Dam Safety Concepts ICOLD

DAM SAFETY GUIDANCE
DAM SAFETY CONCEPTS, PRINCIPLES AND FRAMEWORK
August 2021
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES 5
FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 6
PREFACE 8
1. INTRODUCTION 9
2. CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES 12

2.1 Safe Dams 12
2.2 Dam, Reservoir and River System 13
2.3 Safety Goals 14
2.4 Design, Construction and Maintenance 14
2.5 Safe Operation 15
2.6 Variability and Uncertainty 16
2.7 Financial and Human Resources 16
3. FRAMEWORK 17
3.1 Elements of Dam Safety Management 17
3.2 Process for Dam Safety Management 18
3.3 Dam Safety Assurance 18
4. LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS 20

4.1 Role of Government 20
4.2 Legal Arrangements 21
4.3 Institutional and Financial Arrangements 21
4.4 Transboundary Rivers 21
5. ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROLS 22
5.1 Administrative Options 22
5.2 Controls During Dam Development 23
5.3 Controls During Dam Operation 23
5.4 Intervention 24
5.5 Commissioning and Approval to Operate 25
5.6 Decommissioning 25
6. OWNER’S DAM SAFETY POLICY AND ORGANIZATION 26

6.1 Responsibility for Dam Safety 26
6.2 Dam Safety Policy and Safety Goals 27
6.3 Contractual Considerations for Dam Safety 27
6.4 Management System and Assurance Process 28
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7. OWNER’S ACTIVITIES TO ACHIEVE DAM SAFETY GOALS 29
7.1 Overall Approach 29
7.2 Design for Safety 29
7.3 Site Supervision During Construction 30
7.4 Technical Information and Documentation 30
7.5 Measures of Dam Safety Performance 31
7.6 Dam Safety During Operation 31
7.7 Surveillance of Dam Performance 32
7.8 Maintenance and Testing 33
7.9 Emergency Preparedness 34
7.10 Independent Safety Reviews 34
7.11 Investigation, Analysis and Assessment 35
7.12 Decision-Making 35
7.13 Risk Reduction 36
7.14 Decommissioning 36
8. COMPETENCE, SAFETY CULTURE AND CAPACITY BUILDING 37
9. CONCLUSIONS 38
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Dam Safety Guidance .............................................................................................................. 10

Figure 2. Continuum of Regulatory Options ........................................................................................... 11
Figure 3. Life Phases of a Dam ............................................................................................................... 11
Figure 4. Safety Management Framework ............................................................................................. 13
Figure 5. Elements of Comprehensive Dam Safety Management ........................................................... 17
Figure 6. Process for Management of Dam Safety over All Life Phases ................................................... 19
Figure 7. Regulatory Responsibilities at the Policy Level ......................................................................... 22
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FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This Bulletin, Dam Safety Concepts, Principles and Framework, is the first in a series of three documents
being prepared by the ICOLD Committee on Dam Safety (CODS) with the goal of addressing all aspects of
dam safety assurance for water-retaining dams during all life phases, beginning with the planning and
ending with the decommissioning and possibly removal. The general framing of the modern dam safety
concepts and principles, as presented in this Bulletin, will be followed by a second Bulletin addressing
dam safety governance considerations and a third Bulletin providing guidance to dam owners.
This Bulletin outlines an overarching approach to assist governments and dam owners to achieve
acceptably safe dams for the benefit of all stakeholders and the people whose lives and properties may
be directly affected. It can be applied in any country, including countries where well developed dam
safety programs and capacity already exist, as well as in those where new programs are being
established and there may be limited resources or technical and management capacity. It is applicable
throughout the continuum of governance and ownership arrangements ranging from cases where dam
owners are self regulating to those where independent regulatory controls are applied by the
government to dam owners.
The general approach to dam safety assurance outlined in this Bulletin will be applied in the following two
Bulletins, providing a comprehensive, internally consistent, and effective mechanism for developing or
adjusting regulatory, institutional, administrative, technical, and managerial arrangements for dam
safety assurance.
I wish to gratefully acknowledge the contribution of members of the Committee’s Working Group and
the support provided by their sponsoring organizations. The final text of the Bulletin is the result of the
collective effort of the entire CODS, which provided oversight and valuable input during the period of
2016 to 2021. I am deeply grateful to the Committee members for their continuing support and
engagement in this important task of developing guidance for making dams safer and more resilient to
ever present hazards. The Group developed the general approach, acted as a forum for exchange of
ideas with the CODS members, and carried out several rounds of reviewing and addressing their comments.
The task of writing the drafts and preparing the final text was performed by:
• Dr. Robin Charlwood, Working Group Leader - Past Vice-President, US Society on Dams,
Principal, Robin Charlwood & Associates, USA
• Dr. Desmond N.D. Hartford - Principal Engineer: Dam Safety Management, BC Hydro, Canada.
• Ms. Clare Raska - Past-President of Canadian Dam Association, presently Independent
Consultant, Canada.
Working Group members had a substantial breadth of perspective and experience regarding the
regulatory, organizational, managerial, and engineering aspects of dam safety management and their
extensive effort was instrumental in the accelerated completion of the task.
Przemyslaw A. Zielinski
Chair, Committee on Dam Safety
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Committee on Dam Safety
Chairman
Canada Przemyslaw A. Zielinski
Members
Albania Arjan Jovani New Zealand Dan Forster
Argentina Francisco Giuliani Norway Suzanne Lacasse
Australia Shane McGrath Portugal Laura Caldeira
Austria Elmar Netzer Pakistan A. Salim Sheik
Brazil Carlos Henrique Medeiros India Rakesh Kumar Gupta
Bulgaria Dimitar Kisliakov Romania Altan Abdulamit
Chile Luis Valenzuela Russia Evgenyi Bellendir
China Zeping Xu Serbia Ignjat Tucovic
Czech Republic Jiri Hodak Slovakia Peter Panenka
Egypt Khaled M. Ktoubar Slovenia Nina Humar
Ethiopia Frezer Shiferaw South Africa Ivor Segers
Finland Eija Isomaki Spain Ignacio Escuder
France Frederic Laugier Sri Lanka Badra Kamaladasa
Germany Reinhard Pohl Sweden Maria Bartsch
Iran Abbas Soroush Switzerland Marc Balissat
Italy Francesco Fornari Turkey Tuncer Dinçergök
Japan Morimasa Tsuda Ukraine Iurii Bisovetskyi
Korea Shin Dong-Hoon United Kingdom Andy Hughes
Latvia Dace Kreišmane United States Brian Becker
Netherlands Hans Janssen
Co-opted Members:
Australia John Pisaniello France Guirec Prevot
Australia Marcus Wishart Japan Satoru Ueda
Canada Desmond N.D. Hartford South Africa Louis Hattingh
Canada Clare Raska South Africa Paul Roberts
Chile Recabal Rodrigo United States Robin Charlwood
Ethiopia Michael Abebe Haile
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PREFACE
A discussion of dam safety should begin with a common definition of “safety,” since the term will be
used throughout this document as well as by various stakeholders – governments, dam owners,
engineers, other professionals, and the public.
The term “safe” is generally understood to mean protection from harm. People want to be safe from
harm caused by natural events, their own activities, and the activities of others. People expect to be safe
if they take precautions and protective measures that are established and maintained. The degree of
safety falls within a spectrum of physical conditions ranging from no failure being possible, through
conditions that are achievable under some or most circumstances, to dangerous situations where an
unsafe outcome is a distinct possibility.
Safety in a societal context is understood to mean protection of a community from harm. This includes
assurance of safety in construction and operation of major public works and structures such as bridges,
water systems and dams. In these cases, safety should be ensured at the outset to the highest degree
practicable. This means that those responsible for designing, constructing, and maintaining the
structures have taken all the necessary and possible steps to ensure the safety of the people using or
being affected by the structures. For dams, these necessary and possible steps are framed in terms of
safety goals. Achievement of the safety goals provides the basis for determining a dam to be safe.
Safety of the public in general is addressed by adherence to design concepts and processes that have
been found to be successful in the past. The personal perspective, or public trust, of safety depends on
confidence in these methods and in the competence of those employing them.
To manage and achieve safe dams, approaches have evolved over the centuries including engineering
standards, codes of practices, generally accepted rules and procedures, and professional training and
experiential knowledge. These developments have resulted in engineered systems that rarely fail when
operated according to their design intent and under anticipated conditions.
However, accidents can still occur even when a system is well designed and is being maintained and
operated as intended. Such unexpected events are usually associated with the emergence of conditions
that are beyond the state of knowledge at the time of design or beginning of operation. Accidents may
also happen when an unusual natural event or unanticipated set of circumstances occurs, and the
system is operated at or beyond the physical limits for which it was designed.
In recognition of this reality, independent validation and verification techniques and processes that are
transparently documented, publicly accessible, and open to challenge, have also evolved to provide
assurance that the intended level of protection from harm is provided.
With this understanding, the Bulletin, Dam Safety Concepts, Principles and Framework, lays out an
overarching approach to assist governments and dam owners to achieve acceptably safe dams for the
benefit of all stakeholders and the people whose lives and properties may be directly affected.
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1. INTRODUCTION
The development of a dam brings with it the responsibility to maintain and operate the dam
in a safe condition in perpetuity or until it is decommissioned or removed.
This Bulletin, Dam Safety Concepts, Principles and Framework, provides updated and
comprehensive guidance for governments and dam owners to use in establishing and
maintaining appropriate dam safety management and assurance arrangements for water-
retaining dams through all phases of a dam’s life.
The guidance applies to all countries, including countries where well developed dam safety
programs and capacity already exist, as well as those where new programs are being
established and there may be limited resources or technical and management capacity.
This Bulletin is applicable throughout the continuum of governance and ownership

