IN SUMMARY
- An audit found that 57 California dams were in poor or unsatisfactory condition, and the 40 riskiest dams were near large coastal cities.
- The state has had the power to penalize negligent homeowners since 2017 but has never done so, and repairs could cost $28 billion.
As an El Niño winter threatens heavy rains, the State Auditor warns that California’s aging dams “continue to pose a risk to public safety,” particularly in the Bay Area, San Diego and Los Angeles.
Lawmakers gave the state authority to penalize dam owners who violate safety requirements in 2017, after the Oroville spillway rupture forced the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people. Water managers have not yet used this power, according to the audit.
Even if state water managers had exercised their enforcement powers, dam owners likely could not have afforded the necessary repairs.
An audit released Monday found 57 dams were in poor or unsatisfactory condition in May, up from previous counts. That figure is likely to continue to rise, as state water officials re-evaluate aging dams.
The 40 riskiest dams – classified as high or extremely high risk – are located throughout the state, but cluster near densely populated coastal cities.
If these dams were to fail, the auditor reported, “they could collectively endanger up to 1.5 million people and cause more than $265 billion in economic damage.”
Nearly a decade ago, lawmakers strengthened the power of the California Department of Water Resources to impose penalties such as reservoir restrictions, property liens and fines when dam owners violate state safety laws and other requirements.
State engineers referred the owners of 44 dams to the appropriate authorities in April. But, the auditor wrote, the water resources department “has never taken punitive action against dam owners who fail to remedy their violations.”
Aging dams, limited funds
The problem is that the dams are aging. Many were built at a time when safety standards were more relaxed. State laws have never required dam owners to set aside funds for their safety. So when concrete collapses, sediment builds up, and spillways threaten to erode beneath floodwaters, most dam owners don’t have the money to repair them.
The state Department of Water Resources oversees the safety of more than 1,220 dams, most in satisfactory condition. Responsibility for maintaining dams falls to local governments, utilities, water agencies, and the private landowners and companies that own them. Some of the dams deemed in poor condition are owned by state agencies.
Disasters are extremely rare. But when they do occur, as in Oroville, or in the 1928 collapse of the nearly new St. Francis Dam northwest of Los Angeles, they can be catastrophic.
The auditor applauded the Water Resources Department’s inspection program but blasted its failure to enforce it on dam owners who fail to meet state planning, safety or other requirements, “thus allowing serious deficiencies to persist.”
One case involved a dam with a 47-foot-wide hole in its spillway that has not been repaired in more than 30 years, which the audit said could cause flooding affecting nearly 300 people and more than $88 million in damage.
The audit does not name the dam. State water managers have said finer details could pose safety concerns, although the department makes potential risks and the condition of each dam public in an annual report.
State water managers finalized enforcement regulations in 2022. But they told the auditor they had not been able to adequately staff an enforcement department and were not sure they could afford to defend their actions at a hearing.
Even with staff and money, the auditor concludes, if a dam owner remains out of compliance, the state “cannot act before the dam presents an emergency hazard. This leaves a gap in state law that endangers public safety.”
Throw in the bucket
Four years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom touted dam repairs in his drought water strategy as a way to shore up water supplies. Two years later, in 2024, Newsom and lawmakers cut funding for a dam repair grant program.
Since then, a ballot proposal scheduled for 2024 has allocated $464 million to the program. A grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency also awarded $629,198 to California in September, according to Jason Ince, a Department of Water Resources spokesman.
But the audit cites estimates that repairing the state’s unsatisfactory dams could cost about $28 billion, making funding a drop in the bucket.
The report urges state lawmakers to set deadlines and require dam owners whose dams are high or extremely high risk — that is, those that could kill people if they fail — to submit maintenance and repair plans to state agencies.
He also called on lawmakers to expand the enforcement authority of state water managers and for the agency to use the full force of its powers.
“To ensure that public safety is ensured before the condition of a dam results in an emergency,” the audit states, “the Legislature should amend state law to allow Water Resources to order the condemnation and decommissioning of a dam when Water Resources’ other means of enforcement fail.”
Laura Hollender, deputy director of flood management and safety at the Department of Water Resources, said the department has worked closely with the State Auditor, but disagrees with some of the report’s findings and recommendations.
Still, she said in a statement, they are carefully reviewing the recommendations and preparing for whatever El Niño may bring. “Protecting public safety is DWR’s top priority, and we recognize the critical role dam safety and levee maintenance play in reducing flood risk for California communities.”
As the rainy season approaches, the auditor also pointed out that statewide dam safety planning is incomplete.
The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services has yet to approve emergency plans for 245 dams outlining what their owners would do to protect people and property in the event of a dam failure. Officials told the auditor’s office that dam owners had failed to make required revisions and that state law did not require deadlines.
