Regular maintenance, reinforcements and retrofitting can extend a dam’s safe operation well past 100 years and bring a structure up to current standards, Perera and Shannon say. But many dams don’t receive routine repairs and are not aging gracefully. Just making the recommended fixes to most U.S. dams would cost an estimated $157.5 billion dollars, according to a 2023 report from the Association of State Dam Safety Officials.
So much of today’s news feels like we’re frogs in a pot of boiling water.