4.4　Safety

The first priority f or dam designers,buil ders,owners and operators is da msaf ety and the pr otection of life,pr operty and t he environ ment fro mt he consequences of damfail ure.

Da m safety is f actored into all phases of t he planning,design,constr uction and operation of a hydr opower develop ment.Potential da m and reservoir sites need to be thoroughly assessed fro ma safety perspective.Co mprehensive damsafety risk assessments are completed f or selected sites in any proposed schemes.

Design and construction practices need to ensure that defined safety requirements,as identified in the risk assess ment and agreed with appropriate regulatory authorities,are met.Changes in flood frequency lead to changes in land-use activities and population distribution.These changes shoul d be incl uded in any risk assess ment.

All operating dams should have a dam safety management plan.This should define the scale,frequency and nat ure of monitoring requirements,incl uding types of instr u mentation required.Levels of expertise needed to i mplement the plan should also be specified.(https://www.daowen.com)

Identification of potential problems during dam monitoring needs to be f ollowed-up in a ti mel y manner wit h detailed investigations and,where required,t he rectification of the problem.

Da m saf ety pr ograms need to incl ude emer gency response plans.These need to be developed in conj unction with relevant regulatory authorities and stakeholders-particularly downstream residents.They should clearly specif y responsibilities f or action and be supported by appropriate awareness and training programs.

Eff ective dam safety pr ogra ms will ensure the co mmunity is not exposed to unacceptable risks and that the long-ter m value of the damand its associated infrastr ucture is preser ved.

Safety planning can often be integrated within a for malised environmental management system.