Abstract
Across the United States, the age of dam infrastructure presents a substantial threat. The potential for structural failure associated with these aging dams is exacerbated by increased climate uncertainty and the threat of dam overtopping due to extreme and prolonged precipitation events. These compound threats place downstream areas at pronounced risk. These downstream areas vary widely. Some are relatively free of vulnerable elements, while others have a complex mix of infrastructure, populations, and ecologically important elements. This paper highlights the risk situation associated with aging dams and hydroclimatic extremes, the methodological and geospatial challenges and opportunities associated with mapping the potential inundation zones for dams, and the value of taking a social-ecological-technological systems approach to understanding downstream vulnerabilities, particularly related to critical infrastructures, populations, and protected ecosystems. To demonstrate these issues, we use Utah as a use case, where a set of associated inundation zones for 234 high-risk, state regulated dams is publicly available. Utilizing the inundation zones for these dams, we were able to map vulnerable entities that lay within the inundation zone, quantifying the potential impacts in the event of a dam failure.
Keywords
Infrastructure, Aging Dams, Inundation Zones, Vulnerable Entities, SETS, High-Risk Dams, Dams
Document Type
Paper
Start Date
19-6-2025 9:10 AM
End Date
19-6-2025 10:30 AM
DOI
10.5703/1288284317904
Recommended Citation
Flint, Courtney Dr.; Englert, Michael; and Lall, Upmanu Dr., "Assessing Vulnerabilities Associated with High-Risk Dams in Utah" (2025). I-GUIDE Forum. 4.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/iguide/2025/presentations/4
Included in
Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, Geographic Information Sciences Commons, Infrastructure Commons, Physical and Environmental Geography Commons, Place and Environment Commons, Spatial Science Commons, Transportation Commons
Assessing Vulnerabilities Associated with High-Risk Dams in Utah
Across the United States, the age of dam infrastructure presents a substantial threat. The potential for structural failure associated with these aging dams is exacerbated by increased climate uncertainty and the threat of dam overtopping due to extreme and prolonged precipitation events. These compound threats place downstream areas at pronounced risk. These downstream areas vary widely. Some are relatively free of vulnerable elements, while others have a complex mix of infrastructure, populations, and ecologically important elements. This paper highlights the risk situation associated with aging dams and hydroclimatic extremes, the methodological and geospatial challenges and opportunities associated with mapping the potential inundation zones for dams, and the value of taking a social-ecological-technological systems approach to understanding downstream vulnerabilities, particularly related to critical infrastructures, populations, and protected ecosystems. To demonstrate these issues, we use Utah as a use case, where a set of associated inundation zones for 234 high-risk, state regulated dams is publicly available. Utilizing the inundation zones for these dams, we were able to map vulnerable entities that lay within the inundation zone, quantifying the potential impacts in the event of a dam failure.