[Maple Leaf]

On a somewhat related note.

‘Not prepared’: Why the Midwest floods are a warning for the nation - The Washington Post

This article references California and Stanford.


Not only are existing dams and other infrastructure not built for such extremes, it’s even hard to keep guidelines for new projects in line with future climate projections, said Christine Kirchhoff, an associate professor of engineering design and innovation at Penn State University.

“There’s got to be hundreds if not thousands of dams out there in similar situations,” Kirchhoff said.

Any trend in the frequency of dam failures is unclear in part because of incomplete historical data, said Martin McCann, director of the National Performance of Dams Program at Stanford University. But the rising intensity of precipitation is probably having an impact, with more recent examples of storm events elevating threats to infrastructure, he said.

In 2015, severe flooding across South Carolina caused dozens of dams to fail. In California, recent stormy years have damaged dams including the one impounding its largest reservoir, Lake Oroville, in 2017. Last year, flooding overwhelmed levees and inundated agricultural communities in the center of the state.

[Maple Leaf]

On a somewhat related note.

‘Not prepared’: Why the Midwest floods are a warning for the nation - The Washington Post

This article references California and Stanford.


Not only are existing dams and other infrastructure not built for such extremes, it’s even hard to keep guidelines for new projects in line with future climate projections, said Christine Kirchhoff, an associate professor of engineering design and innovation at Penn State University.

“There’s got to be hundreds if not thousands of dams out there in similar situations,” Kirchhoff said.

Any trend in the frequency of dam failures is unclear in part because of incomplete historical data, said Martin McCann, director of the National Performance of Dams Program at Stanford University. But the rising intensity of precipitation is probably having an impact, with more recent examples of storm events elevating threats to infrastructure, he said.

In 2015, severe flooding across South Carolina caused dozens of dams to fail. In California, recent stormy years have damaged dams including the one impounding its largest reservoir, Lake Oroville, in 2017. Last year, flooding overwhelmed levees and inundated agricultural communities in the center of the state.