Dams Face Flooding, Drought, Failures, Rebuilding

Recent reports highlight the contrasting pressures facing dams and reservoirs: heavy runoff overtopped Prescott’s Watson Lake Dam despite advance efforts to lower the reservoir, while Vietnam’s Dak Drinh reservoir neared its dead-storage level during the rainy season, prompting its operator to halt power generation to conserve water. In California, a ruptured penstock at New Colgate Powerhouse damaged infrastructure and contributed to a temporary, sharp drop in flows on the lower Yuba River after downstream powerhouses also lost service. In Michigan, reconstruction of the Edenville Dam system includes a zigzag auxiliary spillway designed to increase flood-discharge capacity, following the catastrophic 2020 failures that forced about 10,000 people to evacuate. Together, the accounts show how dams must contend with both excess water and shortages, as well as the risks of infrastructure failures and the importance of flood-control design.