| Dates |
Events |
| 1600 |
Spanish colonists made diversions in New
Mexico on the Rio Grande and other streams. |
| 1634 |
One of the first American water power
projects at Lower Falls, Neponset River, Massachusetts,
was completed. |
| 1824 |
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began water
project development on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. |
| 1868 |
Compaction in earthfill construction first
recommended. |
| 1874 |
Failure of the Mill River Dam in Massachusetts due to
uncontrolled seepage. |
| 1889 |
Failure of South Fork Dam in the
Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania due to overtopping. |
| 1913 |
W. E. Fuller proposes a flood frequency formula for
flood estimation. |
| January 27, 1916 |
Failure of Lower Otay Dam in San Diego,
California due to flood overtopping. |
| June 29, 1925 |
Failure of Sheffield Dam in Santa
Barbara, California due to seismic forces. |
| March 12, 1928 |
Failure of St. Francis Dam in Los
Angeles County, California focuses public scrutiny on
safety of dams in the U.S. |
| 1933 |
The Procter test revolutionized the design and
construction of earthfills. |
| 1965 |
The Federal Power Commission issued
Order No. 315 defining the responsibilities of power
licensees to ensure safe construction and operation of
dams. |
| August 8, 1972 |
Public attention to the hazards created
by water reservoirs after the February 26, 1972 failure of a mine
tailings embankment at Buffalo Creek, West Virginia led to the
enactment of the National Dam Inspection
Act (Public Law 92-367). |
| May, 1975 |
The Army Corps of Engineers issued a
report, "National Program of Inspection of
Dams" including an inventory of U.S. dams and
inspection guidelines. |
| June 5, 1976 |
Failure of Teton Dam in Idaho due to
internal erosion. This failure led to widespread review
by federal agencies regarding dam inspection, evaluation,
and modification. |
| November 6, 1977 |
Failure of the Kelly Barnes Lake Dam in Toccoa,
Georgia. There were 39 fatalities due to the resulting
flood. |
| 1979 |
Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety was published. |
| 1982 |
U.S. Committee on Large Dams (USCOLD)
passed a resolution urging state governments to give high
priority to enacting dam safety legislation and to
allocating resources to dam supervision. |
| 1984 |
Morgan Hill earthquake near San Jose,
California brought new attention to dam safety. |
| 1985 |
National Research Council issued the
report "Safety of Dams: Flood and Earthquake
Criteria." |
| 1985 |
The Association of State Dam Safety
Officials (ASDSO) became active. The Interagency
Committee on Dam Safety (ICODS) formed. |
| 1994 |
National Performance of Dams Program (NPDP)
officially started. |
| October 12, 1996 |
The Water Resources Development Act of 1996 (Public Law
104-303) was signed into law by President Clinton. A National
Dam Safety Program was established (Section 215 of Public Law
104-303). |
Chronology of Major Events in Dam Safety