arrangements ranging from cases where dam owners are self regulating to those where
independent regulatory controls are applied by the government to dam owners.
“Dam Safety” is the integrated set of activities that result in safe dams that are operated and maintained
in a way that Governments, Owners and the engineering profession can demonstrate ensures that the
established safety goals are achieved at all times.
ICOLD supports the dam engineering profession worldwide in developing guidelines with the objective
of ensuring that dams are designed, built, and operated in a way that is safe, efficient, and economical,
and that they are environmentally sustainable and socially equitable.
ICOLD guidance on dam safety has evolved over decades. A Technical Committee on Dam Safety (CODS)
was established in 1982 “as a coordinating body to assure an integrated approach of all Technical
Committees to safety issues, to guide toward action where shortcomings or gaps may be perceived, to
define a common safety philosophy and to prepare general guidelines on dam safety.” (ICOLD 1987.
Bulletin 59: Dam Safety Guidelines)
This Bulletin provides an update of the 1987 Guidelines and incorporates the knowledge developed and
presented in more recent ICOLD publications. This Bulletin should be used in conjunction with other
ICOLD Bulletins that apply to specific issues, phases, and circumstances. In addition, this Bulletin
establishes the concepts and principles that should be applied in all future ICOLD Bulletins developed by
Technical Committees where the scope involves consideration of dam safety issues.
This Bulletin provides an integrated framework to assist governments and dam owners as they develop
and maintain their own specific legislation, regulations, guidelines, policies, and procedures.
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As illustrated in Figure 1, this Bulletin sets out concepts and principles within a general framework
(Section 2 and 3), government functions (Sections 4 and 5), owner arrangements (Section 6 and 7), and
common activities (Sections 8 and 9).
This Bulletin is supported by other existing and future ICOLD Bulletins and other sources of technical
information.
Figure 1. Dam Safety Guidance
Dam Safety Concepts, Principles and Framework

(Sections 1, 2, 3, 9 of this Bulletin)
Role of government Role of dam owners

(Sections 4, 5, 8 of this Bulletin) (Sections 6, 7, 8 of this Bulletin)
Government controls Owner’s dam safety management system –

(Documents typically prepared by policies, procedures, instructions
government) (Documents typically prepared by owners)
Specific engineering, management, operational guidance

(Existing and future ICOLD Bulletins and other sources)
ICOLD recognizes that the science and technology of dam engineering are continually evolving with
many changing conditions. There is increasing awareness of the importance of human and
organizational factors and their influence on dam safety. Changing conditions also include ageing of
existing infrastructure, changes in ownership and organization, retirement of experienced personnel,
lack of experience in many countries, climate change effects on normal and extreme conditions, new
technologies, recognition that site selection options are increasingly limited, and changes in local and
regional governance.
In the case of dams on transboundary rivers, the safety management system and enabling mechanisms
should consider suitable international coordinating mechanisms in the context of the arrangements
between the countries for the use of shared water resources.
This Bulletin is intended to be applied throughout the continuum of governance and ownership
arrangements (Figure 2) and over all life phases of dams (Figure 3).
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Figure 2. Continuum of Regulatory Options
Command and Control

Self Regulation Shared Responsibility
Regulation
Figure 3. Life Phases of a Dam
Construction,
Rehabilitation and
Concept and Design Installation, Inspection
Renewal Works
and Commissioning
Operation Decommissioning
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2. CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES
2.1 Safe Dams
A safe dam will contain the stored volume of the reservoir, pass flows in a controlled manner,
and protect the public, provided that the conditions for which the dam has been designed are
not exceeded and the dam was constructed and operated as intended. This is achieved by
designing and constructing the dam to conform to the generally accepted practices of the
day, and then operating with sufficient surveillance - including instrumentation monitoring,
visual inspection, checking and testing, maintenance, safety assessments, and improvements
- to preserve the safety status over the life of the dam.
The assurance of dam safety requires legislative and administrative arrangements working
together with engineering and management activities.
Government legislation establishes and enforces administrative control mechanisms. These will need to
be appropriate to suit the local legal system and societal norms. The administrative controls,
management arrangements and engineering activities to achieve dam safety should be sustainable and
resilient over the life of the dam. This requires adequate financial resources and availability of well-
trained managers, engineers, inspectors, and operating staff, who have the equipment and capabilities
that they need to perform their duties.
The legal arrangements and the dam safety standards that it enforces, are dependent on locally
applicable legal systems, jurisdictional circumstances, and societal norms.
These activities and arrangements to achieve safe dams can be represented in a unified way in the
safety management framework presented in Figure 4, which includes considerations such as precaution,
prevention, response and resilience. Precaution and prevention are pro-active measures aimed at
preventing deviations from the safe operating condition. Response and resilience involve re-active
measures aimed at correcting for deviations from the safe operating condition and recovering from
incidents.
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Figure 4. Safety Management Framework
Events, circumstances and scenarios
Harm to people and damage to assets and

HAZARDS AND THREATS
CONSEQUENCES
the environment
Undesirable event
with the potential
for harm or damage
Engineering Activities
Maintenance Activities
Operations Activities
ACTIVITIES TO ACHIEVE SAFETY GOALS
Owner s dam safety policy and organisational arrangements
Competence, safety culture and professional development

