I'm sorry, but really! I'm just Duh about this ridiculously late news flash follow 40 years of diverting American tax dollars from domestic needs and infrastructure maintenance to a fund a barrage of "protecting American Global Imperialism" conflicts. Let's stop this shoring up the crumbling fake American idealism for a dose of reality, so we can start to fix this mess. Corporate America and its investor class have deminshed this nation to nothing more than the pursuit of insatiable greed for a few. While the rest of us behave as if we can rely on being deaf, dumb and blind to get us but in the most horrific social/political crisis since the South fought to continue human trafficking and violent abuse of an Smerican invention: permanent human slaves.
1
Looks like a disproportionate number of those old dams are in the Northeast, Colorado and California all of which voted against Trump. In other words forgetaboutit.
4
Local congressmen can't forget about it, or they could lose their jobs faster than a dan breaking.
We have or will spend approx. $3 trillion dollars for the war we foisted on Iraq over much hyped WMD and opened the door for ISIS. Why is fixing our infrastructure even an issue. Seems we can come up with the money when war is promoted. Look how we are helping Saudi Arabia in Yemen. And I do not doubt that overthrowing Syria's president (for whom?) is still on the agenda.
To our elected officials, get down to work and fix our infrastructure and begin ASAP.
To our elected officials, get down to work and fix our infrastructure and begin ASAP.
6
Seems last night I saw where Japan will be introducing a newer high speed train that will go over 350 m/p/h. Other countries, Europe, China. for example, have high speed trains. Imagine if the airlines had some competition and we could take high speed train? Would that benefit taxpayers?
3
Even with subsidies, high speed trains cost too much to ride. In the Northeast corridors, I don't ride the Acela I stay on the affordable slower trains. In Italy, I didn't ride the fast trains, I rode the affordable trains. I'm not seeing taxpayer benefit in California, just cost. Trains have the advantage of downtown locations, legroom, and boarding time.
$60 billion dollars to fix America's aging dams -- what a relief! $60 billion is nothing. In the last few years, just seven investment banks have paid that much in fines to the US government for the suffering they inflicted on our nation with their toxic mortgage schemes -- in a series of slap-on-the-wrist settlements with the Justice department that the CEO's of these banks have shrugged off as merely "the cost of doing business."
America is a very rich nation. We have 20 people in this country who hold more than $800 billion in wealth between them. All of the money that should have been used to maintain our infrastructure and avoid this crisis was paid to them instead.
But don't worry. It will all get better after President Trump "drains the swamp." Hahahahahahaha!!!!!
America is a very rich nation. We have 20 people in this country who hold more than $800 billion in wealth between them. All of the money that should have been used to maintain our infrastructure and avoid this crisis was paid to them instead.
But don't worry. It will all get better after President Trump "drains the swamp." Hahahahahahaha!!!!!
3
A WPA approach to giving jobs to those who need them the most while rebuilding dams, roads and bridges, schools and hospitals, and national parks would be a much better investment than building a wall that anyone with a tad of intelligence can get around, under or over.
4
It is time to get rid of the dams. The dams across the country have caused havoc to people and the environment. In California and other parts of the country dams have been taken down allowing the rivers to run naturally and keep the ecosystem healthy. We must live within our means regarding water and electricity. We have the capacity to use the sun and wind to make electricity and do not need dams for water power to produce electricity.
2
Sounds like an infrastructure project to me.
DJT to the rescue.
DNC to the obstruction tactics. Damn the country! Party first!!
DJT to the rescue.
DNC to the obstruction tactics. Damn the country! Party first!!
I think you mean, "Dam the country", but the Democratic party has expressed total willingness to go along with any infrastructure repair and building. Trump has not yet done anything about it, but if he wants to, I believe that's one thing the Democrats will not block.
2
IN CALIFORNIA Alone, two major dams have spilled over, causing major disruption and damage. With more severe rain storms in the forecast, other dams may be damaged or fail. One of the results of the GOP's willful neglect of the US infrastructure is that natural forces will always confound the plans of those who believe that they can Fool Mother Nature. She always wins! So, pay her now or pay her more later. Get to work on fixing the infrastructure!
2
The article essentially pulls the scab of a mass insanity in America. It's called not paying resource rent. Everybody wants the goodies but nobody wants to pay. It's like infant siblings fighting over candy that mommy brought home. An economics that admits to such economic "externalities" is required reading for the insane. Why should we be OK with private dam owners not upgrading their dams or increasing each year their insurance policy against dam failure? Yes, we are crazy. If the society's rent for having these risky things (or using resources that have socially uncompensated, negative consequences such as burning coal) is not collected, who are we to complain about anything? Most people read this article with a big yawn, including the dummies who represent us in legislative bodies. Yet facing this insanity is the first step toward social and ecological stewardship.
5
We will address these serious infrastructure issues when we as a nation understand that spending money on vital needs is an investment in our community. If we are unwilling to invest sufficiently in our most basic communal needs, infrastructure, who will?
3
Didn't see this during the Obama occupation.
2
The main flaw with the Obama-era stimulus was its insistence on gender equity even in situations where it may not be necessary or warranted. Obviously, everyone agrees that there should be an equal percentage of women in the management of Fortune 500 businesses, at NASA, in the Congress, on the Supreme Court, in Silicon Valley, in the Ivy League, among published authors, etc.. However, fewer people would insist on having an equal percentage of both genders work in e.g. dam construction, logging, plumbing, or trash collection.
Nevertheless, the idea that there might be some fields, no matter how lowly, in which gender equity might not make sense, is rightly controversial and tends to make some people uncomfortable.
Thus, the Obama administration wisely decided to eschew dam construction and maintenance altogether. Let's hope the Trump administration won't fall into this trap.
Nevertheless, the idea that there might be some fields, no matter how lowly, in which gender equity might not make sense, is rightly controversial and tends to make some people uncomfortable.
Thus, the Obama administration wisely decided to eschew dam construction and maintenance altogether. Let's hope the Trump administration won't fall into this trap.
1
American infrastructure is general is in need of repair. When I emigrated to the US in 1975, the country was just putting the finishing touches to the world's most impressive national motorway system. Some of the new airporst (i.e. Dallas-Fort Worth) were brand new and very impressive. At some point in the late 1970s. the country seemed to think that was it. No new infrastructure and very little maintenance for the existing one. I've witnessed the spectacle of our roads and bridges descending inexorably into second-world status. It breaks my heart to see such neglect. And even more because we spend more time discussing which bathrooms people may use than generating the political energy to fix this most basic of areas, that ALL Americans use daily. It comes as no surprise that the dams are in the same state. Maybe we need to elect a civil engineer as President next time. I'd take an engineer, regardless of color, gender, or sexual orientation. Just someone who can inspire RENEWAL.
