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 expert findings in three areas: risk analysis, standards, and meteorological needs. Risk analysis focuses on items relating to uncertainty factors that influence reservoir inflow values and the computation of the Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) of extreme floods. Standards issues include physical factors that influence the methodology for the computation of extreme floods, including the Probable Maximum Flood (PMF). Meteorological needs focus on rainfall analysis from both the standards base analysis and a risk-based analysis, including precipitation analysis, rainfall frequency analysis, and real-time storm analysis.
For this workshop, 35 national and international experts participated in discussions on research and new technology related to risk assessment, embankment dam failure, and flood routing. The experts identified 14 priority areas for research, including the updating, revision, and dissemination of the historic data set/database of dam failures; development of forensic guidelines and standards for dam safety expert use when reporting dam failures or dam incidents; creation of a forensic team that would be able to collect and disseminate valuable forensic data; identification of critical parameters for different types of failure modes; and basic physical research to model different dam parameters, such as soil properties and scaling effects, with the intent to verify the ability to model actual dam failure characteristics and extend dam failure knowledge using scale models.
For this workshop, 35 national and international experts participated in discussions on research and new technology related to risk assessment, embankment dam failure, and flood routing. The experts identified 14 priority areas for research, including the updating, revision, and dissemination of the historic data set/database of dam failures; development of forensic guidelines and standards for dam safety expert use when reporting dam failures or dam incidents; creation of a forensic team that would be able to collect and disseminate valuable forensic data; identification of critical parameters for different types of failure modes; and basic physical research to model different dam parameters, such as soil properties and scaling effects, with the intent to verify the ability to model actual dam failure characteristics and extend dam failure knowledge using scale models.
Safe dam operation includes comprehensive, state-of-practice guidance on timely inspection and observation of wildlife damages, accurate wildlife identification and mitigation, and appropriate dam design, repair, and preventive measures. This technical manual provides guidance to dam specialists, including dam owners, operators, inspectors, state dam officials, and consulting engineers, in the following areas: (1) the impacts wildlife can have on earthen dams; (2) habitat, range, description, and behavior of common nuisance wildlife to aid in the proper identification at the dam; (3) state-of-practice methods to prevent and mitigate adverse wildlife impacts on earthen dams; and (4) state-of-practice design guidance for repair and preventive design associated with nuisance wildlife intrusion.
Today, tens of thousands of conduits through embankment dams in the United States are aging and deteriorating. Many of these conduits were poorly constructed and are not frequently inspected, if at all. With each passing year, deteriorating conduits pose an increasingly greater risk for developing defects that can lead to embankment dam failure. This technical manual provides procedures and guidance for “best practices” for the design, construction, problem identification and evaluation, inspection, maintenance, renovation, and repair associated with conduits through embankment dams. The technical manual is intended for use by personnel familiar with embankment dams and conduits, such as designers, inspectors, construction oversight personnel, and dam safety engineers. The technical manual includes more than 280 illustrative figures, 34 case histories, and an extensive glossary.
Tree and woody vegetation penetrations of earthen dams and their appurtenances have been demonstrated to be causes of serious structural deterioration and distress that can result in the failure of earthen dams. Damage to earthen dams resulting from plant and animal penetrations is a significant dam safety issue in the United States. The purpose of this technical manual for Dam Owners is to advance awareness of the characteristics and seriousness of dam safety problems associated with tree and woody vegetation growth impacts on earthen dams, provide a higher level of understanding of dam safety issues by reviewing current damage control policies, provide state-of-practice guidance for remediation design considerations associated with damages associated with tree and woody vegetation growth on earthen dams, and to provide a rationale and state-of-practice techniques and procedures for the management of desirable and undesirable vegetation on earthen dams.
The dam owner is the first line of defense in the appropriate maintenance and safe operation of dams. This brochure describes the dangers presented by problem vegetation on earthen embankment dams and discusses how to identify problem vegetation. A quick quiz is included for dam owners to determine whether their dam may be at risk for problems related to inappropriate vegetation.
The dam owner is the first line of defense in the appropriate maintenance and safe operation of dams. This brochure describes the dangers presented by problem vegetation on earthen embankment dams and discusses how to identify problem vegetation. A quick quiz is included for dam owners to determine whether their dam may be at risk for problems related to inappropriate vegetation.
These guidelines provide the basic framework for the earthquake design and evaluation of dams. The general philosophy and principles for each part of the framework are described in sufficient detail to achieve a reasonable degree of uniform application among the federal agencies involved in the planning, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and regulation of dams. This document includes general guidelines for specifying design earthquake loadings (for design or safety evaluation) and for performing seismic analyses for the design of new dams (for evaluating the safety of existing dams or modifying existing dams). The guidelines are presented in four parts: selection of design or safety evaluation for earthquakes; characterization of ground motions; seismic analyses of the dams and foundations; and evaluation of structural adequacy for earthquake loading. The CD-ROM, FEMA 93CD, 2005, contains all of the Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety: FEMA 64; FEMA 65; FEMA 93; FEMA 94; FEMA 148; and FEMA 333.
These guidelines encourage strict safety standards in the practices and procedures employed by Federal agencies or required of dam owners regulated by the Federal agencies. The guidelines provide the most complete and authoritative statement available of the desired management practices for promoting dam safety and the welfare of the public. The guidelines apply to Federal practices for dams with a direct federal interest; the guidelines do not attempt to establish technical standards and are not intended to supplant or conflict with state or local government responsibilities for the safety of dams under their jurisdiction.