Regulations, professional governance requirements and statutory guidelines
Legal and institutional arrangements
ENABLING ARRANGEMENTS TO ACHIEVE SAFETY GOALS
2.2 Dam, Reservoir and River System
A dam, reservoir and river basin form a complex system of interacting parts, subject to a
variety of inherently variable natural and operational conditions, operated by people and
organisations. These form an engineered system that is set in a dynamic natural
environment.
A dam system is comprised of the dam and appurtenant structures, reservoir, foundations, abutments,
and other components.
Dam systems function contiguously within the natural and social environments in a dynamic interactive
way over all life phases. This involves the natural siting of the dam and its hydrology and geology, the
physics of water containment and control of discharges and production, and the management and
control of operations.
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The river basin context may involve transboundary considerations that will influence the operation and
the safety management of dams on the river system.
2.3 Safety Goals
Dam safety should be defined in terms of safety goals that state how the dam should be
designed, constructed, and operated to ensure safety of the dam, the public, property and
the environment.
The safety goals should include policy, physical, and managerial considerations that are
verifiable. The goals should be set in the context of a dam development that is financially
viable, delivers the expected net benefits, and is environmentally and socially sustainable in
the long term.
Policy factors may include objectives related to environmental, social, economic and, where
appropriate, transboundary considerations. Physical goals are set in terms of the achievement of the
containment and conveyance functions - the dam performance, as measured, should meet the desired
safety goals. Managerial goals are set in terms of conformance to all operational procedures as set out
in the design and the management system.
Safety goals are set within the context of the overall project objectives, which may address the
following:
• Water management
• Power generation
• Physical performance of the system during and after severe natural events
• Operational performance, reliability, and safety
• Environmental performance
• Community benefit
There may be conflicts and tensions between the project objectives and the safety goals. It is often
necessary to make trade-offs among these objectives, to reflect the wider policy objectives while not
compromising the essential safety goals.
The prevailing legal and government authorities and the regulatory regime may vary over time during
the operation of the dam, in order to remain in alignment with changing societal needs and
expectations. The dam owner should document and update the safety goals and modify the facilities
and operations accordingly.
2.4 Design, Construction and Maintenance
Each dam is a unique structure, designed and constructed to meet specific needs and site
conditions. It is appropriate to consider each dam as a one-of-a-kind prototype that is
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designed in accordance with engineering principles and state-of-the-art practices applied
appropriately to suit the particular site conditions and intended purposes of the dam.
General principles for safe design of engineered systems, that have evolved over many years
in many industries, are relevant to design, construction, and maintenance of dams. These
include provisions for:
• Inherently safe design
• Reserves of capacity/safety margins
• Failure to a safe condition
• Procedural safeguards to ensure safe operation in accordance with design intent
The application of these principles in design, construction and operation pertains primarily to retaining
the stored volume and to ensuring that the discharge systems are available to be brought into service as
required, can be reliably operated to meet the objectives of the dam development under normal
conditions, and will protect the dam during extreme events.
Due to the dependence of the design of each dam on the particular natural setting and purposes, dam
development is different from many other industrial structures or products which may be standardized.
Safety considerations for dams are site-dependent and must be resolved by application of state-of-the-
art and state-of-the-practice norms underpinned by fundamental engineering principles.
2.5 Safe Operation
Safe operation of a dam involves maintaining the condition of the dam in accordance with
the design intent, operating and controlling the reservoir elevation and outflows within the
specified limits, and making safety improvements when appropriate.
Procedural safeguards should be designed and implemented to protect the dam, the public,
and the upstream and downstream environments from the harmful effects of loss of control
of the reservoir, unintended outflows during operation, and in extreme cases, dam failure.
Safe operation requires that the condition of dams and the risks that are present, be continuously
monitored and reviewed to enable early detection of deviations from expected performance, to identify
and deal with any new threats that might arise, and to make repairs or safety enhancements as soon as
is practicable.
Safety during operation should be managed in a systematic way to meet the requirements of applicable
regulations, the operational procedures set out in the design, and be in accordance with established
engineering principles and generally accepted good practices.
Emergency preparedness plans should be in place to mitigate the potentially harmful effects of any dam
safety incidents or failures that might occur.
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2.6 Variability and Uncertainty
Variability and uncertainty are inherent factors that must be considered in dam design,
construction, operation, and safety assessments, in large part due to the natural settings of
dams and their long service lives.
The variabilities and uncertainties that are inherent in design construction and operation of a dam are
typically addressed using a conservative engineering philosophy in the design of key components, that
errs on the side of safety by a considerable margin. However, if one or more uncertain phenomena are
underestimated, not properly accounted for, or even not recognized, dam failures and incidents may
still occur. In recent years, there has been increased awareness that failures occur from a wider range of
causes than individual physical causes in isolation. These include human, management, and operational
factors in combination among themselves and with physical conditions.
Consideration of variability and uncertainty is central to dam engineering. Traditionally, sensitivity

analyses are used. Methods such as risk assessment continue to evolve as a means of providing a more
systematic approach to understanding, characterizing, and controlling the effects of variability and
uncertainty, in a broader context.
There will always be some residual uncertainty and associated risk that must be managed in a reactive
way. In addition to ensuring that the dam is built and operated as intended, dam safety management
should include management of changes during construction, continuous surveillance of dams during
both construction and operation, and periodic safety assessments. Both preventive and corrective
measures, including maintenance, are means of controlling uncertainty. In addition, emergency plans
should be designed and implemented to mitigate the effects of potential harmful events or failures.
In the safety management of existing dams, and particularly older dams, there may be considerable
uncertainty in the understanding of the as-built and existing condition due to limited information and
documentation. Such deficiencies in information need to be identified and addressed by additional
investigations and studies to provide sufficient understanding of the dam construction and behavior to
allow the dam to be maintained and operated safely.
2.7 Financial and Human Resources
Achievement of dam safety requires that adequate financial and human resources be
provided at all times.
The responsible government organization or regulatory authority, and the dam owner, must both have
adequate resources dedicated to dam safety activities within their own organizations during all phases
of the lifetime of the dam. This applies at all levels from dam technicians to dam safety engineers and
managers. Investments in staff should include training and development opportunities and sustainable
career paths that attract and retain competent personnel.
A strong safety culture that seeks and achieves continuous improvement in safety management should
be present in the regulatory authority, dam owner’s organization, and professional community.
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3. FRAMEWORK
3.1 Elements of Dam Safety Management
Efficient and effective safety management of dams requires that all relevant considerations
be brought together in an integrated framework that identifies the roles of government and
dam owners over all phases of the life of a dam.
Dam safety is founded on appropriate governance, responsible ownership, and diligent

engineering, implemented through a process that is transparent and open to reviews and
audits.
The essential dam safety management elements are identified in Figure 5 and apply to all regulatory and
ownership arrangements, including self-regulation. When there is a government authority acting as a
dam safety regulator, the government authority and the dam owner have distinct responsibilities and
functions. In cases where a government is the owner of the dam, the roles and responsibilities may be
distributed through different departments or agencies of government.
Figure 5. Elements of Comprehensive Dam Safety Management
LEGAL AND
INSTITUTIONAL
ARRANGEMENTS
SAFETY
CULTURE AND
ADMINISTRATIVE
CAPACITY
BUILDING SAFE 72
CONTROLS
72 72
DAMS72 72
ACTIVITIES TO OWNER’S DAM

