On May 31, the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control (SC DHEC) promoted Dam Safety Awareness Day by helping residents learn about the function, regulation, and proper maintenance of dams. The state recently experienced a partial dam breach of Lake Wallace Dam in Bennettsville caused by internal erosion. SC DHEC seeks to ensure individuals understand the responsibilities of dam ownership and perform routine inspections and classification checks on dams.
Following the October 2015 historic rainfall event, the state rebuilt its dam safety program. In August 2020, the state published The State of the Dams report on dam safety in 2015-20, noting the impacts of recent extreme precipitation events, program investments, and remaining challenges. SC DHEC also offers an online interactive map of all permitted dams in the state.
South Carolina has more than 2,300 state-regulated dams – more than 87% of them privately owned – which are an important component of local and state infrastructure to impound water for recreation, flood control, stormwater management, water supply, use by industry, and more. The state notes that many of the state’s dams have exceeded their useful lifetimes given the construction methods and materials of their day. The state estimates that there are more than 20,000 dams that are not regulated in the state. DHEC is charged by state law with responsibility to take emergency action if the dam owners cannot or will not take action to make dams safe.
The Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act provides $585M for dam safety activities provided through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that some 76% of the more than 90,000 dams across the country are high-hazard dams.