5
So, it would cost $60B for a one-time repair and upfit to make our dams safe. Let's put that in context: The FY2017 Department of Defense budget--that's only for 12 months--is $523B.
Where could we find $60B?
Where could we find $60B?
4
Infrastructure maintenance is important, but for who? I for one do not want to subsidize the reconstruction of dams in the West and South that were created to benefit farmers and ranchers who hate the federal government. These parasites have been using the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers to suck up subsidies from the rest of us who live in the productive parts of the country for nearly a century. I say, enough is enough, let them fix their own dams. Let them eat mud.
1
I guess you don't consume any of the products grown or made by those "parasites"....
3
Why are the rules different for agriculture than for any other part of the economy? Why should the State (that is, taxpayers) subsidize the inputs to agriculture, but not to other industries. Should the government provide free boots and tools to construction workers, free country club memberships for hedge fund managers, free boats for fisherman? Yeah...if we were in North Korea. Ours is a capitalist country with a competitive market economy, in which the Invisibe Hand creatively destroys inefficient producers. Let the Hand do its work, and keep these bloodsuckers away from my wallet.
Yes, but repairing or removing dams doesn't allow private companies to charge the public or give the middle finger to our southern neighbor.
3
Or maybe it's time to come up with ideas that don't involve destroying our environment? That map is SAD.
2
Maybe we can convince Alex Jones to report the SHOCKING TRUTH that the dishonest media has been refusing tell us: MEXICANS are hiding in America's reservoirs!
Then Trump will find it urgent to appropriate 21 billion dollars to fix these failing dams.
Then Trump will find it urgent to appropriate 21 billion dollars to fix these failing dams.
3
To read some of these comments you would think that the Republicans have controlled the purse strings without opposition or fetter for 50 years, that Democrats have never been in a position to do anything whatsoever about infrastructure in those decades, that environmentalists haven't had one thing to do with impeding work on dams, etc. In other words, a lot more of the same - and another reason we still have these problems.
This is a complex problem, the blame for which transcends party. Democrats, for example, rule California, but they haven't done much of anything to even start to address these issues. Politicians of both stripes have often preferred new and glitzy projects while scorning repairs and upgrading of existing bridges, dams, tunnels, etc., as just not sexy enough or worthy of enough adulation. Environmental zealots seek every chance to obstruct many improvements, not just for new ones, but even for merely repairing or upgrading existing structures and sites. Why does it take a decade to complete things these days when most of that is eaten up in lawsuits, protests, regulatory games, absurdly complex bidding processes (often for unrelated "needs" like diversity, etc.) and oversight? People love to say things like "China built this or that" but forgetting that have none of the constraints we impose on ourselves.
If we're going to get serious about rebuilding infrastructure then we need to simplify and streamline our methods of doing so.
This is a complex problem, the blame for which transcends party. Democrats, for example, rule California, but they haven't done much of anything to even start to address these issues. Politicians of both stripes have often preferred new and glitzy projects while scorning repairs and upgrading of existing bridges, dams, tunnels, etc., as just not sexy enough or worthy of enough adulation. Environmental zealots seek every chance to obstruct many improvements, not just for new ones, but even for merely repairing or upgrading existing structures and sites. Why does it take a decade to complete things these days when most of that is eaten up in lawsuits, protests, regulatory games, absurdly complex bidding processes (often for unrelated "needs" like diversity, etc.) and oversight? People love to say things like "China built this or that" but forgetting that have none of the constraints we impose on ourselves.
If we're going to get serious about rebuilding infrastructure then we need to simplify and streamline our methods of doing so.
4
That is fair comment to a point, but let's not forget that the Republican party is the one that has been preaching the evils of government spending for, oh, about 50 years.
5
This article, like Tuesday's article on America's deficient bridges, is based on hard data and bring home the staggering magnitude of the public infrastructure problem. The infrastructure problem reveals yet again that politicians are unwilling-unable to address longer-term issues whose impact falls after the coming election.
Like children, they will spend a billion dollars to clean up a mess, but not a million to prevent one.
Later this year the GOP and Pres. Trump will no doubt target hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to established contractors who also just happen to be big campaign contributors. Unfortunately, that time-worn approach is how we arrived in our current situation.
Consider: Future generations of taxpayers will mostly pay for these projects and will get most of the good out of them, too. So I propose that ALL federal dollars in the new infrastructure bill be limited to contractors whose work forces are comprised 50% or more of community college graduates of the past decade. Preference would go to those who studied the construction arts or related fields (engineering, surveying, etc.).
Because it will take a generation to update our dilapidated infrastructure, this policy would provide encouragement to a generation of high school graduates to continue with school. It would also provide contractors with a smarter work force.
Since future generations will pay for the projects, an effort should be made to steer many of the opportunities to them!
Like children, they will spend a billion dollars to clean up a mess, but not a million to prevent one.
Later this year the GOP and Pres. Trump will no doubt target hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to established contractors who also just happen to be big campaign contributors. Unfortunately, that time-worn approach is how we arrived in our current situation.
Consider: Future generations of taxpayers will mostly pay for these projects and will get most of the good out of them, too. So I propose that ALL federal dollars in the new infrastructure bill be limited to contractors whose work forces are comprised 50% or more of community college graduates of the past decade. Preference would go to those who studied the construction arts or related fields (engineering, surveying, etc.).
Because it will take a generation to update our dilapidated infrastructure, this policy would provide encouragement to a generation of high school graduates to continue with school. It would also provide contractors with a smarter work force.
Since future generations will pay for the projects, an effort should be made to steer many of the opportunities to them!
3
Many, but not all, of these dams are privately owned and "operated". As the article notes, many are obsolete and serve no purpose other than to block aquatic habitat. Downstream municipalities and property owners could, as the Yurok tribe in the Klamath drainage in California have, through the courts force owners of these obsolete dams to recognize the liability for property and water quality damage downstream. Imagine the cost of liability insurance for a dam that threatened a town in northern Nevada. Recognition, and responsibility for, this liability would make many dams a cash-flow liability (they cost more to operate than the revenue, if any, they generate). Let the Smithsonian invisible hand of markets show owners of private dams the best way forward. If you don't remove 'em, it's gonna cost ya.
