The National Dam Safety Program Research Needs Workshop: Hydrologic Issues for Dams Preface
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The National Dam Safety Program Research Needs Workshop: Hydrologic Issues for Dams Preface One of the activities authorized by the Dam Safety and Security Act of 2002 is research to enhance the Nation’s ability to assure that adequate dam safety programs and practices are in place throughout the United States. The Act of 2002 states that the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in cooperation with the National Dam Safety Review Board (Review Board), shall carry out a program of technical and archival research to develop and support: • improved techniques, historical experience, and equipment for rapid and effective dam construction, rehabilitation, and inspection; • devices for continued monitoring of the safety of dams; • development and maintenance of information resources systems needed to support managing the safety of dams; and • initiatives to guide the formulation of effective policy and advance improvements in dam safety engineering, security, and management. With the funding authorized by the Congress, the goal of the Review Board and the Dam Safety Research Work Group (Work Group) is to encourage research in those areas expected to make significant contributions to improving the safety and security of dams throughout the United States. The Work Group (formerly the Research Subcommittee of the Interagency Committee on Dam Safety) met initially in February 1998. To identify and prioritize research needs, the Subcommittee sponsored a workshop on Research Needs in Dam Safety in Washington D.C. in April 1999. Representatives of state and federal agencies, academia, and private industry attended the workshop. Seventeen broad area topics related to the research needs of the dam safety community were identified. To more fully develop the research needs identified, the Research Subcommittee subsequently sponsored a series of nine workshops. Each workshop addressed a broad research topic (listed below) identified in the initial workshop. Experts attending the workshops included international representatives as well as representatives of state, federal, and private organizations within the United States. • Impacts of Plants and Animals on Earthen Dams • Risk Assessment for Dams • Spillway Gates • Seepage through Embankment Dams • Embankment Dam Failure Analysis • Hydrologic Issues for Dams • Dam Spillways • Seismic Issues for Dams • Dam Outlet Works In April 2003, the Work Group developed a 5-year Strategic Plan that prioritizes research needs based on the results of the research workshops. The 5-year Strategic Plan ensures that priority will be given to those projects that demonstrate a high degree of collaboration and expertise, and the likelihood of producing products that will contribute to the safety of dams in the United States. As part of the Strategic Plan, the Work Group developed criteria for evaluating the research needs identified in the research workshops. Scoring criteria was broken down into three broad evaluation areas: value, technical scope, and product. The framework adopted by the Work Group involved the use of a “decision quadrant” to enable the National Dam Safety Program to move research along to produce easily developed, timely, and useful products in the near-term and to develop more difficult, but useful, research over a 5-year timeframe. The decision quadrant format also makes it possible to revisit research each year and to revise research priorities based on current needs and knowledge gained from ongoing research and other developments. Based on the research workshops, research topics have been proposed and pursued. Several topics have progressed to products of use to the dam safety community, such as technical manuals and guidelines. For future research, it is the goal of the Work Group to expand dam safety research to other institutions and professionals performing research in this field. The proceedings from the research workshops present a comprehensive and detailed discussion and analysis of the research topics addressed by the experts participating in the workshops. The participants at all of the research workshops are to be commended for their diligent and highly professional efforts on behalf of the National Dam Safety Program. Acknowledgments The National Dam Safety Program research needs workshop on Hydrologic Issues for Dams was held on November 14-15, 2001, in Davis, California. The Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, would like to acknowledge the contributions of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Hydrologic Engineering Center, which was responsible for the development of the technical program, coordination of the workshop, and development of these workshop proceedings. A complete list of workshop facilitators, presenters, and participants is included in the proceedings. