{"id":31776,"date":"2013-10-15T09:57:10","date_gmt":"2013-10-15T14:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=31776"},"modified":"2013-10-17T11:12:15","modified_gmt":"2013-10-17T16:12:15","slug":"how-hundreds-of-significant-hazard-dams-escape-state-inspection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2013\/10\/15\/how-hundreds-of-significant-hazard-dams-escape-state-inspection\/","title":{"rendered":"How Hundreds of ‘Significant Hazard’ Dams Escape State Inspection in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo from TCEQ<\/p>

A photo of a rusted out pipe taken during a TCEQ inspection of a dam. This picture is now used in dam safety workshops presented by TCEQ.<\/p><\/div>\n

This is part two of a series devoted to looking at the infrastructure of dams in Texas, and what can be done to improve it. You can find part one here<\/a> <\/em><\/strong>and part three<\/em> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2008, the Texas State Auditor\u2019s office released the kind of report that keeps public officials awake at night.\u00a0 It found that state regulators were not ensuring the proper maintenance of thousands of dams in Texas. The audit<\/a> found that state inspectors had never visited hundreds of dams that could cause loss of life if they failed.<\/p>\n

The Dam Safety Program<\/a> with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is in charge of inspecting the state’s dams. Warren Samuelson, the program’s manager, says that his department has added staff and made progress since that audit was issued.<\/p>\n

“At the end of 2011 we had all of them… except a handful that we couldn\u2019t get into. We were able to look at all of these high and significant hazard dams,\u201d Samuelson told StateImpact Texas.<\/p>\n

A significant hazard<\/a> dam is a one that could possibly kill people and most certainly cause economic loss if it were to fail.\u00a0 If a high hazard<\/a> dam fails, it will probably kill people and cause major property damage. About 60 percent of dams in Texas are on private land, making the job of inspecting them more difficult. But, Samuelson says, now that all high and significant hazard structures have been inspected, they will not fall from view of his program.<\/p>\n