CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES _________________________________________________________________ [IMAGE] DWR Program Goals and Strategies _________________________________________________________________ GOAL 4: REGULATE DAMS, PROVIDE FLOOD PROTECTION, AND ASSIST IN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT The Department's public safety responsibilities consist of: 1. Close supervision of the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of California's dams to ensure safe dam performance; 2. Flood protection measures to prevent loss of human life and reduce property damage caused by flooding; and 3. Management assistance as required by the State Emergency Plan and the California Water Code to help people cope with emergencies. _________________________________________________________________ REGULATE DAMS The California Water Code entrusts the regulatory Dam Safety Program to the Department. The principal goal of this program is to avoid dam failure and thus prevent loss of life and destruction of property. Dams under State jurisdiction are an essential element of the California infrastructure that provides constant water supply integrity. Strategies to Meet This Goal * Respond Immediately to Incidents Involving Potential Dam Failure. Use all State resources necessary to abate the emergency. * Review and Approve Applications, Plans, and Specifications for Dam Construction or Alteration. Carefully monitor the construction phase to assure quality compliance with the approved application. * Conduct Annual or More Frequent Inspections of Dams. Assure the safe physical performance of all jurisdictional dams in California through such inspection. * Review Performance of Existing Dams. Carefully review pertinent data and selectively conduct reevaluations of dams for which data indicate threatening deficiencies. * Identify Illegal Dams. Effect removal of dams built and operated without State supervision, or supervise remedial work to bring such dams into compliance with State Law. _________________________________________________________________ PROVIDE FLOOD PROTECTION The principal goals of the Flood Management Program are to prevent loss of human life and reduce property damage caused by floods and to provide runoff forecasts and maintain a real-time hydrologic database. Flood management activities recognize the importance of environmental resources and strive to protect these and other resources when meeting public safety responsibilities. Strategy to Meet This Goal The strategy to protect the public from harm caused by floods employs a balanced approach among nonstructural programs (those which influence how flood-prone areas are used to reduce the risk to people, property, and natural resources), structural measures (physical works which regulate or redirect the flow of water), and emergency flood-warning and flood-fighting activities. This strategy is composed of four basic elements: * Assistance to Local Communities. Help community officials prepare floodplain management plans and evaluate impacts of proposed development in flood-prone areas. Discourage unwise development in areas subject to flooding and promote floodproofing of existing and proposed structures in floodplains where development is already under way. * Safeguarding of Flood Protection Facilities. Ensure structural integrity and hydraulic capacity of existing flood protection facilities in the Central Valley in cooperation with local maintaining agencies and in coordination with The Reclamation Board, which shares some responsibilities with the Department in the Central Valley. * Support for Development of New Facilities. Support planning and construction of new flood control facilities in areas of critical need in coordination with The Reclamation Board, the California Water commission, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. * Runoff Forecasting, Emergency Operations, and Data Support Provide flood and water supply forecasting, high water warning and flood information dissemination systems, flood-fighting advice and assistance, and (through the California Data Exchange Center) year-round hydrologic data. _________________________________________________________________ ASSIST IN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT The principal goal of emergency management assistance is to fulfill the emergency response functions of the Department established in the California State Emergency Plan and the California Water Code, including provision of technical and physical assistance to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the State Office of Emergency Services, and other agencies that make federal and State resources available to local communities. Strategies to Meet This Goal * Implement Preventive Measures. Protect the Department's personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, and vital public records against the destructive forces of nature and people. * Respond Immediately to Emergencies. Inspect State jurisdictional dams, SWP facilities, Delta levees, and federal project levees for damage due to natural disasters. Continue essential services and direct all other resources, as necessary and appropriate, to accomplish specific objectives described in the State Emergency Plan. * Investigate and Report on Disaster Conditions and Provide Technical Assistance for Damage Assessment. Furnish to the Director and others within the Department natural disaster damage data and other information relating to disaster conditions. Provide technical personnel to investigate and report on disaster-caused damages and restoration of damaged facilities. * Help Develop Hazard Mitigation Plans. Provide information to OES to develop hazard mitigation plans required by FEMA which, when implemented, will reduce future damage to private and public facilities caused by natural disasters. _____________________________________________________________ Return to the DWR Programs Page [IMAGE] _____________________________________________________________ Return to the California Water Page [IMAGE]