The 2019 Spencer Dam Failure - An Extreme Case of Dams in Cold Regions: Instructor

Mark Baker, P.E.
DamCrest Consulting
Senior Dam Safety Program Engineer

Mark worked at the Bureau of Reclamation for 25 years. For 17 years, he was a program manager in Reclamation’s Dam Safety Office, leading the technical execution of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Dam Safety Program (110 high-hazard potential dams). In 2011, he became the Dam Safety Officer of the National Park Service (60 dams). Also in 2011, he founded and led the ASDSO Dam Failures & Incidents Committee. Under his leadership, ASDSO created the popular website DamFailures.org and began the Decade Dam Failure series. He was selected to lead the independent Spencer Dam failure investigation team in 2019 due to his failure and incident experience.  In 2024, he co-edited ASDSO’s book Dam Failures and Incidents with 106 cases. For the past seven years, he has managed his own consultancy, DamCrest Consulting, focusing on dam safety programs, risk management, and dam failure/incident investigations.