ACHIEVE DAM SAFETY POLICY
SAFETY GOALS AND
ORGANIZATION
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3.2 Process for Dam Safety Management
Dam safety management elements should be organized in a systematic framework that

establishes the relationships and interdependencies for an effective overall process.
Figure 5 schematically illustrates a consolidated and condensed framework for the primary processes
and activities of dam safety management over all phases of a dam’s life, from concept and design to
decommissioning. The legal framework and institutional arrangements are overarching to the process,
while legal requirements and regulatory objectives specific to dam safety are embedded within the
process.
The process shown in Figure 6 is dynamic, involving continuous and periodically repeated activities. They
need to be supported by technical and administrative activities that are designed to meet the specific
conditions of the individual dam and the dam owner’s operational regime.
The details of the process for dam safety management are developed in Sections 4 and 5 for
government and in Sections 6 and 7 for dam owners.
3.3 Dam Safety Assurance
Safety assurance involves demonstrating that the desired level of safety management has
been achieved. This is done by regularly verifying the effectiveness of every stage of the
safety management process.
Governments and dam owners both have essential roles in providing assurance of the safety
of dams under their control.
Safety assurance comes from verification that the government and dam owner have effectively
implemented the appropriate overall framework and process for dam safety management.
A key technical factor in the assurance of the safety of the dam over its life is the availability of clear and
comprehensive documentation.
Human and organizational factors are important non-technical matters in the assurance process. The
organisation’s records should clearly show how these non-technical factors have been accommodated.
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ICOLD BULLETIN: 2021-07-26
Figure 6. Process for Management of Dam Safety over All Life Phases
Legal framework, institutional arrangements and policy controls
Controls during dam KEY:

Controls during dam operation
development
Government
activity
Project objectives, safety Operational objectives, safety goals,
goals, management system, management system, assurance Dam Owner /
assurance process process operator activity
Design for safety – Design Synthesis of technical information:

basis including hydraulic, design, as-constructed conditions,
Independent structural and operational dam performance measures and
safety review capacities expectations
Contracts, construction and Safe operation

site supervision
Independent safety
Surveillance of dam performance
review
NO or
UNCERTAIN?
Performance
Does dam assessment: Does dam NO or Investigation, analysis
meet all safety goals and meet all safety UNCERTAIN and assessments
expectations? goals?
YES
YES
Continued safe operation

Intervention Commissioning and Decision-making: Intervention
documentation of technical Maintenance and testing YES
(if appropriate) Is dam safe enough? (if required)
information
Emergency preparedness
NO or UNCERTAIN
Decommisioning
Approval to operate Risk reduction and removal
PRE-OPERATIONAL PHASES OPERATIONAL PHASE
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4. LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
4.1 Role of Government
Governments may utilize or permit utilization of dams to achieve social and economic
advancement of their societies, recognising that there are both benefits and risks from dams.
Governments have responsibilities for protecting the public interest from the potential wide-
ranging social, environmental, and economic consequences of dam failure.
Governments discharge their responsibilities with respect to dam safety in ways that vary
considerably, even across a single country, depending on the applicable governing
arrangements, legal systems, and other factors.
Matters pertaining to dam safety may be subsidiary to the broader legal and institutional arrangements
that apply to water resources, which in turn may depend on broader laws and requirements.
The role of government in dam safety at a policy level reflects the economic, social, and political context
of the country where the dam is situated. Government involvement varies across a broad continuum of
governance options. These range from the situation where government does not involve itself in
industrial activities, to a situation with comprehensive controlling involvement by government.
The regulatory relationship will determine the responsibilities for establishing how the risks and benefits
of the dam are to be distributed between owners, beneficiaries of the products and services provided by
the dam, and the groups at risk from dam failure.
The governance options can apply internally when the government is the developer, owner and
operator of dams. Controls can range from those that provide maximum flexibility, to those that provide
top-down control arrangements. Governments can also choose to devolve responsibility to subsidiary
levels of government or to outsource controlling activities to other entities including those that are
independent of government. In determining their specific needs and requirements, jurisdictions may
consider the range of available legal and institutional options, technical considerations, and financing
arrangements.
Special considerations may be required for transboundary dams where the responsible jurisdictions may
develop mutually acceptable arrangements to provide coordination and cooperation in dam safety
management.
The legal, institutional, and regulatory arrangements should evolve to remain consistent with changes in
the portfolio and country conditions.
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4.2 Legal Arrangements
Government policies frame the enabling legal arrangements and responsibilities for dam
safety decision-making in all phases of the life of a dam. These arrangements may include
regulatory, operational, and administrative control considerations.
Legal provisions may include:

• Institutional and financial arrangements
• Definition of dams subject to regulations
• Roles and responsibilities of government and dam owner
• Dam safety goals and expectations including risk acceptance considerations
• Emergency preparedness and response to dam incidents
• Enforcement
Legal arrangements and responsibilities frame the minimum expectations and associated roles and
responsibilities for ensuring safe development and operation of dams. In some cases, the legal
framework may become a basis for defining dam failure liability and who is responsible.
4.3 Institutional and Financial Arrangements
Establishment and sustainment of the institutional arrangements requires adequate

organizational and financial resources, human resources, and technical capacity.
The institutional and financial arrangements for dam safety may benefit from an integrated policy for
water management, established in terms of river basin and regional planning considerations along with
other policy and project objectives.
The roles and responsibilities for all activities that may affect dam safety should be clearly defined to
provide efficient and effective dam safety assurance. Responsibilities may be legally or contractually
distributed to other entities that are appropriately constituted and qualified.
4.4 Transboundary Rivers
In the case of transboundary rivers, regional or international coordination and cooperation

can provide a basis for addressing dam safety.
Ensuring the safety of dams and adjacent communities in the context of transboundary river basins
involves consideration of situation-specific issues and complex interactions. Suitable arrangements
governing the use of shared waters, flood management and control, and dam safety may be established
through coordination and cooperation between affected jurisdictions. Special considerations may be
required if different legal regimes are involved.
International and regional river basin organisations can play an important function in facilitating dam
safety assurance within river basins.
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5. ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROLS
5.1 Administrative Options
The continuum of administrative options for assuring dam safety during design, construction,
operation, and decommissioning, includes situations where:
• Government permits self-regulation by dam owners
• Government as regulator, shares responsibility for dam safety with dam owners
• Government takes command and assumes control of dam safety
The responsibilities for dam safety, set at the government policy level in terms of regulation and
applicable to both government and independently owned dams, may vary within the continuum of
options introduced in Figure 2 and developed further in Figure 7.
Figure 7. Regulatory Responsibilities at the Policy Level
Command and Control

