13 - RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE 2017 LAMAR COUNTY MITIGATION PLAN

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Lamar County Multi- Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan Chapter Three HAZARD PROFILE: SECTION NINE - DAM OR BARRIER FAILURES 1. Description Dams, floodgates, levees, dikes, etc. are barrier methods used to control water flow. These barriers provide benefits such as resevoirs, hydroelectric power, recreation, and flood control. Dams are an important part of our public works infrastructure, and at the same time they pose a risk to public safety. Failure of a major dam is an unlikely event that occurs with little or no warning. If a major dam should fail, the impact could be substantial with loss of lives, loss of critical facilities, and affected properties would be severly damaged if not destroyed. A dam or barrier failure is a collapse or breach in the structure characterized by the sudden, rapid and uncontrolled release of impounded water, Dam failures most often occur from prolonged periods of rain and flooding in the drainage basin but they can result from any one or a combination fo the r following causes: • Structural failure either in the design or material used • Failure of other upstream barriers in same drainage basin • Movement, erosion or settling of the support of the dam • Inadequate maintenance and assessment of the dam • Deliberate acts of sabotage 2. Location Dams, Floodgates, Levees, and Dikes - Barrier methods to manage or impede water flow. Over sixty dams in Lamar County are indicated in Hazus. The dams are scattered throughout the county with the Large more high- hazard ones located in what was originally the more rural areas. The dams create a recreational environment that people want to build near. The building near dams is with the assumption that the dam will protect them which is not always the case. Dams can fail with little or no warning causing the loss of property and life. 125