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

GlossaryIII. GLOSSARYBreach: An opening through the dam resulting in partial or total failure of the dam.Consequences: Potential loss of life or property damage downstream of a dam caused byfloodwaters released at the dam or by waters released by partial or complete failure of dam.Includes effects of landslides upstream of the dam on property located around the reservoir.Dam failure: Catastrophic type of failure characterized by the sudden, rapid, and uncontrolledrelease of impounded water. There are lesser degrees of failure, but any malfunction orabnormality outside the design assumptions and parameters that adversely affect a dam’s primaryfunction of impounding water is properly considered a failure. Lesser degrees of failure canprogressively lead to or heighten the risk of a catastrophic failure. They are, however, normallyamendable to corrective action.Dam owner: Entity that owns the dam and associated facilities. The dam owner also includes thedam operator and operating organization.Emergency Action Plan (EAP): Formal document that identifies potential emergencyconditions at a dam and specifies preplanned actions to be followed to minimize propertydamage and loss of life. The EAP describes actions the dam owner will take to moderate oralleviate a problem at the dam, as well as actions the dam owner, in coordination with emergencymanagement authorities, will take to respond to incidents or emergencies related to the dam.EAP exercise: Activity designed to promote prevention, preparedness, and response to incidentsand emergencies, and may also be extended to include recovery operations. The exercise alsodemonstrates the EAP’s effectiveness in an actual situation and demonstrates the readiness levelsof key personnel. Periodic exercises result in an improved EAP because lessons learned areincorporated into the updated EAP document. Exercises consist of testing and performing theduties, tasks, or operations identified and defined within the EAP through a simulated event.Emergency: Any incident, whether natural or manmade, that requires responsive action toprotect life or property.Emergency alert system: A federally established network of commercial radio stations thatvoluntarily provide official emergency instructions or directions to the public during anemergency.Emergency management authority: State, local, Tribal, or Territorial agency responsible foremergency operations, planning, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery for allhazards. Names of emergency management authorities vary (e.g., Division of EmergencyManagement, Comprehensive Emergency Management, Disaster Emergency Services,Emergency and Disaster Services).Federal Guidelines for Emergency Action Planning for DamsIII-1