Non-Structural Options

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"Examples of non-structural Interim Risk Reduction Measures include:

• "Reservoir restrictions or change in reservoir operations. If this measure is considered viable then the owner/licensee should begin immediate action to update their reservoir operations plan to reflect the operational change or reservoir restriction. In the interim a deviation from the current reservoir operations plan should be implemented until the reservoir operations plan is updated to reflect the operational change or reservoir restriction. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other environmental reviews may be required.
• "Pre-position emergency contracts for rapid supply of other needed items/equipment.
• "Stockpiling emergency materials, e.g., rock, sand, sand bags, emergency bulkheads, lighting plants, or other operating equipment, etc.
• "Use of other reservoirs in the system, if present, may be required to mitigate the impact of regulation schedule changes. If the change in regulation schedule is required for other dams in the system, then a regulation deviation for those dams would be required as well.
• "Improved and/or increased inspection and monitoring to detect evidence of worsening conditions to provide an earlier warning to the public for evacuation.
• "Update the EAP and the inundation mapping to include project-specific failure mode(s). The National Weather Service (NWS) must be included in the Emergency Action Plan (EAP) to take advantage of their television/radio announcement and stream forecasting capabilities. In parallel with updating the project’s EAP the licensee must work with local authorities on evaluation of and improvement in the emergency response plans of the affected communities.
• "Explicit procedures, communications systems, and training of appropriately skilled team members for prompt and effective emergency response in the event of the detection of worsening or catastrophic conditions.
• "Conduct appropriate emergency exercises that plan for a range of failure scenarios (including the combined effects of multiple failure modes and different timing of detection) to improve warning and evacuation times.
• "Coordination with local interests and federal and non-federal agencies, including the NWS and local emergency management agencies (EMA), with a focus on the specific potential failure mode(s) and the effectiveness of response including appropriate response exercises.
• "Identify instrumentation/monitoring “trigger” or threshold pools that would initiate more urgent monitoring or emergency response. In addition, threshold values should be established for instrument readings where possible.
• "Installation of early warning systems to increase the time available for evacuation should be included as an alternative.
• "Preventive maintenance and repairs such as cleaning drains and improving spillway gate reliability where non-functioning components would exacerbate the existing conditions in an emergency.
• "Acquisition of real estate (if possible) that would preclude potential loss of life and damages from a potential dam failure or other IRRM should be included as an alternative since life safety is paramount."

Citations:

Revision ID: 5634
Revision Date: 12/14/2022