Emergency management plans and deficient dams

Haines, R. (1996) The ANCOLD Bulletin, 102, 79-86

One inescapable implication of ownership of a large dam is the obligation imposed towards downstream communities by the possibility of the failure of the dam. This paper provides an emergency manager's perspective on how dam owners in Australia, with particular emphasis on New South Wales (NSW), have approached this obligation by applying 'international best practice'. By taking a number of specific examples it argues the need for 'international best practice' to be interpreted with the help of emergency managers to best fit the Australian and perhaps the New Zealand (NZ) situation. The paper does not address the engineering aspects of design, construction, maintenance, inspection and operation of the structure. Rather, it concentrates on the arrangements required below the spillway to mitigate the effects of dam failure on individuals and communities.

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