Self Regulation Shared Responsibility
Regulation
• Dam safety is the • Regulator sets safety goals • Government assumes

responsibility of Owner • Regulator assumes risk responsibility and risk
• Owner sets safety goals associated with the • Government sets safety
• Owner assumes selection of safety goals goals and gives direction
responsibility and risk • Owner has responsibility for • Owner implements
meeting safety goals directives
Depending on their involvement in achieving dam safety, governments may establish administrative
controls including the following:
• Licenses and permits
• Regulations specific to dam safety
• Authoritative guidance on dam safety prepared or approved by government
• Mechanisms for consent to operate
• Intervention and enforcement processes
• Approved Industry administrative and technical guidelines
Dam owners should adopt general principles of good internal governance to meet their own objectives
as well those of government. These governance and dam safety management processes - as outlined in
Figure 5 and developed in Sections 6 and 7 - are similar for all dams, whether owned by government or
independent entities. The processes should be adapted to suit the dam owner’s policies for matters
such as decision-making, risk tolerances, and liabilities for dam failures and incidents.
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5.2 Controls During Dam Development
Dam safety control mechanisms during the development of a dam should provide a means of:
• Setting and documenting acceptable safety goals
• Ensuring that the safety goals are properly accommodated in the design basis along
with the other development objectives
• Overseeing achievement of safety goals as the design evolves and during construction
and commissioning
• Verifying that the safety goals can be achieved during operation and maintained over
the life of the dam
In a “self regulation” environment, governments can choose to go no further than satisfy themselves
that the proposed dam development will contribute to achieving the government’s policy objectives and
that other policy objectives are not adversely impacted. Beyond that, the role of government may be
passive. The dam developer is responsible for providing assurance to all stakeholders that the
development and future operation of the dam will be safe, efficient, effective, and sustainable. .
In a “shared responsibility” arrangement, the government establishes the necessary policies,

procedures, and oversight arrangements related to development of dams by organizations that it
oversees. The details of such arrangements can vary considerably. These arrangements can vary from
general guidelines for setting of safety goals, to comprehensive and highly prescriptive requirements
and controls over the performance objectives that form the basis of the dam development. With shared
responsibility, the arrangements may include mechanisms for the dam developer to demonstrate that
they possess and can maintain all necessary capabilities, resources, and internal controls to develop the
dam and meet the performance and safety goals over the long term.
The “command and control” approach involves the government directing how dam safety is to be
achieved during dam development. Governments that choose to exercise full control over dam safety
can choose to execute the entire development process (planning, design and design review,
construction and review, commissioning and entry into service) utilising their own resources and
capabilities, or they can choose to access varying levels of external expertise in some or all of these
endeavours. Governments can also choose to rely on external capabilities to develop dams while
retaining control over all aspects of dam safety either directly or through an independent body
established by government.
5.3 Controls During Dam Operation
Safety controls during the operational phase should provide a means of ensuring that:
• Safety goals remain current and adequate, and are updated as appropriate
• Operation and safety management arrangements are appropriate to achieve the
safety goals
• Physical performance goals and operational safety goals are being achieved
23
• Corrective and remedial measures for the physical facilities and operations are carried
out as necessary
Many of the controls applied during the design, construction and commissioning phases continue into
the operational phase. The controls should be modified over the operational life of the dam in response
to changing operational requirements and social and legal conditions.
In a “self-regulation” arrangement, the dam owner is responsible for meeting all legal requirements or
other safety expectations as they evolve over the operational life of the dam. Unless specified in the
laws or other government instruments, the dam owner is responsible for ensuring that the dam safety
goals and residual risks are appropriate, and that dam safety risks are balanced between any competing
operational objectives and safety expectations. .
In “shared responsibility” arrangements, the government establishes oversight arrangements for safety
controls, including mechanisms to verify that modifications to the dam are safe and safety
improvements are appropriate. The form of regulatory relationships will determine the responsibilities
for establishing how the risks are to be distributed between operational objectives and safety
expectations. The dam owner should have a complementary set of oversight and control arrangements
to ensure the integrity and effectiveness of its arrangements that interface with the regulatory
expectations. In accordance with their own objectives and other responsibilities, the dam owner may
choose to establish arrangements that exceed the minimum expectations of the regulatory regime.
The “command and control” arrangement places the responsibility on government to maintain and
update the safety goals and how they are achieved. The government has the responsibility for
establishing and achieving what it considers to be an appropriate level of risk control and how the
balance between safety and operations should be achieved. The dam owner then implements all
measures to achieve the safety goals as directed.
5.4 Intervention
Government should have the authority to intervene in the design, construction, operation
and decommissioning of a dam, in response to safety concerns.
In a “self-regulation” arrangement, the dam owner is responsible but Government may choose to retain
the option to intervene and re-direct the development process in order to respond to policy concerns,
unanticipated impacts or other considerations.
In “shared responsibility” arrangements the government can choose to retain the right, and possibly the
responsibility, to intervene and re-direct the owner to modify the design, construction process, or
operational regime, or to make other safety improvements, if such intervention is in the best interests of
safety or the achievement of other policy objectives.
The safety improvements may be in the form of operational restrictions or physical improvements, or a
combination of physical improvements and operational restrictions.
24
Intervention may involve declaring an emergency at a dam and evacuating communities from potential
inundation zones.
5.5 Commissioning and Approval to Operate
The regulator should establish a process whereby consent to commission and commence
operation, or continue to operate a dam development, is provided to dam owners.
Government may choose to retain the right to determine if a dam can be commissioned and brought
into service. Approval to operate should be dependent on the safety requirements of the licence or
permit being met.
In a “self-regulation” or “shared responsibility” arrangement, government may retain the power to alter
the terms of the approval to operate, in response to changing safety conditions.
5.6 Decommissioning
Decommissioning or removal of a dam at the end of its useful life may require specific
provisions in the regulatory arrangements.
Dam decommissioning or removal involves careful consideration of the responsibility for safety and may
require site-specific regulatory controls and safety management considerations. Effective safety controls
should continue during and after dam decommissioning or removal.
25
6. OWNER’S DAM SAFETY POLICY AND ORGANIZATION
6.1 Responsibility for Dam Safety
The dam owner has primary responsibility for the safety of a dam through all phases of the
life of the dam.
The dam owner should establish a strong, auditable governance structure through which the
leadership of the organization is responsible for guiding and providing oversight for all
matters pertaining to dam safety.
The dam owner should establish and implement a comprehensive and sustainable dam safety
risk management program that includes clear lines of authority, access to necessary
resources, capacity, and direction, to meet the safety goals.
The dam owner should establish a safety assurance process whereby those responsible for dam
safety management demonstrate the effectiveness of the dam safety program, to the owner’s
leadership, the government, and the public.
Dam owners may be governments, public associations, private corporations, or individuals. In cases
where the dam is operated by another entity (the “operator”) on behalf of the dam owner, the
arrangements between the parties should ensure that all required activities are properly addressed.
The owner should appoint a person to be responsible for implementing the dam safety management
program. This person should have direct reporting and access to the highest levels of leadership in the
dam owner’s organization.
The responsibilities of dam ownership begin during the preliminary planning of a dam development and
end only when the dam is decommissioned or removed. These responsibilities evolve and they change
over the life phases of the dam development in response to the physical and operational demands of
the development and operational processes, and in response to changing external demands and societal
expectations. The residual uncertainties and risks that remain after construction must be managed by
the owner over the life of the dam, and they may be reduced when operational experience and data
become available.
The dam owner must have the resources to manage the changes in conditions that arise during design,
construction, and operation, and to adopt and implement suitably conservative corrective measures
when necessary. Successful establishment and operation of a dam development by the owner, for a
particular purpose, goes beyond management of the engineering and technical aspects and includes the
broader aspects of managing the entire system in which the dam operates. The owner should keep
26
current on advances in science and technology, changes in societal expectations concerning the safety
and social performance of dams, and the emergence of new natural and human threats.
6.2 Dam Safety Policy and Safety Goals
The dam owner should establish a dam safety policy statement that sets out the safety goals
and how they are to be achieved within the overall objectives of the dam development. This
policy should be established and documented at the design stage, implemented before
commissioning, and updated as appropriate over the operational life of the dam.
General safety goals may have been established by the government at a national or regional level in
accordance with the governing legal and regulatory arrangements. In other cases, guidance on safety
goals may be established within the industry by non-governmental organizations or industry
associations.
Dams, as large fixed infrastructure, are not readily modified. Normally, it is most economical to achieve
the desired low level of residual risk at the design stage prior to construction, so that any required or
otherwise beneficial risk controls can be incorporated most readily. The dam safety program policy
should include provisions for adequate surveillance, dam maintenance, and emergency preparedness, to
achieve a low level of residual risk throughout the life of the dam.
The safety goals should be set out in the design basis documentation and updated periodically as
appropriate. The design basis should provide sufficient reserves of strength and operational capacity to
reliably accommodate the totality of conditions and demands that might arise over the life of the dam.
The design basis is also the foundation for surveillance and its supporting functions of instrumentation
monitoring, visual inspection, checking and testing, emergency preparedness, safety assessments, and
improvements to safety throughout the life of a dam, and should be readily available for those
purposes.
The policy should establish a quality assurance process for the design, construction, and operational
phases, including independent reviews, to demonstrate that safety goals are achieved.
6.3 Contractual Considerations for Dam Safety
Dam safety goals, objectives and requirements should be embodied as appropriate in the
contracts that the dam owner establishes for development and operation of a dam.
Specific responsibilities for dam safety should be assigned to each entity or organizational unit involved
in the design, construction, and operation of a dam, with provision for monitoring and audit.
27
The performance expectations and safety goals for all manufactured mechanical, electrical and flow
controls systems should be specified in the relevant supply contracts, with provision for monitoring and
audit.
6.4 Management System and Assurance Process
The dam owner should establish an overarching management system to assure that the
functions necessary to achieve the safety and other objectives are carried out efficiently and
effectively.
The management system should include documented structured policies, processes and
procedures to be used in a systematic and coordinated way by the dam owner and any other
responsible organizations engaged by the owner.
The dam safety management system should support both the pre-operational and operational phases.
The management system should be designed and implemented such that:
• All identifiable threats to the safety of the dam have been assessed and either eliminated or
effectively addressed.
• The process for identifying and managing dam safety threats is reviewed regularly.
• Adequate technical, engineering, financial and personnel management arrangements are in
place and are being maintained to ensure that the goals of dam safety can be achieved at all
times, and that specific safety performance targets can be met.
• The owner’s dam safety management system and its relationship to external agencies should
also be reviewed and audited regularly to provide assurance of the effectiveness of the entire
safety process.
28
7. OWNER’S ACTIVITIES TO ACHIEVE DAM SAFETY GOALS
7.1 Overall Approach
The dam owner must implement a comprehensive program of activities that are integrated
and documented in a systematic way to achieve the dam safety goals.
Dams should be designed and constructed in accordance with the best practices of the day, to
ensure that they can meet or exceed the safety goals.
Dams should be operated to meet or exceed the safety goals, with sufficient repair and
maintenance such that there is no significant deterioration in the safety performance
throughout the project lifetime.
The safety of a dam should be managed within a structured framework and process that
includes surveillance incorporating instrumentation monitoring, visual inspection, checking
and testing, reviews, assessments, emergency preparedness, and decision-making, so that
any physical or procedural deficiencies are identified and addressed.
The dam safety program should include constant monitoring of threats to and performance of dams and
estimation of their significance, taking account of lessons learned worldwide. It involves an ongoing
program of review, with continuous improvements and remedial actions. When prioritization of
remedial actions is necessary, consideration should be given to:
• Extent and significance of the added safety that can be achieved, in relation to the cost
• Degree of urgency and availability of interim measures to control risks in the short term
The overall approach to safety management should take economics and cost into account. This involves
balancing the cost of each possible improvement against the added safety benefit it would achieve. If
the resulting level of safety is less than acceptable, other measures such as reduction of the reservoir
elevation may be need, or in extreme cases, the dam may need to be taken out of service.
7.2 Design for Safety
To meet the safety goals, a comprehensive design basis should be established, fully
documented, and maintained, and applied through the life of the dam by all parties.
The design should include specification of operational procedures, surveillance arrangements

