The Impact of the Kelly Barnes Dam Failure on the Development of Dam Safety Legislation and Policy in the 1970's

In the early 1970s, dam safety practices varied widely from state to state. Some states had no dam safety laws at all and many lacked the funding to implement the laws they had. Most laws in place did not include inspection of existing dams, but instead focused on processes for permitting new dam construction. No national laws had been passed related to dam safety at that time. Several federal laws were passed that funded the construction of specific dams, but no laws or funding were provided for inspection of the existing dams. No national inventory of dams existed either, so the scope of dam safety needs was unknown. Large dam failures earlier in the century influenced some changes in state dam safety law; for example, the 1911 failure of Austin Dam led to Pennsylvania passing the nation’s first dam safety law in 1913. California dam safety legislation was also updated when St. Francis Dam failed in 1928. But no failure had led to a national dam safety law.
So what leads to a dam safety law being passed? Tireless work promoting dam safety and associated public safety impacts, or an actual disaster? The 1970s was perhaps the most significant decade for development of dam safety laws and regulations in the United States. This eventful time is often attributed to the dam failures that occurred in these years, most notably, Buffalo Creek (WV) in 1972, Teton Dam (ID) in 1976, and Kelly Barnes Dam (GA) in 1977. This article highlights the status of dam safety laws and guidelines at that time and how they were affected by these significant disasters, and also examines the roles of the technical and non-technical communities that worked tirelessly prior to and after the disasters to make significant legislative change.