3
As awful as the situation is, it points to an opportunity. I don't know if Trump can bring back manufacturing jobs (and by implication, bolster the shrinking middle class) but I agree with the other commenter that it's a public works project just waiting to happen. Perhaps repairing and restoring (and dismantling, when appropriate) ALL of our decaying infrastructure IS the "manufacturing" economy of our current age.
And these days we know a lot more about ecology: how natural systems work and why they're important. Let's let rivers be rivers, and make sure the hydropower dams in operation are as efficient and clean-running as possible.
And these days we know a lot more about ecology: how natural systems work and why they're important. Let's let rivers be rivers, and make sure the hydropower dams in operation are as efficient and clean-running as possible.
2
Here's a chance --- begin the government CCC camps --- rebuild the infrastructure --- but do not turn it over to Bechtel.
1
So lets fix this instead of bulding walls.
In North Florida the Rodman Dam and Reservoir are artifacts of the defunct (in the Nixon administration) Cross Florida Barge Canal - defunct because of the realization that it would have drained the swamps with all of our usable water into the ocean. The dam has been "deauthorized" for over 30 years now but a few bass fisherman have influenced the state governors and legislatures to leave it in place.
Could it be that catching a few bass is more important than eliminating a river obstruction that provides nothing (no energy, no flood control, no navigable waters) and is a maintenance pit (including working of Panama Canal style locks to raise and lower *bass boats*)? Or is it that it holds a hidden promise for land speculators hoping to connect through to the St. Johns River and Jacksonville while adding hundreds of newly-minted waterfront canal lots?
It's often been said that Florida has inherited the mantle from California as the refuge for hucksters, flim-flam artists, and polecats of any stripe. In doubt? Watch our governor and legislature poised to do nothing once again so we citizens can remain pondering a future of WWTT (What were they thinking?)
Could it be that catching a few bass is more important than eliminating a river obstruction that provides nothing (no energy, no flood control, no navigable waters) and is a maintenance pit (including working of Panama Canal style locks to raise and lower *bass boats*)? Or is it that it holds a hidden promise for land speculators hoping to connect through to the St. Johns River and Jacksonville while adding hundreds of newly-minted waterfront canal lots?
It's often been said that Florida has inherited the mantle from California as the refuge for hucksters, flim-flam artists, and polecats of any stripe. In doubt? Watch our governor and legislature poised to do nothing once again so we citizens can remain pondering a future of WWTT (What were they thinking?)
1
Our infrastructure is in desperate need of repair ...Doesn't get enough attention!
Could provide jobs and in turn help the economy while keeping us safer. This method worked during the Great Depression and it can work today.
Could provide jobs and in turn help the economy while keeping us safer. This method worked during the Great Depression and it can work today.
I don't understand the cries about the state of dams in US triggered by this article. In fact, the article just lists four things: the age of dams, the ownership of dams, the "hazard potential" of dams (i.e. how much damage will happen if the dam actually fails, as opposed to how likely it is to fail) and the number of dams removed. It has nothing to do with how dangerous the dams are, or whether or not they are in disrepair.
Too many people seem to rush to conclusion that US has a dam problem, while the article doesn't really support the notion. Age is not synonymous with disrepair; hazard potential is not synonymous with danger - or the lack thereof if the dam is removed; ownership is just ownership, and, well, there are a bunch of reasons to remove a dam that have nothing to do with its danger.
Too many people seem to rush to conclusion that US has a dam problem, while the article doesn't really support the notion. Age is not synonymous with disrepair; hazard potential is not synonymous with danger - or the lack thereof if the dam is removed; ownership is just ownership, and, well, there are a bunch of reasons to remove a dam that have nothing to do with its danger.
These are state resources, with state tax dollar funding. States dollars are used for such things. Not every thing in America requires federal dollars. Get a grip.
Do you think the voters will ever cotton to the fact that we should be spending public money on dams instead of war?
That's way too sensible for voters who make war on Vietnam and the Middle East, democrats and republicans.
Think for yourself?
That's way too sensible for voters who make war on Vietnam and the Middle East, democrats and republicans.
Think for yourself?
Dams just don't have the same political clout as the military industrial complex.
The map of Alaska is incomplete. See: Terror Lake (Kodiak), Solomon Gulch (Valdez), Swan Lake (Ketchikan); Beluga Lake (across Kachemak Bay from Homer). Lake Tyee doesn't have a dam; it's a lake tap (serves Wrangell & Petersburg).
Years ago the first time I moved to Atlanta, I began exploring the "mountains" of N GA and discovered this small bible school in the hills. What made this place special was that they had a small dam and a swimming beach.
The sign on the beach said it all though. "NO SWIMMING ON SUNDAY."
Showed that to my visitors from NY and they howled. One Sunday had a couple of NY friends down and we went to see the dam/sign - they had never seen it before.
The place was destroyed. The several small cabins below the dam were destroyed and 4 people lost their lives when the dam broke. Every square foot of water weighs 64 pounds and if it falls several feet - a lot of force will be exerted.
Most businesses don't look beyond the next financial quarter - the winners like Apple look years ahead. Our pols don't look beyond the next election cycle.
The sign on the beach said it all though. "NO SWIMMING ON SUNDAY."
Showed that to my visitors from NY and they howled. One Sunday had a couple of NY friends down and we went to see the dam/sign - they had never seen it before.
The place was destroyed. The several small cabins below the dam were destroyed and 4 people lost their lives when the dam broke. Every square foot of water weighs 64 pounds and if it falls several feet - a lot of force will be exerted.
Most businesses don't look beyond the next financial quarter - the winners like Apple look years ahead. Our pols don't look beyond the next election cycle.
1
And where is the US Congress and our State Legislatures on all of this? Only an engaged citizenry putting pressure on these bodies will bring about innovation and restoration. Citizens need to speak up and demand a Race to the Moon for Infrastructure. Tired of driving on roads, bridges, and tunnels that date back to FDR or before!!!
2
But look at all the cool weapons we have!
1
Obviously, stopping transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice is a LOT more important than all these corroding dams that could kill tens of thousand of people upon collapse.
For this kind of Administration, "infrastructure" just doesn't have that same kind of media "ummph" that "transgender" does.
Thank the minority of voters that Bannon, et al, understand this!
(We can only hope, for the sake of justice, that these voters are same people near these dams)
For this kind of Administration, "infrastructure" just doesn't have that same kind of media "ummph" that "transgender" does.