including instrumentation monitoring, visual inspection, checking and testing requirements,
and maintenance requirements and schedules.
29
The design should ensure that the dam has sufficient strength, hydraulic control capacity, and
operational flexibility to accommodate all reasonable scenarios of normal and extreme utilization and
hazards which it may have to withstand during its life.
The design should take into account variability and uncertainty inherent in the design and construction,
including effects of climate change and other emergent hazards, human and organizational factors, and
any applicable transboundary issues. Changes in design, construction, operations, surveillance and
maintenance should be monitored for compliance with the design intent.
7.3 Site Supervision During Construction
Construction supervision provides an essential link between the dam owner, designer and the
contractor and is a key factor for ensuring the quality and safety of the completed dam.
Construction supervision should provide quality assurance and verify that the as-constructed
project, and any corrective measures are consistent with the design intent.
The designer should properly brief the constructor and the independent construction supervisor on all
safety considerations in the design before construction begins. The designer should be available to
advise the construction supervisor during construction, thereby enabling the construction supervisor to
efficiently and effectively manage any changes to the design that might be necessary during
construction.
The as-constructed drawings should be accompanied by a comprehensive construction report that

provides an accurate record of the construction and its conformance to the design intent. The as-
constructed drawings and the construction report should be kept permanently by the dam owner as the
principal references for subsequent operation and maintenance, safety reviews, and rehabilitation.
7.4 Technical Information and Documentation
Adequate engineering and technical information and documentation form an essential

component of every dam safety program and must be available at all phases to provide an
understanding of the dam, its functions, modes of operation and potential modes of failure.
In the absence of adequate information, additional investigations may be necessary.
Essential information and documentation that features in all aspects of the design, construction,
commissioning, operation, surveillance, and safety reviews of a dam, includes:
• River basin hydrology; project inflows and outflows
• Characteristics of natural hazards
• Expected and actual structural performance of dam including deformations and joint behaviour
• Expected and actual leakages and hydrologic pressures in dam body, foundation, and abutments
• Hydraulic outlet capacity, functionality, and reliability
• Design basis reports
30
• Construction records and reports

• Operational records
• Surveillance reports and safety reviews
• Emergency preparedness and response plans
It is essential that data management and archiving of documentation of this technical information be
secure and quality assured over the life of the dam. The information must be updated and maintained
current over the life of the dam.
7.5 Measures of Dam Safety Performance
Measures of the physical and operational performance as they relate to dam safety should be
established to provide a basis for assessment and documentation of the safety of a dam, so
that appropriate decisions can be made.
The following measures are practical indicators of safety and reliability that may be applied as
appropriate to the specific dam and operating regime.
• For structural and hydraulic considerations, the margin of the capacity of the dam over the
structural and hydraulic performance demands that might be made over its life provide
quantitative measures for structural and hydraulic safety.
• For discharge systems, reliability as verified through testing and reported in terms of failure
rates, provides a quantitative measure of operational safety of the discharge systems.
• Degree of conformance of a dam to engineering design and construction guidelines and
standards provides qualitative measures for physical aspects of safety that are founded in well-
proven experience.
• Degree of conformance of dam safety activities to the expectations and requirements provides
qualitative measures of managerial performance.
7.6 Dam Safety During Operation
During the operational phase, dam safety requires conformance to the operational
procedures as set out in the design basis or subsequently modified.
A dam should be operated within a safety management system that includes:

