Dam Failures in Indonesia and China Reveal Growing Safety Problem

On Friday, March 27th at around 2 AM local time, an old, poorly maintained 16-meter high dam burst, sending a flash flood through a densely populated neighborhood southwest of Jakarta (see photos and video footage). Since most people were still asleep, many became trapped amidst the mud and debris. The death toll had risen to 100 people, with hundreds more missing, according to the latest news reports. Scientists on Tuesday said the absence of early detection and warning systems for the Situ Gintung dam was to blame for the dam's failure during heavy rain. Residents say they had been worried about the aging structure for years and had alerted authorities to cracks in the dam a year ago. The Jakarta Post is calling for a national program of infrastructure assessment and repair, and restoration of floodplains.

On that same Tuesday, engineers in China averted another potential dam disaster when they discovered a large chunk of a 30-meter high dam in Guangdong Province had broken off, posing grave danger to a major railway and people living downstream. Experts have decided to gradually release water from the dam before destroying it with dynamite.

Back on the home front, two Colorado members of Congress are trying to create a federal program that would repair some of the nation's most dangerous dams. This would be the second time they have tried to create a $200 million dam-repair fund. The previous bill passed the House in 2007 but not the Senate. An estimated 340 dams in Colorado are classified as high-hazard dams, which means they are near people and can potentially endanger life. Nationally, the list of dams classified as deficient and high hazard has grown to more than 1,800. And according to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the $787 billion economic-stimulus bill set aside little money to repair state and local dams or levees.

It's shocking that even in a rich country that boasts good geological monitoring and safety protocols, we'd have so much trouble passing a bill to protect citizens against the dangers of dam bursts. And it's disheartening that it takes a tragic loss of human lives to motivate governments to change their policies.

So as not to leave you with the stereotypically "doom and gloom" ending of environmentalists, you can learn more about dam safety and some of the more positive stories on river revival here.