There are thousands of dams across the country in poor and unsatisfactory condition that are languishing without adequate funding for repair or staffing to ensure timely inspections.Some of those dams are "high hazard," which means people would die if the dam were to fail, and there would be economic and environmental damages.To determine if any of these unsatisfactory or poor dams are near you, the Hearst Television Data Team has built a tool that allows you to see all of the dams in your area. Simply search your address or town name in the box below. The map will show all of the dams near you, their latest condition and when they were last inspected.The missing dam dataAfter a series of deadly dam failures about 50 years ago, a database was created to track and publicly report dam inspections. Today, however, about 63% of dams in that National Inventory of Dams (NID) do not have a condition rating. Of just the high-hazard dams — those that would cause the most damage if breached — still nearly a quarter are missing that condition rating. To get the most up-to-date status on dams in the nation, the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit and the Hearst Television Data Team requested the latest inspection records from each state. Using information from the state records and the NID, the Hearst Television Data Team analyzed over 121,000 dams across the nation — more than the NID tracks, as it doesn’t include smaller dams. Even with the latest data directly from states, the conditions remain unknown for most dams.Of the 40,000 dams we tracked that do have a condition rating, about 25% are in poor or unsatisfactory condition. Across the country, over 1,300 dams are in unsatisfactory condition and require immediate or remedial action. Of these, about 450 are high hazard and would likely result in the loss of life upon failure.The latest records show that roughly a third of the unsatisfactory dams haven’t been inspected within the past five years. Of those, 40 are high hazard.PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=
There are thousands of dams across the country in poor and unsatisfactory condition that are languishing without adequate funding for repair or staffing to ensure timely inspections.
Some of those dams are "high hazard," which means people would die if the dam were to fail, and there would be economic and environmental damages.
To determine if any of these unsatisfactory or poor dams are near you, the Hearst Television Data Team has built a tool that allows you to see all of the dams in your area.
Simply search your address or town name in the box below. The map will show all of the dams near you, their latest condition and when they were last inspected.
The missing dam data
After a series of deadly dam failures about 50 years ago, a database was created to track and publicly report dam inspections.
Today, however, about 63% of dams in that National Inventory of Dams (NID) do not have a condition rating. Of just the high-hazard dams — those that would cause the most damage if breached — still nearly a quarter are missing that condition rating.
To get the most up-to-date status on dams in the nation, the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit and the Hearst Television Data Team requested the latest inspection records from each state.
Using information from the state records and the NID, the Hearst Television Data Team analyzed over 121,000 dams across the nation — more than the NID tracks, as it doesn’t include smaller dams. Even with the latest data directly from states, the conditions remain unknown for most dams.
Of the 40,000 dams we tracked that do have a condition rating, about 25% are in poor or unsatisfactory condition.
Across the country, over 1,300 dams are in unsatisfactory condition and require immediate or remedial action. Of these, about 450 are high hazard and would likely result in the loss of life upon failure.
The latest records show that roughly a third of the unsatisfactory dams haven’t been inspected within the past five years. Of those, 40 are high hazard.