• Surveillance of dam performance
• Maintenance and testing
• Public safety management
• Emergency preparedness and response plans
• Safety reviews, assessments, decision-making and risk reductions
31
The dam owner should establish safety management arrangements for protecting the dam
and its appurtenant structures, as well as protecting the owner’s personnel, the public,
property, and the environment from harm, during all anticipated operational situations.
Operational procedures should be designed and implemented to ensure that the dam adequately
retains the stored volume (containment) and that flows are passed through and around the dam in a
controlled way (conveyance).
Oversight arrangements should be established to verify the adequacy of, and conformance to, reservoir
operational procedures, and the effectiveness of the dam owner’s safety management activities.
Specific operational safeguards may be developed for transboundary dams as appropriate.
All dam owners should implement these activities to the degree that is appropriate for the dam, the
circumstances of the owner, and the prevailing socio-economic situation. More in-depth and
comprehensive arrangements improve the potential for early detection of deviations from expected
performance and earlier implementation of corrective measures.
7.7 Surveillance of Dam Performance
Dam surveillance should include an organised approach to instrumentation monitoring, visual

inspections, field measurements, checking, and testing of surveillance equipment and
monitoring instrumentation. Once collected and verified, all data should be analysed,
assessed and assured for quality, and archived. The assessment should include any required
recommendations related to maintenance, remediation, and upgrading works to maintain
dam safety.
Surveillance is a systematic safety assessment process as a self-contained subset of the overall dam
safety management system. Surveillance activities are focused on providing operational information and
early detection of deviations in performance, and they provide real-time assessment of the safety of
dams. Performance criteria and threshold limits must be established and used to confirm that the design
intent is achieved.
At a minimum, the surveillance program should include instrumentation monitoring, regular visual
inspections, equipment checking and testing, to determine if:
• Deformations of the dam and appurtenant structures are within the performance expectations
and threshold limits
• Leakages through or around the dam have no harmful effects and do not exceed predicted
flows
• Deviations from expected performance are detected and corrected in a timely manner
Visual inspections and monitoring should be carried out according to a pre-defined schedule that ranges
from continuous, through daily, weekly, monthly and annually.
32
More detailed periodic inspections should be carried out annually or more frequently depending on the
climatic conditions. Special inspections that are more comprehensive than the regular inspections
should be carried out after significant natural events including notable meteorological events,
earthquakes, and other conditions that are outside what are considered normal conditions.
Surveillance activities generate large amounts of data that must subject to quality control. All historic
data, analyses and reports should be reliable and of high quality and be accessible at any time during the
operational life of the dam.
All monitoring instruments should be maintained regularly and re-calibrated or replaced as required.
Procedures should be established to initiate appropriate interim risk reduction measures when
surveillance activities detect an actual or suspected deviation from expected performance, that may
compromise safety.
7.8 Maintenance and Testing
The features and functions of as-constructed dams and their monitoring systems should be
maintained in a fully serviceable condition throughout the life of the dam.
Maintenance and testing objectives, requirements, procedures and schedules for all
mechanical and electrical systems, drainage systems, gates and stoplogs, should be set out in
the design basis and implemented during the operational phase in a systematic way.
Maintenance and testing requirements and procedures should be assessed periodically for
effectiveness, on the basis of operational experience and the results of functional tests, and
they are updated as appropriate.
Discharge system functions should be regularly tested for capacity and reliability.
Provision should be made for maintenance and repair of all protection systems including debris booms
and erosion protection elements such as rip-rap.
The adverse effects of natural and environmentally induced degradation, vegetation, debris, and
operational deviations must be mitigated through an effective maintenance program, to ensure that the
dam can withstand the conditions which it might be subjected to at any time during the project lifetime.
Testing schedules should be established to provide sufficient empirical information to demonstrate that
the performance intended in the design is being maintained.
33
7.9 Emergency Preparedness
Appropriate emergency preparedness and response plans and arrangements should be

established and maintained to address and minimize adverse consequences in the case of a
dam safety incident or failure.
The dam owner should have arrangements in place to respond to incidents at the dam and
take appropriate action to limit development of potential failure mechanisms and damaging
releases from the facility.
The dam owner should engage with emergency response agencies and affected communities
to develop coordinated communications and response plans and improve community
resilience.
Practical measures such as alarms, warnings, and evacuation routes, should be developed to mitigate
the adverse consequences of unplanned outflows. The emergency plans should be based on inundation
mapping and consequence assessments, and engagement of the potentially affected communities.
Emergency arrangements should be tested or exercised periodically to ensure the preparedness of the
communities and organizations that have responsibilities for emergency response.
Emergency preparedness and response arrangements for transboundary dams should be established
between jurisdictions so that the there is timely notification of and response to any impending flooding
across all affected jurisdictions.
7.10 Independent Safety Reviews
Independent reviews of dam safety should be carried out during the design and construction
prior to commissioning of new or rehabilitated dams.
Periodic and comprehensive independent dam safety reviews should be carried out
throughout the operational life of dams.
For new dams and rehabilitation of existing dams, particularly for large projects or smaller ones with
complex conditions or significant consequences of failure, the owner should appoint an expert review
panel with the authority to advise the dam owner, independently of the design and construction teams,
concerning the appropriateness of technical and construction measures to ensure the operational and
structural safety of the project.
For existing dams, periodic safety reviews should be carried out to provide an independent assessment
of the achievement of the safety goals. The review should consider the most recent findings and data, as
34
well as all historic records. If adequate information is unavailable, additional investigations may be
necessary.
The reviews should be clearly and completely documented in formal engineering reports. The reports
typically form part of the permanent record of the condition, performance, and safety status of the dam.
Such reviews by suitably qualified engineers who are independent of the design and construction teams
and the dam owner’s organization, enhance the strength of the overall dam safety management and
assurance process.
7.11 Investigation, Analysis and Assessment
If an inspection, performance assessment, or safety review indicates that the dam does not
meet all safety goals, the necessary investigations, analyses, and re-assessments should be
carried out to clarify the safety status of the dam and gather information for decision-making
and risk reduction.
New investigations, analyses and assessments should be implemented when:

