Bridging the Gap IAEM Series – Episode 11: Preston Wilson and Dam Safety

In this special IAEM Conference Series episode of Bridging the Gap, our host is joined by Preston Wilson, CEO of Resilience Solutions Consulting. Prior to this role, Preston was the training manager for FEMA’s National Dam Safety Program, where he was responsible for developing and delivering training on emergency management and dam safety nationwide. Preston was also the primary author of FEMA’s Emergency Operations Planning: Dam Incident Planning Guide which provides practical instruction on how to develop emergency operation plans for dam incidents. 

Dam Safety and Emergency Management Challenges

Dam safety is often an overlooked facet of emergency management, and in many cases, requires additional support and specialized professional insight from someone like Preston. Most dams in the United States are privately owned, which can range from small operations to large utility companies. Integrating dam safety into state and local emergency management plans can be challenging as it requires connecting these private owners with emergency managers and the community to ensure alignment of mitigation and recovery efforts.

Oroville Dam Incident

A disconnect between dam owners and the emergency management community led to one of the largest evacuations in dam incident history. The Oroville Dam, owned by the California Department of Water Resources, suffered a critical failure in February 2017. Heavy rainfall led to the erosion of the dam’s main and emergency spillways, which threatened the structural integrity of the dam. Although there were no lives lost, the incident resulted in the evacuation of nearly 188,000 residents living downstream, making it one of the largest non-hurricane evacuations in United States history. The damage to the spillways and subsequent repair costs totaled over $1 billion, highlighting the severe financial and logistical impacts of inadequate dam safety planning and emergency preparedness.

Many in emergency management believe this could have been mitigated with better planning and coordination between officials and the dam owners. 

Hazard Mitigation Plans

Another issue, according to Preston, is that dams are being included in Emergency Management hazard mitigation plans as a checkbox exercise rather than through a thorough planning process. An integrated approach to dam safety should involve more collaboration with dam owners and the surrounding community.

Dam Safety as a Shared Responsibility

Preston offered his advice to emergency managers in support of this collaboration: 

• Reframe dam safety as a shared responsibility. 
• Develop Emergency Action Plans for high hazard dams. 
• Involve community members in preparedness exercises. 
• Remember that each community and its needs are different and adopt plans that are unique to the situation. 
• Solicit help from private companies such as RSC and SummitET.

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