Lesson Learned: The Study of Past Dam Failures and Incidents is Essential for Keeping Today’s Dams Safe.

This lesson learned explains why and how dam practitioner review of past dam failures and incidents improves their ability to ensure the safety of planned or existing dams.  This lesson learned defines terms used, lists the multiple benefits of studying dam failures, provides sources of dam failure/incident cases, and offers suggestions on how to conduct dam failure/incident training for a variety of audiences.  Beyond technical dam practitioners, other audiences benefit from familiarity with dam failures and incidents including dam owners and their executives, dam safety regulators, and the public downstream from dams so they are aware of the hazards of dams and what to do in a dam emergency.