• Structural or operational safety of a dam is no longer assured as originally intended in the
design, as a result of normal wear, deterioration, or environmental effects
• New safety goals and requirements are adopted as good practice
• Improved knowledge of operational and environmental conditions emerges
• Advances in the underlying science become accepted elements of good design practice,
necessitating improvements in the structural or hydraulic functionality of a dam
Investigations, including intrusive investigations into dams and foundations, may require extensive
planning. They can bring additional safety risks that must be adequately controlled and that may require
interim risk reduction measures.
7.12 Decision-Making
The dam owner is responsible for ensuring that there is an effective and transparent process
for making decisions about the need for risk reduction measures when it is found that a dam
or its operation does not meet the safety goals.
Dams that are considered to be satisfactory, in that they meet all safety and performance expectations,
typically continue in the normal cycle of operation, maintenance, and emergency preparedness.
If the dam does not meet all safety goals, the decision process must address the need for risk reduction,
including interim measures before any necessary longer-term improvements are completed.
In the case of transboundary dams, the decision processes should be coordinated between the different
jurisdictions.
35
7.13 Risk Reduction
If the design, construction, or performance of the dam is found to be inadequate, the dam
owner should implement appropriate risk reductions, rehabilitation, and operational
improvements in both the short term and the long term.
Establishing adequate dam stability and control of the hydraulic operations is essential to
ensure dam safety before and during risk reduction projects.
If a dam does not meet all safety goals, the owner is responsible for developing and implementing a
suitable follow-up action plan to control the identified risks and improve safety. Risk reduction should
consider both operational and physical options, including decommissioning in some cases.
The contents of the action plan may need to include immediate measures to mitigate the risk, such as
public notifications, operational changes such as reservoir drawdown, and enhanced surveillance, while
longer term and more comprehensive improvements are developed and implemented. In some cases, a
multi-year program of remedial works may be necessary to fully address the safety deficiencies. In
extreme cases, a decommissioning plan might be appropriate for the dam.
The dam owner should inform the responsible government authority of dam safety deficiencies and
improvements. The role of the government authority may range from simple acknowledgement of the
owner’s plan, to review and approval at specific stages, or in an extreme situation, direct intervention in
the remediation and operation. There may be requirements for advance approvals of the dam owner’s
actions at specific stages, and for renewal of the consent to operate.
In cases where a dam is being rehabilitated for reasons other than dam safety deficiencies, the dam
must remain safe during the rehabilitation process.
7.14 Decommissioning
Dam safety must be assured during and after the decommissioning of a dam.
Decommissioning can be a complex process requiring the full range of specialist capabilities that are
required in the design, construction, and operation of the dam.
Adequate control of inflows and the stored volume is required during the decommissioning process.
Decommissioning activities may temporarily reduce safety margins, in which case appropriate mitigation
measures should be established. Augmentation of the existing discharge capacity is usually an
early-stage activity during decommissioning, even for those dams with bottom outlets, as large floods
are always possible during the decommissioning process which may take several years.
36
8. COMPETENCE, SAFETY CULTURE AND CAPACITY BUILDING
Achievement of the dam safety goals requires a strong safety culture with commitment and
involvement at all levels of government, the dam owner, professional organizations,
emergency responders, and the public.
The success of dam safety activities depends on involvement of highly competent, dedicated
and motivated staff and consultants at all levels and in all roles.
Building and maintaining the organizational capacity and human capability of governments,
dam owners, and professions, to design, operate and maintain dams over the long term is an
essential part of dam safety management.
A strong safety culture governs the actions and interactions of all individuals and organizations engaged
in activities related to dam safety, and it requires their personal dedication and accountability. In
addition, it requires support from those who participate indirectly in dam safety activities, for example
through financing, human resources and administrative decisions.
The leaders of organisations involved in dam safety should establish policies, processes, supporting
structures and authorities that promote operational environments with an awareness of the importance
of competence in dam safety at all levels. This involves clear definition and communication of roles,
responsibilities, competencies, and expectations, throughout all levels of the organisation.
Organisations involved in dam safety should establish appropriate means of informing and consulting
interested parties and the public about dam safety, and about the processes and measures in place to
ensure public safety around dams and reservoirs.
Capacity building requires a systematic and integrated approach to develop and continuously improve
governmental, organizational, and individual competencies and capabilities necessary for achieving safe,
secure and sustainable dam safety programs. The approach should include:
• Building and strengthening the dam engineering professions
• Dissemination of knowledge through continuing education, training, conferences, and
workshops and international exchange
• Sustainability of the knowledge base through development of young professionals
• Career development, advancement, and succession planning
• Knowledge networks among professionals
• Research, development, and continual improvement
Building and maintaining the safety culture and technical capacity to manage the safety of dams
requires sustainable funding mechanisms and co-operative arrangements. These should include
cooperation between dam owners, government authorities, industry and academic entities, as well as
local, regional, national and international professional groups.
37
9. CONCLUSIONS
The safety of dams depends on a dynamic integrated process within a framework that
involves governments, dam owners and the public. This requires the application of science,
engineering, economics, social policies, and environmental policies, set in the context of
national laws and transboundary and international agreements.
The overarching concepts and principles of dam safety, and a framework for management of dam safety
activities, have been presented in this Bulletin, Dam Safety Concepts, Principles and Framework.
Extensive supporting information is available in other ICOLD Bulletins, as well as publications by national
committees of ICOLD.
The commitment to safety improvements and risk reductions should apply in all countries. Where
comprehensive dam safety programs already exist, this Bulletin can serve as the basis for updates and
continual improvements. In countries where dam safety programs are more limited, this guidance can
facilitate development of comprehensive government arrangements and owner dam safety programs.
ICOLD and its Technical Committees continue to develop knowledge and understanding in these areas of
sustainable human development, with the view to ensuring that all relevant aspects of dams and their
safety are presented and understood in transparent, publicly accessible, and socially acceptable ways.
38

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DAM SAFETY GUIDANCE

DAM SAFETY CONCEPTS, PRINCIPLES AND FRAMEWORK

FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 6

2. CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES 12

4. LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS 20

6. OWNER’S DAM SAFETY POLICY AND ORGANIZATION 26

8. COMPETENCE, SAFETY CULTURE AND CAPACITY BUILDING 37

Figure 1. Dam Safety Guidance .............................................................................................................. 10

This Bulletin is applicable throughout the continuum of governance and ownership

Figure 1. Dam Safety Guidance

Dam Safety Concepts, Principles and Framework

Role of government Role of dam owners

Government controls Owner’s dam safety management system –

Specific engineering, management, operational guidance

Command and Control

Figure 3. Life Phases of a Dam

2.1 Safe Dams

Events, circumstances and scenarios

Harm to people and damage to assets and

ACTIVITIES TO ACHIEVE SAFETY GOALS

Owner s dam safety policy and organisational arrangements

Competence, safety culture and professional development

2.2 Dam, Reservoir and River System

2.3 Safety Goals

2.4 Design, Construction and Maintenance

2.5 Safe Operation

Consideration of variability and uncertainty is central to dam engineering. Traditionally, sensitivity

2.7 Financial and Human Resources

3.1 Elements of Dam Safety Management

Dam safety is founded on appropriate governance, responsible ownership, and diligent

Figure 5. Elements of Comprehensive Dam Safety Management

ACTIVITIES TO OWNER’S DAM

Dam safety management elements should be organized in a systematic framework that

3.3 Dam Safety Assurance

Controls during dam KEY:

Design for safety – Design Synthesis of technical information:

Contracts, construction and Safe operation

Continued safe operation

PRE-OPERATIONAL PHASES OPERATIONAL PHASE

4. LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

4.1 Role of Government

4.2 Legal Arrangements

Legal provisions may include:

4.3 Institutional and Financial Arrangements

Establishment and sustainment of the institutional arrangements requires adequate

4.4 Transboundary Rivers

In the case of transboundary rivers, regional or international coordination and cooperation

5.1 Administrative Options

Figure 7. Regulatory Responsibilities at the Policy Level

Command and Control

• Dam safety is the • Regulator sets safety goals • Government assumes

5.2 Controls During Dam Development

In a “shared responsibility” arrangement, the government establishes the necessary policies,

5.3 Controls During Dam Operation

5.5 Commissioning and Approval to Operate

6. OWNER’S DAM SAFETY POLICY AND ORGANIZATION

6.1 Responsibility for Dam Safety

6.2 Dam Safety Policy and Safety Goals

6.3 Contractual Considerations for Dam Safety

6.4 Management System and Assurance Process

7. OWNER’S ACTIVITIES TO ACHIEVE DAM SAFETY GOALS

7.1 Overall Approach

7.2 Design for Safety