Thank the minority of voters that Bannon, et al, understand this!
(We can only hope, for the sake of justice, that these voters are same people near these dams)
2
Obviously, forcing every school in America to allow everyone who thinks he's a boy on Tuesday and a girl on Thursday to use the locker room of (his)(her) choice is a LOT more important than all these corroding dams that could kill tens of thousand of people upon collapse.
Obama's adminisration was more interested in social engineering than in fixing what matters.
Obama's adminisration was more interested in social engineering than in fixing what matters.
2
Why do we willingly fiddle, as we sit on the deck of a sinking Titanic, and discuss "isn't this just terrible?"
My hypothesis: All Americans think that we are safe, the screams we are hearing are of "those" people who are getting screwed because they deserve to be screwed. So why bother.
My prediction: There will be a pristine America, verdant with every noun fixed to tip top shape (that would be the Bannon-Anton America). There will be the 'barbed wire America' where "others" are herded and contained. The barbed are living in violent, unsafe, unsanitary, jobless, future-less hovels anyway - so the barbed wire really made no difference. If a self-governing Orange County can pipe in fresh squeezed orange juice and distilled water, let East LA drink brown water with lead and mercury. All "they" have to do is shut up, work the farms, mines, factories, and serve the verdants - and everyone will get along just fine. OC needs good schools, they will have them. Barbed wire needs a prison, electric fences, and brown shirts. Golly! They will have them too.
Verdant America will have fast internet, cars that run on hydrogen, microbots that cure all diseases, good looking mamas and rich daddies.
Barbed wire America will discuss times of food, healthcare, education, or breathable air.
There are frightening parallels between now and the nadir of the Roman empire. We are not smarter, we are colossally, irredeemably dumber now than we ever were.
Kalidan
My hypothesis: All Americans think that we are safe, the screams we are hearing are of "those" people who are getting screwed because they deserve to be screwed. So why bother.
My prediction: There will be a pristine America, verdant with every noun fixed to tip top shape (that would be the Bannon-Anton America). There will be the 'barbed wire America' where "others" are herded and contained. The barbed are living in violent, unsafe, unsanitary, jobless, future-less hovels anyway - so the barbed wire really made no difference. If a self-governing Orange County can pipe in fresh squeezed orange juice and distilled water, let East LA drink brown water with lead and mercury. All "they" have to do is shut up, work the farms, mines, factories, and serve the verdants - and everyone will get along just fine. OC needs good schools, they will have them. Barbed wire needs a prison, electric fences, and brown shirts. Golly! They will have them too.
Verdant America will have fast internet, cars that run on hydrogen, microbots that cure all diseases, good looking mamas and rich daddies.
Barbed wire America will discuss times of food, healthcare, education, or breathable air.
There are frightening parallels between now and the nadir of the Roman empire. We are not smarter, we are colossally, irredeemably dumber now than we ever were.
Kalidan
3
But it is so much more profitable to build bombs and missiles! And to use the bombs so that still more need to be built
3
It isn't just the dams, it's the bridges, roads and other infrastructure. Please stop spending our resources on wars in other countries and start taking care of our country now.
5
And raise taxes on those who've benefited the most from our system to help pay for it instead of passing the debt to our children and grandchildren.
All one has to do is compare the present against historical pre-Reagan tax rates to understand just how far we've blindly followed the 'trickledowners' into their debt hole https://taxfoundation.org/us-federal-individual-income-tax-rates-history...
All one has to do is compare the present against historical pre-Reagan tax rates to understand just how far we've blindly followed the 'trickledowners' into their debt hole https://taxfoundation.org/us-federal-individual-income-tax-rates-history...
1
Most every Corps dam in the Willamette River system, where roughly 70% of all Oregonians live, have reached or are near their design lifetime. The map below is great, but the Corps could also indicate how long the dams were intended to last. This is a major issue that needs to be addressed. Some dams could be removed and not replaced, and others rebuilt to be less harmful to rivers, and to allow passage of native fish.
3
It's pretty clear that our dams, bridges, highways, airports, and most other infrastructure is old and broken down. It's not at all clear why Trump is ignoring this completely. This was a campaign issue for him, and unlike everything else he's done so far, on this issue I think he'd have bipartisan support. When the nation's tallest dam, in CA, was in danger of flooding and wiping out towns downstream last week, that was a perfect opportunity for him to rush through an emergency spending bill, get engineers working on it, and repair the dam, accompanied by loud self-congratulations.
It would have worked great, taken peoples' minds off the various scandals and blunders, and these infrastructure repairs wouldn't be difficult to get done. So why doesn't he say or do anything about them?
Ah well, probably the answer is he's just unintelligent and has no attention span. But it's a shame, because he could have gotten support from people that hate and fear him now, and also people are going to get killed by this failure of infrastructure.
It would have worked great, taken peoples' minds off the various scandals and blunders, and these infrastructure repairs wouldn't be difficult to get done. So why doesn't he say or do anything about them?
Ah well, probably the answer is he's just unintelligent and has no attention span. But it's a shame, because he could have gotten support from people that hate and fear him now, and also people are going to get killed by this failure of infrastructure.
2
Repairing dams would provide how many jobs and in how many states? From the look of the map at least every state in the lower 48 would have quite a few jobs created for the tasks involved. Other jobs would be created as result of these jobs. Some of the jobs would require skilled employees while others would not. We might even see college students learning about the innate dignity of working with a shovel, wading into the mud, using a level, etc.
What's dismaying about this situation is that for 8 long years our infrastructure didn't matter to the "We want to make Obama a one term president" GOP. It would have cost us a lot less and the situation would not have been as critical had the Good for Nothing Odious Prigs acted like adults for 8 years and funded a federal dam improvement project. Then again, no one in the GOP has ever lost any sleep over how their intransigence on the job has cost all working Americans a better life.
What's dismaying about this situation is that for 8 long years our infrastructure didn't matter to the "We want to make Obama a one term president" GOP. It would have cost us a lot less and the situation would not have been as critical had the Good for Nothing Odious Prigs acted like adults for 8 years and funded a federal dam improvement project. Then again, no one in the GOP has ever lost any sleep over how their intransigence on the job has cost all working Americans a better life.
13
Dams are not much of a partisan issue. Most are located in Western Republican states. Dam inspection was first funded by Democrats. Dam repair was first funded by Republicans. When the stimulus bill was passed, first by Bush then by Obama, nobody chose to fund dam repair. Of the 8 years of the Obama administration, 2 had a Democrat Congress. 6 were Republican-controlled. No dam bill was funded during this period. Republicans do not support big spending. Dams are not a priority for Democrats. So the issue gets little attention from either party. There is not a hot partisan dispute. It is what it is.
