Emergency Management
Reclamation's emergency management program operates with an overarching goal of preparedness to reduce risk during incidents and emergencies. Through comprehensive policy, training, exercising, practice, and operational posture that readies our staff and local partners, the emergency management program complements other Reclamation programs, such as safety and occupational health and dam safety, to keep employees and the public safe.
Under the leadership of the Emergency Management and Readiness Office (EMRO), Reclamation takes a multifaceted approach to comprehensive emergency management. The Emergency Action Planning (EAP) program ensures the readiness of Reclamation’s staff managing high-hazard dams and urban canals to provide notification to local officials who are responsible for notifying the downstream public of planned or unplanned releases of water. With hundreds of high-hazard dams and thousands of miles of canals, Reclamation’s EAP program integrates structure-specific risks and federal incident management practices to identify triggering activities that inform operations and notifications.
In addition to developing EAP plan and exercise standards for Reclamation, EMRO likewise provides these services, along with plan creation, exercise planning and conduct, and incident management strategy development and training to federal partners managing high-hazard dams. Interested federal agencies should contact EMRO directly (See “Contact EMRO” email link in the top left column of this page).
Reclamation’s Continuity of Operations (COOP) program ensures the continuation or rapid resumption of mission essential functions during emergencies or threats. The safety, reliability, and continuity of Reclamation’s essential functions, and the well-being of Reclamation’s staff, are fundamental to Reclamation’s mission and the delivery of services to the American public. Reclamation plans for natural and human-caused incidents that could interrupt our work, including hydropower generation and water delivery across the west. COOP ensures Reclamation’s ability to prioritize its most critical functions and to continue our mission, ultimately supporting the U.S. Department of the Interior’s primary mission essential functions and the national essential functions.
As a Federal entity, Reclamation participates in the National Response Framework and leads the U.S. Department of the Interior's responsibilities for Emergency Support Function #3: Public Works and Engineering. Reclamation deploys its staff in response to federally-declared disasters that have activated ESF #3 requests via the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
EMRO also serves as the coordination point for emergency and incident information exchange across Reclamation and with the U.S. Department of the Interior and its bureaus and offices during incidents. The Reclamation Emergency Operations Center (EOC), coordinates with regional EOCs concerning information sharing to inform leadership and Reclamation's partners. Further, the emergency management program provides comprehensive oversight and assures the presence and effectiveness of internal controls for the above program elements, along with testing, training, exercising, and corrective actions that further Reclamation's mission and support it’s preparedness model.
