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.
This workshop report documents the state of practice concerning cost-effective techniques for the enlargement, modification, inspection, monitoring, and maintenance of dam service and emergency spillways. The report discusses dam safety research needs related to dam spillways, i.e., the short-term and long-term needs of the federal and non-federal dam safety community, and recommends a course of action to address those research needs.
This workshop report presents the detailed discussions of federal, state, and private sector experts on the three areas of risk assessment applications for dam safety: failure modes identification (qualitative approaches); portfolio risk assessment and index prioritization approaches (prioritization and portfolio approaches); and detailed quantitative approaches. The workshop participants recognized that stakeholders will have different information needs for their dam safety decisions. As a result, information that may play an essential role in a dam owner’s decision-making process may not be needed by a regulator who oversees the dam owner’s decision outcomes. Because the information needs of organizations vary widely, the workshop report acknowledges that it is not feasible for a single risk assessment approach to meet the needs of all organizations
This workshop report presents the detailed discussions of federal, state, and private sector experts on the three areas of risk assessment applications for dam safety: failure modes identification (qualitative approaches); portfolio risk assessment and index prioritization approaches (prioritization and portfolio approaches); and detailed quantitative approaches. The workshop participants recognized that stakeholders will have different information needs for their dam safety decisions. As a result, information that may play an essential role in a dam owner’s decision-making process may not be needed by a regulator who oversees the dam owner’s decision outcomes. Because the information needs of organizations vary widely, the workshop report acknowledges that it is not feasible for a single risk assessment approach to meet the needs of all organizations.
FEMA has provided leadership of the National Dam Safety Program for over 25 years. This brochure provides the general public with an overview of FEMA’s role as lead agency and the responsibilities of the federal agencies that own, regulate, operate, and maintain dams. The brochure also describes the benefits of dams, including irrigation, electric power generation, flood control, and water storage.
These guidelines provide thorough and consistent procedures for selecting and accommodating inflow design floods (IDFs), the flood flow above which the incremental increase in water surface elevation downstream due to the failure of a dam or other water retaining structure no longer presents an unacceptable additional downstream threat. These guidelines are not intended to provide a complete manual of all procedures for estimating IDFs; the selection of procedures is dependent upon available hydrologic data and individual watershed characteristics.
This document provides guidance to help dam owners, in coordination with emergency management authorities, effectively develop and exercise Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) for dams. The purpose of the guidance in this document is to meet that need. This document is an update of FEMA 64, Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety: Emergency Action Planning for Dam Owners (2004).
FEMA B-821. National Dam Safety Program Year-in-Review 2012: Setting the Stage
Many important accomplishments were achieved during 2012 including participation in National Dam Safety Awareness Day, publication of the new Strategic Plan, and development of a geographic information system toolset as well as Federal Guidelines for Inundation Mapping of Flood Risks Associated with Dam Incidents and Failures
This document provides guidance to help dam owners, in coordination with emergency management authorities, effectively develop and exercise Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) for dams. The purpose of the guidance in this document is to meet that need. This document is an update of FEMA 64, Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety: Emergency Action Planning for Dam Owners (2004).
Living With Dams: Know Your Risks is a booklet designed to help answer questions about dams: what purposes they serve, associated risks, guidance for those living near dams, and where to find further information. The booklet provides a general overview of dams and dam safety, and answers the following questions: Why should I care about dams? What are the risks associated with dams? Could I be affected by a dam? What is the dam failure flood inundation area? Once I determine that my property is in a dambreak inundation area, what's next?
This report describes the progress of the NDSP in FY 2008–2011. The final chapter includes strategies for strengthening the Program.