1
$800 billion spent on "shovel-ready" jobs and all we got was Solyndra and some roads. Maybe if Obama had spent some of that money on "shovel-ready" jobs fixing our dams, we might be in better shape.
5
Tony....thank you for the misinformation and disinformation from your fake news sources.
President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) $787 billion economic stimulus package very effectively counteracted the Bush-Cheney 2008 Depression that drove America off an economic cliff.
I'm not sure if you have access to historical facts, but they can be very illuminating.
ARRA had three spending categories.
1. It cut taxes by $288 billion.
2. It spent $224 billion in extended unemployment benefits, education and health care.
3. And it created jobs by allocating $275 billion in federal contracts, grants, and loans.
By the end of FY 2009, $242 billion had been spent: $92.8 billion in tax relief, $86.5 billion in unemployment and other benefits and $62.6 billion in job creation grants.
In the FY 2012 budget, additional funding was allocated to raise the total to $840 billion.
By December 31, 2013, $816.3 billion had been spent: $290.7 billion in tax relief, $264.4 billion in benefits, and $261.2 billion in contracts, grants or loans.
Obama's tax rebates showed up as less tax withholding, and as a result, some Know Nothings weren't aware they got a tax rebate.
The Stimulus for Small Business helped create jobs, increased lending from the SBA and community banks and reduced capital gains taxes for small business investors.
The public works construction stimulus money helped rebuild roads and added or retained 3 million jobs.
Your ignorance is impressive.
President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) $787 billion economic stimulus package very effectively counteracted the Bush-Cheney 2008 Depression that drove America off an economic cliff.
I'm not sure if you have access to historical facts, but they can be very illuminating.
ARRA had three spending categories.
1. It cut taxes by $288 billion.
2. It spent $224 billion in extended unemployment benefits, education and health care.
3. And it created jobs by allocating $275 billion in federal contracts, grants, and loans.
By the end of FY 2009, $242 billion had been spent: $92.8 billion in tax relief, $86.5 billion in unemployment and other benefits and $62.6 billion in job creation grants.
In the FY 2012 budget, additional funding was allocated to raise the total to $840 billion.
By December 31, 2013, $816.3 billion had been spent: $290.7 billion in tax relief, $264.4 billion in benefits, and $261.2 billion in contracts, grants or loans.
Obama's tax rebates showed up as less tax withholding, and as a result, some Know Nothings weren't aware they got a tax rebate.
The Stimulus for Small Business helped create jobs, increased lending from the SBA and community banks and reduced capital gains taxes for small business investors.
The public works construction stimulus money helped rebuild roads and added or retained 3 million jobs.
Your ignorance is impressive.
43
Maybe if Congress had let Obama spend the money we would be in better shape. The GOP was the party that decided not to work with Obama, not vice versa.
21
Tony, dear...you are aware of course of Bush-Cheney's failed $3 trillion war stimulus in the Iraqi desert that killed at least 100,000 our of sheer right-wing incompetence and stupidity, right ?
It would have been nice to spend a little of that stimulus in America, like President Obama did.
It would have been nice to spend a little of that stimulus in America, like President Obama did.
17
"America's Aging Dams Are in Need of Removal" - FTFY
5
Dams are only one element of our obsolete, decayed and crumbling national infrastructure. Dams have also caused significant environmental challenges, above and beyond the threat they now pose to communities located within reach of a disastrous breach - much as was the case in New Orleans with the poorly constructed and shoddily maintained levee system. The hard truth is that while the GOTP continues to shovel billions of dollars in tax cuts for plutocrats and our MIC, and looks to gut our tattered safety net even more, we fall further behind in our electrical grid, water pipelines, natural gas pipelines, roads, bridges, railroad tracks and crossings, and more. The unbelievable stupidity and callous refusal to confront these issues is costing the nation trillions of dollars, and millions of long term, good jobs - President Obama tried to move forward, but was stymied and obstructed by the racist thugs in Congress, who preferred to deny him success than to harbor any concern for the safety and health of their constituents. Now, they seek to send us back to the 1800's with reversing hard-won progress on a plethora of social issues, civil rights, and so on. What else is new? The GOTP is the party of 'NO" on everything but tax cuts and war. Their myopia will kill people. 2/23, 9:48 AM
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Just tell the so called president that dam walls keep out Mexicans and he can have many walls and they will actually be useful.
Many of the dams in the Northeast were likely built to create water power for mills. Most of them could be taken down as we have long since needed that type of power source.
Removing these dams would make rivers healthier and could bring back wild salmon to the Northeast which would be an economic and ecologic boon.
I would love for this to happen to the Housatonic River which runs through Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Removing these dams would make rivers healthier and could bring back wild salmon to the Northeast which would be an economic and ecologic boon.
I would love for this to happen to the Housatonic River which runs through Connecticut and Massachusetts.
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But but if the Republicans fix the dams how can they give corporations and the 1% more tax cuts, after all they do have their priorities.
15
Sorry, but this is way more important than transgender rights.
4
Dear Blue State,
It really is. Transgender didn't even exist fifty years ago, and only maybe one person in 10,000 is transgender. If people are forbidden from bathrooms they can probably just go into them anyway and nobody will arrest them. But failing infrastructure impacts everybody who lives in this country.
It really is. Transgender didn't even exist fifty years ago, and only maybe one person in 10,000 is transgender. If people are forbidden from bathrooms they can probably just go into them anyway and nobody will arrest them. But failing infrastructure impacts everybody who lives in this country.
2
The good news is, if Cali secedes, a large portion of the problem goes away. We can hope, at least!
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Is it fair to say that it's about dam time?
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One of the greatest threats from dam failure in the United States would involve the dams on the Columbia River upstream from Hanford Washington where enormous amounts of radioactive waste is stored in leaking underground tanks. That event would likely unleash the radioactive waste into the Columbia which runs right by Hanford.
The Pacific Northwest is due for a mega-earthquake from the Cascadia subduction zone off the Pacific coast. No one knows how dams like the Grand Coulee would fare following a magnitude 9 earthquake.
The Pacific Northwest is due for a mega-earthquake from the Cascadia subduction zone off the Pacific coast. No one knows how dams like the Grand Coulee would fare following a magnitude 9 earthquake.
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It's safe to assume that you don't like to sleep at night.
