Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety: Emergency Action Planning for ...

Basic Considerations for Preparing EAPsFlooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, including this hospital fromovertopping of the spillway at Coralville Dam as a result ofheavy rains (2008)The level of detail in the EAP should becommensurate with the potential impact of adam failure or operational incident. A damwith low or no potential impact should notrequire an extensive evaluation or be subjectto an extensive planning process while highandsignificant-hazard dams may require alarger emergency planning effort. Inaddition, high- and significant-hazard damstend to involve more entities that mustcoordinate responsibilities and efforts toeffectively respond to an incident than lowhazarddams. Every EAP must be tailored tothe site conditions.EAPs generally contain six elements: Notification flowcharts and contact information Response process Responsibilities Preparedness activities Inundation maps Additional information in appendicesThe elements of an EAP are described in Chapter II of these guidelines. All elements should beincluded in a complete EAP. Although the dam owner is responsible for developing andmaintaining the EAP, the plan will not be effective unless it is developed and implemented inclose coordination with all applicable emergency management authorities. Emergencymanagement authorities will use the information in the dam owner’s EAP to facilitate theimplementation of their responsibilities. In general, State and local emergency managementauthorities will have some coordinating plans in place to address local emergency operationsand/or warnings and evacuations.C. CoordinationIt is vital that the development of the EAP be coordinated with all entities, jurisdictions, andagencies that would be affected by an incident at the dam or that have statutory responsibilitiesfor warning, evacuation, and post-incident actions. The EAP should contain clearly defined rolesand responsibilities for each entity.Federal Guidelines for Emergency Action Planning for Dams I-4