New initiatives for managing a portfolio of dams at the Bureau of Reclamation

The Bureau of Reclamation has been using risk analysis as the primary support for dam safety decision-making for over 15 years. Processes, methodology and Reclamation's Public Protection Guidelines have evolved over this period of time. There have been some recent initiatives that will improve Reclamation's ability to use risk-informed approaches within its dam safety program. These developments include a new Comprehensive Review process for performing periodic assessments on dams. The CR process will update existing reports from the previous Comprehensive Facility Review process and will rely on a multi-disciplinary team. Reclamation has also updated its Dam Safety Public Protection Guidelines. The emphasis is on the key factors and arguments that justify risk estimates as opposed to relying strictly on numerical risk estimates in making and prioritizing dam safety decisions. Finally as the lead dam agency within the Department of the Interior (DOI), Reclamation is leading efforts to implement consistent risk-informed approaches within the DOI.