Sadly, the money that is needed to repair these useful dams will instead be spent on a useless wall on our southern border.
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Useless wall?
It will save 100 of billions of dollars spent on social services and deportation costs for illegal aliens.
It will save 100 of billions of dollars spent on social services and deportation costs for illegal aliens.
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I agree that spending money on a wall is a terrible idea. Better to spend it on taking care of our children's education and health care and infrastructure.
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George, it's useless because people will go over it with ladders, and planes, under it with tunnels, and around it with boats. It's useless because it will stop nobody but the completely unprepared from entering the country. It will also be environmentally damaging, and cannot actually be built down the center of the Rio Grande.
The Chagrin River has had 2 dam failures since 2000.
In 12/31/2004 the Dam burst at Daniels Park. The water flow that day/night was 10x normal! They think that a huge ram had had a battering ram like effect on a weaker spot in the dam wall . Just like storming a castle!This dam was the first dam upstream from Lake Erie. The result has been a decrease in steel head trout fishing. The dam had been an obstacle for the trout as they swam up river to spawn. They could jump over the dam but with some effort. They would circle before trying and people came from about a 100 mile radius to fish there. No dam, no obstacle, poor fishing.
February 28, 2011 the next dam up river failed. The Gates Mills Dam burst. This was a much higher dam that was an effective block to the fish swimming up river. While both burstings had fairly spectacular waves go down river damage was not too bad.
As of now the fish can swim unimpeded all the way from Lake Erie to the scenic town of Chagrin Fall. There is the dam and just below it there are the the waterfalls. I have a feeling if tis ever burst there might be some damage.
There is also a good sized dam at the Harpersfield Covered Bridge on the Grand River. Really good fishing below that dam!
Come to NE Ohio. Spend money here. Good fishing. Until the next dam bursts!
In 12/31/2004 the Dam burst at Daniels Park. The water flow that day/night was 10x normal! They think that a huge ram had had a battering ram like effect on a weaker spot in the dam wall . Just like storming a castle!This dam was the first dam upstream from Lake Erie. The result has been a decrease in steel head trout fishing. The dam had been an obstacle for the trout as they swam up river to spawn. They could jump over the dam but with some effort. They would circle before trying and people came from about a 100 mile radius to fish there. No dam, no obstacle, poor fishing.
February 28, 2011 the next dam up river failed. The Gates Mills Dam burst. This was a much higher dam that was an effective block to the fish swimming up river. While both burstings had fairly spectacular waves go down river damage was not too bad.
As of now the fish can swim unimpeded all the way from Lake Erie to the scenic town of Chagrin Fall. There is the dam and just below it there are the the waterfalls. I have a feeling if tis ever burst there might be some damage.
There is also a good sized dam at the Harpersfield Covered Bridge on the Grand River. Really good fishing below that dam!
Come to NE Ohio. Spend money here. Good fishing. Until the next dam bursts!
The Oroville problem did not put the issue in the public spotlight.
Trump campaigned on the topic of US crumbling infrastructure from the very beginning. He included dams along with bridges, tunnels, levees, roads, even rail systems.
Sadly his hopes of a WPA or CCC type program using welfare recipients as labor will never fly. Can you imagine the union response to using non-members for pick and shovel work. Can you imagine the response from the Left when you suggest public assistance recipients actually be put to work?
Trump campaigned on the topic of US crumbling infrastructure from the very beginning. He included dams along with bridges, tunnels, levees, roads, even rail systems.
Sadly his hopes of a WPA or CCC type program using welfare recipients as labor will never fly. Can you imagine the union response to using non-members for pick and shovel work. Can you imagine the response from the Left when you suggest public assistance recipients actually be put to work?
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This is the public works program waiting to happen. This should be a US jobs program, not using private contractors who are in it only for the money and so use the cheapest materials and labor. Repairing infrastructure should create government jobs, paying decent wages...NOT contracted out to for-profit corporations. The materials must be from the US. Instead our money all goes to the Koch brothers and big oil and big war for fossil fuel development so we can burn up our plant..or to war (any war will do) which also enriches the fossil fuel corporations and burns up the planet. The corporate coup is fully accomplished. Vote every single time.
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It's time to reread Edward Abbey's, "The Monkey Wrench Gang". Too many dams, doing too little good were built. It's time to take a lot of them down, as well as fix others.
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One of our children interned at the Army Corps of Engineers for a summer, documenting dams in the Northeast. It was a fascinating experience for him, but the lesson learned was "Don't ever buy property downstream of a dam". Good advice!
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Thank goodness the stadiums and arenas in America aren't falling apart like our dams, bridges and roads. Handouts, like the three million in tax kickbacks to each pro sports team in Florida, are high priority as well. Heaven forbid we should fail to maintain what's really important.
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Oh, hahaha, I just couldn't wait to see how many comments it would take to place blame on Trump and the border wall. It is a wonder our infrastructure in in the state it is in with so many Democrats? who can demonstrate such single-minded focus.
I've noticed that the same people who scream about "too much government" scream even louder when they hit a pothole. These idiots don't seem to associate government with anything but moral issues. After hearing young people raging that they joined the National Guard or military to get an education and pensions and it's "not fair" when they get called up for service, I've given up trying to understand them.
So good luck with those dams.
So good luck with those dams.
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Dam removal can bring a variety of benefits -- here's a film by American Rivers about the removal of dams on the Elwha and White Salmon rivers several years ago (The dams on the Elwha were the tallest ever removed) -- https://www.americanrivers.org/rivers/films/year-of-the-river/
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The only infrastructure "proposal" I have seen relates to private investment funding projects which would, through various fees, tolls, etc, would then generate profits for the government subsidized investor/developers. Exactly how would such schemes translate to "America's Aging Dams?" Good luck -
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A reason to have a government is to take care of things that citizens cannot take care of on their own. Taking care of infrastructure is high on the list. We should lean on congress and the president to do their job.
The failure in Oroville wasn't an aging dam. The concrete used was three inches thick. The new standard is several feet thick. It was a poor design. The emergency overflow was also a poor design.
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Where on earth did you get 3 inches thick? The spillway is 178 feet wide and 15 inches thick.
Sorry, trump & co. are too busy rescinding the rules on bathrooms for transgender students to pay attention to our crumbling infrastructure.
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And Obama was too busy creating rules on bathrooms for transgender students to pay attention to our crumbling infrastructure.
Right?
Right?
