety Program provides a variety of publications, including:
- Research Needs Workshop Reports
- Technical Manuals, Guides and Reports
- Technical Advisories
- Safety Series Fact Sheets
- Response and Recovery (R&R) Dam Response Operations Matrices
- Dam Safety & Risk MAP/Flood Mapping Studies Fact Sheet Series
- DSS-WISE Fact Sheets
- FEMA P-1015, Technical Manual: Overtopping Protection for Dams (ZIP, 410MB)
Search for Dam Safety Publications
Search for documents below, or view our pages on Federal Guidelines, National Dam Safety Program Information, Resources for the General Public, or Resources for States.
You can order publications from the FEMA Distribution Center.
There is a general lack of knowledge, understanding, and awareness of dams and their risks, leaving those most affected by dams unprepared to deal with the impacts of their failures. This fact sheet provides a general overview of dams for consideration and use by the intended audience, based on their situation.
FEMA DR-4286C | This Response and Recovery (R&R) Dam Response Operations Matrix was primarily developed for stakeholder outreach, and as a reference for emergency or disaster dam-related response or recovery operations in South Carolina.
FEMA DR-4285 | This Response and Recovery (R&R) Dam Response Operations Matrix was primarily developed for stakeholder outreach, and as a reference for emergency or disaster dam-related response or recovery operations in North Carolina.
The purpose of this Technical Advisory is to help increase the general understanding, knowledge, and awareness of dams to enable improved planning and community resilience, among other benefits. The target audience includes emergency managers and various planners; federal, state, and local officials; tribal leaders; city and county engineers and officials; dam owners and operators; building and property owners, including homeowners associations; stakeholders who live near or downstream of dams or are affected by them; and the general public.
The purpose of this Technical Advisory is to help people and organizations better understand the various measures that can be taken to reduce the risks from and improve resilience to dam failure. The intended audience includes federal, state, and local officials; tribal leaders; county and city engineers, planners, and emergency managers; dam owners and operators; building and property owners near or potentially affected by a dam failure; and other interested stakeholders.
The purpose of this Technical Advisory is to help all stakeholders better understand risk exposure, residual risk, and the potential contributing factors to risk related to living and working near a dam or within a dam inundation zone. The information is intended to help stakeholders improve emergency planning and community resilience based on informed decision making. The intended audience includes federal, state and local officials; tribal leaders; county and city planners and emergency managers; dam owners and operators; building and property owners near or potentially affected by a dam failure; and other interested stakeholders and the general public.
South Carolina White Paper, DSS-WISE Lite, regional roll-out of grants, NID update, Biennial Report to Congress, NDSP overview fact sheet, and Pocket Guide update.
For 30 years, the Federal government has used the National Dam Safety Program (NDSP) to protect Americans from dam failure. The NDSP is a partnership of the States, Federal agencies, and other stakeholders that encourages and promotes the establishment and maintenance of effective Federal and state dam safety programs to reduce the risks to human life, property, and the environment from dam related hazards.
This two-page flyer is for the general public. Approximately 14,000 dams in the United States are classified as high-hazard potential, meaning that their failure could result in loss of life. The most important steps you can take to protect yourself from dam failure are to know your risk. Dams present risks, but they also provide many benefit
This guide was developed as a quick reference to help dam owners and others assess low hazard dams and impoundments. Uncontrolled release of a reservoir resulting from a dam failure can have a devastating effect on people and property downstream. Safely maintaining a dam is a key element in preventing dam failure and limiting the liability a dam owner could face.