North Dakota Dam Safety Standards

Challenges

The original North Dakota Dam Safety Standards (Standards) was published in 1985 by the State Water Commission (Commission) and defined the state’s regulatory requirements for jurisdictional dams.  While North Dakota’s administrative rules were updated periodically, the Standards remained largely unchanged, even as the national dam safety practice evolved considerably.

Solution

The Commission retained RJH to develop a comprehensive update to the Standards based on modern dam safety practices.  The goal of the update was to define minimum standards for dam design and requirements for submitting a construction permit application for a new dam or dam rehabilitation.

RJH worked closely with the Commission to evaluate the existing Standards. A nationwide survey of state dam safety regulations was performed. RJH interviewed dam safety officers and reviewed dam safety regulations in five other western states.  The new Standards were developed in three stages: Stage 1 – Planning and Overview, Stage 2 – Technical Chapter Development, and Stage 3-  Compilation, Review, and Completion.

RJH led an in-person workshop with the Commission to review the Standards and solicit comments.  RJH also developed and implemented a stakeholder outreach plan to solicit feedback and comments from stakeholders primarily affected by the new Standards. Comments from the Commission and other stakeholders were implemented, and the Standards is now the approved document used to regulate dams in North Dakota.