I seem to remember the party of NO blocking every attempt of President Obama to introduce bills to repair our infrastructure, so, no, you're wrong.
This is the dam problem in this country.
Well, so are our streets, bridges, water pipes, etc. What else is new? If a few people die because of a bridge collapse, this is collateral damage. Much cheaper than building a new bridge.
This country is perennially broke, was so even in the fat times. Let's face it, those improvements just don't bring politicians votes!
This country is perennially broke, was so even in the fat times. Let's face it, those improvements just don't bring politicians votes!
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Feels like I'm reading about the Acropolis. Time for a new civilization.
Lets stop with the trillion dollars of free health care and fix our country.
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Jerome....Obamacare cost a total of $110 billion in 2016 and provided healthcare stability and access to to at least 12 million Americans and countless others; while not perfect, and in need of a few modifications, the ACA actually fixed a lot of broken parts of our country's very broken health care system, so your logic and data are severely flawed.
Obamacare is also paid for with specific dedicated taxes.
Obamacare is exactly the kind of public policy that has fixed our country.
Too bad your healthcare anger blinds you to real solutions.
Obamacare is also paid for with specific dedicated taxes.
Obamacare is exactly the kind of public policy that has fixed our country.
Too bad your healthcare anger blinds you to real solutions.
Until you are ready to refuse to treat a pedestrian struck by a car simply because he is uninsured or under-insured, healthcare will be a cost that will not go away. It is a matter of efficiency. Single payer probably makes the most sense.
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Fixing our country requires a healthy population so I think the health care money is well spent. Instead, maybe we should consider cutting our bloated military which uses well over half of our national budget. And the Wall that Mr. Trump wants to build is simply another dam that will fail spectacularly. get your priorities straight!
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We cannot afford afford to throw tax dollars to things like broken dams and the attendant damage to health and property when they fail. We need to focus on how adolescents use the toilet, We need to spend time on campaign rallies for 2020. We need to watch the nuclear football game at the Bob Kraft dinner party at Mar a Lago Ago.
We cannot spend tax dollars on non-divisive, non- partisan things like dams and dam safety when we can use those dollars to build a big ugly wall to further alienate our biggest trade partners and next door neighbor. Priorites!
Speaking of which- I hate to be a broken record- but where ARE those tax returns?
We cannot spend tax dollars on non-divisive, non- partisan things like dams and dam safety when we can use those dollars to build a big ugly wall to further alienate our biggest trade partners and next door neighbor. Priorites!
Speaking of which- I hate to be a broken record- but where ARE those tax returns?
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An internal report this month from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimated the 'beautiful Southern border' Mexican wall would cost $21.6 billion in order to collapse America's agricultural economy.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-wall-exclusive-i...
Damn those water dams - not one damn penny for life-saving infrastructure !
Dam the borders and damn common sense.
Fight for the "free-dumb" to drop dead and be killed by your own exceptionally American stupidity !
The Party of Stupid is rising as it collapses America.
Nice people.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-wall-exclusive-i...
Damn those water dams - not one damn penny for life-saving infrastructure !
Dam the borders and damn common sense.
Fight for the "free-dumb" to drop dead and be killed by your own exceptionally American stupidity !
The Party of Stupid is rising as it collapses America.
Nice people.
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Socrates, you are too kind to the Party of Stupid. Stupid doesn't begin to describe the actions they are taking, endorsing, or considering. Unfortunately scatological language would be severely censored on this site but I think you get the idea.
2
S,
Nice try! The Oroville Dam is in California and was criminally neglected by Democrats who are in complete control of the state. They (the Democrats) are wasting 5X as much money as the border wall, on a "Low speed train to nowhere". Money that could fix much of California's failing infrastructure.
Look first to cleaning your own house!
Nice try! The Oroville Dam is in California and was criminally neglected by Democrats who are in complete control of the state. They (the Democrats) are wasting 5X as much money as the border wall, on a "Low speed train to nowhere". Money that could fix much of California's failing infrastructure.
Look first to cleaning your own house!
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Let's skip the stupid, immoral wall and fix the dams! We'll have as much luck getting the fish to pay for the work as we will Mexico.
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We'll make the fish pay by eating them!
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Investments in aging dams would provide tangible benefit and avert further preventable disasters, as would shoring up other public infrastructure. Another radical idea, investing in our people, would promote a robust American future. Rather, this administration is fixated on fear of immigrants, building a wall, eliminating environmental protections and cutting taxes of our "poor" wealthy class. I fear the nation our youth will be saddled with.
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No, they're in need of destruction, mostly. Many of them are useless artifacts of a bygone paradigm in which man thought it should, and could, have complete dominion over nature. We've since learned that the costs of dams almost always outweigh their benefits, and many of these dams are completely obsolete.
13
So....the water supplies behind dams should be destroyed?
The renewable energy generated through hydroelectric dams should be destroyed?
The humans who have found living space, livelihood, family, and history in the shadow of dams should all be destroyed?
You, madam, should find your own planet.
The renewable energy generated through hydroelectric dams should be destroyed?
The humans who have found living space, livelihood, family, and history in the shadow of dams should all be destroyed?
You, madam, should find your own planet.
2
so we should have a public works program to remove the dams and restore natural water circulation.
Instead of taking care of aging infrastructure, our president wants to build a multi-billion dollar wall along our border....
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This is a serious problem and another related problem is with Levees. Many Levees were built by the Corps of Engineers and handed over to local Levee Districts in my state and some have ceased to function for a long time.
These problems are related as many times the rivers where the dams are placed also need levees. A failure of either will be a tragedy. In my local areas we have few dams, but many Levees.
Here is a report of our local District- responsible for a huge swath of the Mississippi and tributary rivers in 7 counties. The quoted budget of less than $3 million looks very meager compared to the price of maintenance.
http://www.nwd.usace.army.mil/Portals/25/docs/MR/18-MVFCA.pdf
I can only imagine that this problem in some form exists elsewhere in America.
These problems are related as many times the rivers where the dams are placed also need levees. A failure of either will be a tragedy. In my local areas we have few dams, but many Levees.
Here is a report of our local District- responsible for a huge swath of the Mississippi and tributary rivers in 7 counties. The quoted budget of less than $3 million looks very meager compared to the price of maintenance.
http://www.nwd.usace.army.mil/Portals/25/docs/MR/18-MVFCA.pdf
I can only imagine that this problem in some form exists elsewhere in America.
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A dam needs maintenance even though it is static. Virginia inspects dams and require private owners to repair and upgrade them if necessary.
