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any artificial barrier including appurtenant works with the ability to impound
water, waste water or other liquids that has a height of 25 feet or more; or has a
height of six feet or greater and also has the capacity to impound 50 or more
acre feet. The height of a dam or barrier shall be determined as follows: (1) A
barrier or dam that extends across the natural bed of a stream or watercourse
shall be measured from the downstream toe of the barrier or dam to the top of
the barrier or dam; or (2) a barrier or dam that does not extend across a stream
or watercourse shall be measured from the lowest elevation of the outside limit
of the barrier or dam to the top of the barrier or dam.
The Kansas Department of Agriculture, Division of Water Resources (KDA-DWR) is the State
agency responsible for regulation of jurisdictional dams. Within the Division of Water
Resources, the Water Structures Program has the following Responsibilities: reviewing and
approving of plans for constructing new dams and for modifying existing dams, ensuring quality
control during construction, and monitoring dams that, if they failed, could cause loss of life, or
interrupt public utilities or services
Dam classifications have been developed to describe the level of risk associated with dam
failure. These classifications do not reflect the physical condition of the dams, but rather
describe areas downstream of the dams that could be impacted in the event of failure, which is
generally unlikely. The KDA-DWR classifies jurisdictional dams as follows:
• Class C (high hazard)—A “hazard class C dam” shall mean a dam located in an area where
failure could result in any of the following: extensive loss of life, damage to more than one
home, damage to industrial or commercial facilities, interruption of a public utility serving a
large number of customers, damage to traffic on high-volume roads that meet the
requirements for hazard class C dams or a high-volume railroad line, inundation of a
frequently used recreation facility serving a relatively large number of persons, or two or
more individual hazards described in hazard class B. Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) are
required for all High Hazard Dams.
• Class B (significant hazard)—A “hazard class B dam” means a dam located in an area
where failure could endanger a few lives, damage an isolated home, damage traffic on
moderate volume roads that meet the requirements for hazard class B dams, damage lowvolume
railroad tracks, interrupt the use or service of a utility serving a small number of
customers, or inundate recreation facilities, including campground areas intermittently used
for sleeping and serving a relatively small number of persons.
• Class A (low hazard)—A “hazard class A dam” means a dam located in an area where
failure could damage only farm or other uninhabited buildings, agricultural or undeveloped
land including hiking trails, or traffic on low-volume roads that meet the requirements for
hazard class A dams.
At the time this plan was developed there were 6,128 state-regulated jurisdictional dams in
Kansas. Of those, 227 were Class C (High Hazard Dams), 209 were Class B (Significant
Hazard Dams), and 5,692 were Class A (Low Hazard Dams).
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