AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Dam Safety Program monitors and regulates dams in the state.
TCEQ classifies dams in three ways, high, significant and low.
"High means that there is expected loss of life, which is more than seven people, and extensive economic loss. Significant means it's one to six people, and low means there's no loss of life expected," explained Warren Samuelson, the manager of dam safety section with TCEQ.
TCEQ said all high- and significant-hazard dams should be inspected every five years. This involves a visual inspection of the dam, the embankment and the spillways, with a report that also notes anything that needs attention.
"We're not aware of any dam that's an imminent threat of failure, at this point," said Samuelson. "There's some that are not as good condition as others, but we're trying to make the inspections and we provide inspection reports to the owners after we do the inspections so they know what we found."
TCEQ also offers dam owner workshops each year to make sure they're staying up to date with the latest safety information.
As for Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) dams, LCRA sent KVUE this information:
"Since fiscal year 2010, LCRA has spent more than $101 million on capital projects at the dams along the Highland Lakes, Lake Bastrop and Lake Fayette. This includes investments in the dams themselves and related hydroelectric infrastructure. We plan to spend about $66 million on these types of projects from fiscal year 2020-2024.
LCRA dams meet all state regulations for dam safety. Our safety program includes weekly and monthly inspections by LCRA staff; testing each floodgate every 30-42 days to ensure they are ready to operate when we need them; annual inspections by LCRA engineers; and additional inspections by third-party consulting engineers."
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