Our state has similar laws on the books but in many cases they have not been enforced. like a speed limit, if it is not enforced it's just a suggestion
"This is a serious problem and another related problem is with Levees. Many Levees were built by the Corps of Engineers and handed over to local Levee Districts in my state and some have ceased to function for a long time."
Sadly, this is what comes of "block grants" to the states for burdens that realistically can only be shouldered by the nation as a whole.
Sadly, this is what comes of "block grants" to the states for burdens that realistically can only be shouldered by the nation as a whole.
1
But hey, blowing $20,000,000,000 on a border wall is a better way to spend our money, right?
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Hopefully, this is one area where democrats and republicans can work with the White House to put forth a meaningful infrastructure bill. One that is fiscally effective.
I think Americans don't mind paying taxes for such things...its all the add on's that cause problems. A laser focused bill on infrastructure repair would be welcome by all sides.
I think Americans don't mind paying taxes for such things...its all the add on's that cause problems. A laser focused bill on infrastructure repair would be welcome by all sides.
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Our tax dollars go to the arms industry and war. It's been that way since I was little in the 60's. The arms industry manufactures a product without meaning. We build to destroy. It must come from some deep seated fear within us, but it is surely self destructive. A trillion dollars for three F-35 prototypes. According to the article we need to spend billions to fix our dams. Just think, we would have money left over to fix most of these dams and then we could add to that solar fields and wind farms and bullet rail on a large scale. Like the New Deal, not only would we be building for future generations but we would be providing jobs for the here and now. A private/public consortium of builders. I guess this is socialistic so it would be struck down by those fearful of sustainability.
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Sorry, our tax dollars go to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. About 72% of the Federal budget is 'payments to or on behalf of individuals'. State budgets, same thing, more than half of the money goes to Medicaid.
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Well said. It's always easier to berate the money spent on defense, but it is the same people who want to wipe out the defense budget who cry the loudest when terrorism or rogue states like North Korea and Iran threaten America.
Winston for President!
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This situation is the product of infrastructure deferred maintenance and low taxation. We are suffering the effects of deferred maintenance on our infrastructure across our nation from aging dams, roads, rails, amongst others. The dollars to maintain and repair our infrastructure come from user fees and taxes that our elected leaders refuse to raise. It is easy to get elected on a no new taxes platform. It is cheaper to repair something now rather than repairing it later. Laws need to be enacted that require those private dam owners have liability insurance should their dam fail and cause damage downstream.
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What is this "low taxation" of which you speak? Last year, for the first time, my Federal, State and local taxes consumed more than half my income. Half for me, half for the government. I wouldn't call that "low"
At least it doesn't look like these dams are anywhere important.
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The American people have known for decades that our infrastructure is collapsing and the Republicans in Congress routinely stymie any effort to invest in substantive repairs or upgrades. This is not news.
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Is it possible extreme anti-taxers might be bringing on plagues of dam break drownings?
In any case, this is infrastructure work requiring immediate attention.
In any case, this is infrastructure work requiring immediate attention.
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Sure, but shouldn't we build a border wall first? I mean, come on! Brown people!
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You mention several people have drowned because of a dam built in Maryland 1907. That is sad, but seriously, how can you have an article on dams without mentioning the environmental damage dams have done? Seems a bit lazy to me.
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They focused squarely on the safety aspect because of recent events in CA and NV. But you are right, dams have devastated rivers and ecosystems in the U.S. and around the world. They have displaced Native tribes (one example is the Missouri River) and decimated sustainable food sources (wild salmon runs in the Columbia and Snake rivers).
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For Jerry Brown not to see this coming while having the State Department of Water Resources and "Cousin" Water Resources Control Board right at his doorsteps in Sacramento shows he is out of it. He should retire.
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Imagine using the money allocated for the Wall at the Mexican Border to rebuild our dams. Imagine!
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Imagine all the good that a competent administration could do.
Downstream from the dams young men and women are searching for jobs. In rural areas with no High-speed trains, young men and women are searching for jobs. In inner cities young men and women in the shadow of aging schools and hospitals are searching for jobs.
The 'work of the country' is not being brought to the citizens looking for work.
Washington Consensus Capitalism does not bring the country's work to the people.
The 'work of the country' is not being brought to the citizens looking for work.
Washington Consensus Capitalism does not bring the country's work to the people.
3
We do not need a "big, beautiful wall", we need to update our aging infrastructure. Spend that 21.5 billion dollars on roads, bridges, dams, schools and hospitals, because that's where it's needed. The newbies in the White House are unable to prioritize, and in doing so, are alienating our second largest trading partner, Mexico. If they continue on this road, trade, which translates into dollars, will suffer, more bridges will crumble, and even trumpies will finally understand the emperor is stark naked.
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Voters have a job to do and they haven't been very good at it. Cycles of funding and defunding public works projects and forcing experienced employees into early retirement or into part-time jobs (consultants) has consequences. I predict we will continue to see these consequences and that government will continue to be blamed for ineptitude. Handing off public work projects to low-bidding private companies is not a fix. It is a risk. But until Americans are personally inconvenienced it looks like they will keep voting for deficit scolds and the GOP.
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Why did the governors and senators who serve these states wait so long to act?
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To give liberals a chance to blame the next president not from their party.
Too bad we're spending all our money to "fix" our border with Mexico instead!!
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Many dams in the US may, indeed, be aged and in need of repair. However, the author is incorrect that the recent failures at the Oroville Dam in California are evidence to support his contention. The Oroville Dam was completed only 49 years ago. Any government that designs and engineers a dam that only lasts 49 years before it has a substantial failure is incompetent and wasteful in the extreme.
2
The article talks about government-owned dams and privately-owned dams. Ignore this. While it's an important distinction, the truth is that the the facts about dams in disrepair doesn't distinguish between the two ownership types. Moreover, the article doesn't break out how many high-hazard dams are publicly owned vs. privately owned. So there's a lot of scare-tactic here, but not much information.
What the article does not mention: If a private dam fails, as happened in Nevada last week with the Twentyone Mile Dam, it's not clear who pays. Private owners of low-hazard dams generally can't get "dam insurance" (yes, there is such a thing). So taxpayers, homeowners, and state and local governments get stuck with the bill for cleanup and property damage. You can sue the private owner of the low-hazard dam, but good luck with that.
Publicly-owned dams (low- or high-hazard) are insured. If one fails, like Oroville Dam almost did, insurance covers the property damage, cleanup cost, and even loss of life claims.