Americans wondering whether a nearby dam could be dangerous can look up the condition and hazard ratings of tens of thousands of dams nationwide using an online database run by the federal government.
Constructed four generations ago, the massive rock and clay dam at El Capitan Reservoir is capable of storing over 36 billion gallons of water, enough to supply every resident in San Diego for most of a year.
More than 2,200 dams built upstream from homes or communities are in poor condition across the U.S., likely endangering lives if they were to fail, according to an Associated Press analysis.
The number of high-hazard dams in need of repairs is up substantially from a similar AP review conducted just three years ago.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Dozens of dams in poor condition across New York state are upstream from homes, highways or businesses, posing potential threats to people if they fail.
An Associated Press analysis found 90 “high-hazard” dams in New York that also were rated in poor condition — a marked increase from several years ago largely driven by the state's push to rate more dams.
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — The failure of two Michigan dams that forced evacuation of 10,000 people and destroyed 150 homes was “foreseeable and preventable,” resulting from errors and miscalculations over nearly a century, an expert panel said Wednesday.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — U.S. officials announced what they called extraordinary steps on Tuesday to keep hundreds of billions of gallons of water stored in a reservoir on the Utah-Arizona line to prevent it from shrinking more amid prolonged drought and climate change.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A massive drought-starved reservoir on the Colorado River has become so depleted that Las Vegas now is pumping water from deeper within Lake Mead where other states downstream don't have access.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In southwestern Pennsylvania, eight locks and dams that for decades helped barges move goods along the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers will in a few years also generate enough power for 75,000 homes.
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday added Bradford Island and surrounding waters of the Columbia River to its Superfund list of toxic waste sites, beginning the process for the eventual cleanup of the area.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Federal regulators on Friday issued a draft environmental impact statement saying there were significant benefits to a plan to demolish four massive dams on Northern California’s Klamath River to save imperiled migratory salmon, setting the stage for the largest dam demolition project in U.S.
A project that will boost Great Lakes shipping in a crucial bottleneck and another intended to protect the lakes from invasive carp will get big funding increases under the Biden administration's infrastructure package, officials said Thursday.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps said it will spend $732 million to expand a lock and dam system to help barges more efficiently transport millions of tons of corn, soybeans and other goods along the Mississippi River.
ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) — The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced last week that it plans to adjust management protocols for the Colorado River in early 2022 to reduce monthly releases from Lake Powell in an effort to keep the reservoir from dropping farther below 2021′s historic lows.
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Senate on Thursday unanimously approved $3.3 billion in water infrastructure spending to replace lead pipes and repair aging dams around the state while also sending money to a Detroit-area system that has struggled with flooding blamed on climate change.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Workers have repaired a failed gate that releases water from a southern Montana dam, restoring water flow to a river known for its high-quality trout fishing, said dam operator NorthWestern Energy.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Wildlife workers and volunteers scrambled Wednesday to save thousands of fish stranded by an abrupt drop in water levels along a Montana river that's renowned among anglers for its high-quality trout fishing.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — States will soon be flooded with federal money to address a pent-up need to repair, improve or remove thousands of aging dams across the U.S., including some that could inundate towns or neighborhoods if they fail.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation decided not to send water rushing through the Grand Canyon this month to rebuild beaches for campers and sandbars for fish because of persistent drought, officials said.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A group of environmental organizations filed court papers Thursday to try to halt operations at Maine dams to protect salmon.
Atlantic salmon are listed as endangered by the federal government.
DENVER (AP) — The humpback chub, a rare fish found only in the Colorado River basin, has been brought back from the brink of extinction after decades of protection, though work must continue to ensure its survival, federal authorities said Monday in reclassifying the species from endangered to threatened status.
MOHAVE VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) — Hidden away in Christmas Tree Pass near the Arizona-Nevada border, more than 700 petroglyphs can be found at Grapevine Canyon.
The petroglyphs, which were carved into the canyon rocks sometime between 1100 and 1900 AD, are a reminder that the history of the Colorado River extends long before Davis Dam made its mark on the landscape.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — After water levels at a California dam fell to historic lows this summer, the main hydropower plant it feeds was shut down. At the Hoover Dam in Nevada — one of the country’s biggest hydropower generators — production is down by 25%.
BANGKOK (AP) — Widespread flooding in Thailand was easing, allowing the capital Bangkok to avoid serious damage, officials said Monday.
Eight people had died and one woman was missing when floods fed by a storm a week ago inundated hundreds of thousands of households in 32 of the country's 77 provinces.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A plan designed to test whether boosting water releases from Fort Peck Dam in the spring could help endangered pallid sturgeon successfully spawn has been approved.
BANGKOK (AP) — Authorities sandbagged low-lying areas in the Thai capital and checked pumping stations Thursday along the Chao Phraya River in preparation for possible flooding as dams upstream, swollen by heavy rains, were forced to release water as a precaution.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The owner of four hydroelectric dams on the Kennebec River sued two Maine agencies on Monday alleging they improperly cooperated on fish passage regulations that impact the future of the dams and fish populations.