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page # FOREWORD................................................................................................................... v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................ vi CORPS OF ENGINEERS HUNTINGTON DISTRICT HYDROLOGIC RESEARCH NEEDS FOR DAM SAFETY ANALYSIS (Paper 1) Jerry Webb U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District ................................ 1 OMAHA DISTRICT’S CURRENT PRACTICES AND NEEDS FOR DAM SAFETY ANALYSIS (Paper 2) Jeffrey T. McClenathan, P.E. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District....................................... 5 H&H GUIDANCE FOR SAFETY OF DAMS (Paper 3) Ming Tseng Hydrology and Hydraulics Branch Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.......................................... 9 H&H DAM SAFETY R&D NEEDS (Paper 4) Earl Eiker Retired, Chief H&H Branch, Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers..........................................11 FEMA WORKSHOP ON HYDROLOGIC RESEARCH NEEDS FOR DAM SAFETY ANALYSIS FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION (Paper 5) Michael S. Davis, P.E. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of Energy Projects, Division of Dam Safety and Inspections, Chicago Regional Office .........15 HYDROLOGIC RESEARCH NEEDS FOR DAM SAFETY ANALYSIS AT THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY (Paper 6) R. Cris Hughes, P.E., and Gregory W. Lowe, P.E. (Presented by Gregory Lowe) Tennessee Valley Authority.......................................................................21 iii THE UTAH HYDROLOGICAL EXPERIENCE (Paper 7) Matthew C. Lindon, P.E. Utah Division of Water Rights, Dam Safety Hydrologist .........................27 HYDROLOGIC PRACTICES IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA AND OTHER STATES EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER (Paper 8) Francis E. Fiegle II, P. E Program Manager, Georgia Safe Dams Program....................................33 SOMERSET COUNTY DAM SAFETY PROGRAM (Paper 9) Joseph J. Skupien, PE, PP Principal Hydraulic Engineer, Division of Engineering, Somerset County, New Jersey (Presented by Arlen Feldman)..................................................................39 RESEARCH NEEDS IN DAM SAFETY ANALYSIS (Paper 10) Samuel L. Hui Bechtel Corporation, San Francisco ........................................................45 HYDROLOGIC ANALYSES RELATED TO DAM SAFETY (Paper 11) Anand Prakash, Ph. D., P.E. URS Corporation ......................................................................................49 HYDROLOGY FOR DAM SAFETY – PRIVATE SECTOR (Paper 12) Cat Cecilio, P.E., P.H. PG&E-retired, Consulting Engineer ........................................................57 ESTIMATION OF EXTREME HYDROLOGIC EVENTS IN AUSTRALIA: CURRENT PRACTICE AND RESEARCH NEEDS (Paper 13) Rory Nathan Sinclair Knight Merz, Australia................................................................73 CURRENT AND FUTURE HYDROLOGIC RESEARCH NEEDS FOR DAM SAFETY ANALYSIS IN MATURE DAM SAFETY PROGRAMS (Paper 14) D.N.D. Hartford BC Hydro ..................................................................................................85 iv NEW DEVELOPMENTS AND NEEDS IN SITE-SPECIFIC PROBABLE MAXIMUM PRECIPITATION (PMP) STUDIES (Paper 15) Ed Tomlinson, PhD Applied Weather Associates................................................................... 107 HYDROLOGIC RESEARCH NEEDS FOR DAM SAFETY ANALYSIS (Paper 16) M.G. Schaefer Ph.D. P.E MGS Engineering Consultants, Inc ....................................................... 111 SIMPLIFIED DAM FAILURE ANALYSIS FOR INUNDATION MAPPING USING HEC-1 (Paper 17) J. J. DeVries David Ford Consulting Engineers and State of California ................... 119 A FRAMEWORK FOR CHARACTERIZATION OF EXTREME FLOODS FOR DAM SAFETY RISK ASSESSMENTS (Paper 18) David Bowles, Robert Swain and Dean Ostenaa (Presented by David Bowles) David Bowles and the Bureau of Reclamation ...................................... 125 HYDROLOGIC RESEARCH NEEDS FOR DAM SAFETY - EXPERIENCE LEARNED FROM ALAMO DAM RISK ASSESSMENT STUDY (Paper 19) James Cheih and Joe Evelyn (Presented by James Cheih) Los Angeles District, Corps of Engineers.............................................. 139 PALEOFLOOD HYDROLOGY, DAM SAFETY AND FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT (Paper 20) Robert D. Jarrett, John F. England Jr., Edward M. Tomlinson, Thomas M. Yanosky and Robert E. Swain (Presented by Robert Jarrett) US Geological Survey ........................................................................... 147 v CURRENT HYDROLOGIC PRACTICES, PROBLEMS, and NEEDS WITHIN CALIFORNIA’S DAM SAFETY PROGRAM (Paper 21) Melissa Collord California Department of Water Resources (DWR), Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD) ......................................................................................