Tag: USA
Dams Decommissioning going up globally
All large dams have finite life. What happens to the dams once the useful life of a dam is over? It would need to be decommissioned. Decommissioning of a dam generally refers to[i] complete removal of the dam and its associated structures. This is a very relevant question for India as the third largest dam builder of the world. It becomes even more important as large dams are no longer required or are no longer viable and importance of a flowing river is increasingly appreciated. It needs to be kept in mind that a dam cannot be allowed to remain on the river, without proper maintenance, as such a dam would remain a huge safety hazard for society and economy downstream from the dam.
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Dam Safety Act & the role of Dams in the 2023 HP Floods
In order to have high standards of dam safety the prerequisites are designing and constructing dams with reasonable safety margins; operating and maintaining them safely; and having emergency arrangements to address situations that might arise. Operation of dam within its ambit also includes thorough understanding of likely impacts and its management in case of flooding, in any emergency situation or in the event of dam failure, both upstream and downstream on communities living there, their livelihoods and also on infrastructure and property which can get affected. In fact in many countries like Sweden and in many states of the USA, a dam is assigned a dam safety class i.e. A, B or C depending upon the significance of the damage that might occur in case of dam failure, class A being assigned to dams whose failure might cause significance loss of public life and property. Dam safety requirements are calibrated accordingly and a higher burden is put on dam owners of higher class, concerning safety management system, emergency plans, overall assessments, and annual dam safety reporting.
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My Top Ten River Songs from USA
Guest Article by: Lori Udall
Loneliness, heartache, longing, travel, prayer, hardship, wonder, love, death, beauty… it’s all there in songs about rivers. Humans and rivers are intrinsically and eternally interlinked as is embedded in these songs, old and new. Our relationships with rivers span the ages and underscores the timelessness of rivers, and the livelihoods that depend on them. This article provides a collection of my top ten of the best-known river songs from USA (and one from Jamaica). I hope the songs have an appeal to river lovers across the globe.
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Michigan Dam failures-2: FERC is also in the dock
A Sanford couple is taking on the federal government in general and FERC (Federal Electricity Regulatory Commission) in particular after they lost their lakefront home in May when the Sanford Dam was overwhelmed, causing major flooding. This is interesting since at the root of the dam disaster is the failure of FERC. For years, FERC kept humouring the dam owner, and tolerated its violations. Why it did that, when it could have taken much stronger action almost two decades back is a mystery. Hopefully, this case will help get it resolved. Continue reading “Michigan Dam failures-2: FERC is also in the dock”
Michigan Dam failures: New Warnings for India’s Dam Safety
On Tuesday, May 19, 2020 evening following two days of heavy (4-7 inches) rains, Edinville Dam breached at 1740 and downstream Sanford dam overflowed at 1900 hours, leading to highest ever water level in downstream towns, leading to evacuation of over 10 000 people, besides massive damage, including to roads, bridges, buildings and crops. Both were earthen dams, Edinville dam famously did not have sufficient spillway capacity to pass even half the PMF (Probable Maximum Flood) it was expected to get. USA has much better dam safety situations legally, institutionally and practically that we in India have, and yet this happened where problems were known. As India awaits in the South West Monsoon 2020, there is lot we need to learn here and worry about our dams. Continue reading “Michigan Dam failures: New Warnings for India’s Dam Safety”
USA manages to reduce 2015 water use to below 1970 level
Water use across US has been decreasing since 2005, has now reached pre 1970 levels, says the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study[i] published on June 19, 2018. According to a new USGS report[ii], 445 BCM (Billion Cubic Meters, all BCM figures are annual figures) of water were withdrawn for use in the United States during 2015. This represents a 9 percent reduction of water use from 2010 when about 489 BCM were withdrawn and the lowest level since before 1970 (511 BCM). Continue reading “USA manages to reduce 2015 water use to below 1970 level”
DRP News Bulletin 4 June 2018: WED 2018: Environment Protection and Development is NECESSARY and POSSIBLE, provided there is will
How is development possible along with environment protection? There are two kinds of answers possible to this question. The standard kind of reply would try to provide a list of options that are available to a given development need. Continue reading “DRP News Bulletin 4 June 2018: WED 2018: Environment Protection and Development is NECESSARY and POSSIBLE, provided there is will”
“Streams don’t like to be in Channels” Interview: Stream Restoration, Austin Watershed Protection Department
I was standing in a waste dump, with pigs, garbage and dumped clothes all around me when Mr. Shailendra Patel told me to take off my shoes.
Just a few steps ahead of me was a miracle.
In the midst of the dump, Mr. Patel went down to a sparkling spring of clear water and kneeled down. This was a living stream in the heart of Pune city, with “development” all around, with a sewage carrying nallah flowing right next to it. Crystal clear water gushed out of rock crevices, there was a small sandy pool with tiny fish, water skaters and a desolate looking statue of a jaldevata on a stone ledge.
Mr. Patel talked with ladies with their washing loads who came to the spring, with school children running past, late for the school, with construction workers brushing their teeth nonchalantly next to the spring. The problem was he could not talk with the people who stayed in huge apartment complexes right next to the spring. They find the place too filthy, despite the fact that the tankers that supply water to complexes fill up from springs like these.
One more problem was that the Pune city does not recognise existence of such springs and the City Development Plan has not marked this as a spring or stream. It is up for grabs. A building complex will be built over this at any time.
This led me thinking, how does a city recognise & protect living streams and springs? How can we make the city development plan leave them out of development activities? Are there examples where this happened somewhere? Continue reading ““Streams don’t like to be in Channels” Interview: Stream Restoration, Austin Watershed Protection Department”
Oroville Dam damage in US: Many questions
USA’s tallest, Oroville Dam on Feather river in California suffered severe spillway damage, as discovered on Feb 7, 2017. As we wrote in our blog “Oroville Dam Spillway Damage in USA: Worst is yet to come”[i] on Feb 12, 2017, worse was yet to come, but the author did not imagine the threat would materialize so soon. Here we try to capture the key events since that blog. Continue reading “Oroville Dam damage in US: Many questions”
SANDRP 