U.S. dams are aging and vulnerable to failure; many communities will have to decide between removal or repair

Flooding in Wisconsin after a massive storm in 2018. (National
Weather Service photo via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Deteriorating dams have left many U.S. communities searching for affordable, safe options. "Dams across the country are aging, and also facing pressures from urban sprawl and intensifying floods wrought by climate change," reports Madeline Heim of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "The price tag to fix what’s broken, though, is estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars, meaning dam owners could face hard questions about what to do with them."

The rural town of Viroqua, Wisconsin, is grappling with the impending failure of its "50-foot earthen dam, locally known as 'Maple Dale,'" Heim writes. Currently, other Wisconsin communities face the same dam problems. "Local officials are voting on whether to dismantle the dams by cutting large notches in them, allowing the water to flow again, in a process called decommissioning. Experts say it could be the most dams ever decommissioned in a single county in the U.S."

Across the country, more communities are or will soon face the problems caused by aging dams. "In the American Society of Civil Engineers’ latest Infrastructure Report Card, released in 2021, the group gave the nations’ more than 91,000 dams a “D.” That’s largely because of their age — the average age of a dam in the U.S. is over 60 years old," Heim writes. "On top of that, climate change is leaving question marks about how dams will perform under new weather conditions."

No matter which option officials choose -- repair or removal--there are steep expenses involved. "The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021, provided somewhat of a shot in the arm: $3 billion was earmarked for dam safety, including $118 million for the rehabilitation of the USDA watershed program dams," Heim reports. Lori Spragens, executive director of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, told Heim, "I think we are going to see more dams under stress, or even failing. It’s not really fun to look at in the future.”