Incident Command System Doctrine for Dam Owners

Project ID: 189
Principal Investigator: Grant Sorensen
Research Topic: Public and Employee Safety
Funded Fiscal Years: 2013
Keywords: national incident management system, incident command system, ics, nims, public safety, best management practices,

Research Question

As the agency having jurisdiction, what is the role of a dam operating organization in an Incident Command structure during an incident at their facility?

The dam the operating agency has a normal organization structure responsible for the day to day operations and maintenance of the facility as outlined in a Standing Operation Procedures (SOP). Personnel are trained to operate and maintain their facilities according to procedures listed in the SOP. They are also trained and conduct routine inspections to insure the structure is performing within established parameters set out in the SOP. When a potential failure mode occurs that is outside the established operating criteria then the operating criteria shifts from the SOP to the Emergency Action Plan (EAP).

Need and Benefit

Using the Incident Command System during planned events and emergency incidents will help to better fulfill the Reclamation mission to manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner is in the interest of the American public. Improving safety for Reclamation employees may be another benefit. ICS provides a cost effective process for resource management, span of control and is inclusive of pertinent stakeholders in response to a dam safety incident. It will help to provide better situational awareness and common operating picture during response to a dam safety or security incident.

Contributing Partners

Contact the Principal Investigator for information about partners.

Research Products

Bureau of Reclamation Review

The following documents were reviewed by experts in fields relating to this project's study and findings. The results were determined to be achieved using valid means.

Incident Command System Guidance for Dam Owners (interim, PDF, 63KB)
By Grant Sorensen
Report completed on December 29, 2014

The original research proposal was to review ICS doctrine put forth by the U.S. Dept of Homeland Security and others and make recommendations for Dams Sector specific doctrine which implements ICS based on various tactical situations. The full research project was not funded. However, $15,000 of funding was provided to perform a scoping project instead. This paper was updated in December 2014 based on recently published research. This paper summarizes the results of the scoping project.

Incident Command System Guidance for Dam Owners (final, PDF, 63KB)
By Grant Sorensen
Report completed on December 29, 2014

The original research proposal was to review ICS doctrine put forth by the U.S. Dept of Homeland Security and others and make recommendations for Dams Sector specific doctrine which implements ICS based on various tactical situations. The full research project was not funded. However, $15,000 of funding was provided to perform a scoping project instead. This paper was updated in December 2014 based on recently published research. This paper summarizes the results of the scoping project.

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Last Updated: 6/22/20