Climate change is the crisis of our generation, and it has effects on nearly every aspect of life around the world. One of the most pressing short-term effects in Colorado is the strain placed on dams from the change in storm intensity over time. With almost 2000 state-regulated dams in Colorado, and around a quarter in areas that would cause loss of life if they failed, the Colorado state government is holding inspections on every dam over the next year. With these inspections, the state government will be able to decide how to minimize the risk of dam failure for the future. Further bills appropriating the funds to maintain and reinforce these dams are almost certain to pass, but they are not without opposition from state legislators who deny the existence of climate change. Fortunately, a dam failure hasn't happened in several decades, but that will not last forever in an era of increasingly erratic storm patterns.
According to the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, there are 1803 active dams across the state of Colorado, of which 1763 are state-regulated. Of these, 429 state-regulated dams are "high risk," meaning that there are people at risk of death or displacement should they fail. Further complicating things, over half of all dams in Colorado are privately-owned, causing an extra layer of red tape over the process of inspection (Karlik). Although state regulators have the authority to restrict the amount of water held by dams, that alone would not be enough to handle a sudden snowmelt or flash flood. To prevent the worst-case scenario, dams need to be reinforced with climate change taken into account. This has already been achieved at the state level, with dam safety rules taking into account an "atmospheric moisture factor" to predict the increase in storm severity over time (Karlik). However, the cost-intensive work on reinforcing dams to meet this new guideline has not been done yet, as it is awaiting the statewide inspections. Given that the safety rules were changed successfully, the funding for the dam reinforcement should also be successful, but there are notable state legislators who might be opposed to reinforcing dams based on climate science rather than more imminent concerns.
The Colorado state legislature has Democratic majorities in both houses, and state Democrats are almost universally in favor of environmental protection measures. The state Democrat with the lowest 2019 Conservation Score from Conservation Colorado is Rep. Bri Buentello with 82%. In addition, the Speaker of the House, House Majority Leader, and Senate Majority leader all have scores of 100%, with the President of the Senate having a score of 92%. The unified party cohesion is not surprising, because parties in swing states, like Colorado, have a much higher chance of having unified parties (Hinchliffe). In contrast, state Republicans are not fully united for or against environmental protection measures, with scores anywhere from 0% to 64%. This is more surprising, given the data from Hinchliffe and Lee, but perhaps the issue of climate change, with its significant popularity among the electorate (Atcheson), is an outlier for party cohesion. In addition, the Republican Party in Colorado historically has had a significant moderate contingent that was never fully eliminated (Straayer), and they may be more willing to break with party hardliners to support measures championed by the Democratic Party. The senate Republican leadership, on the other hand, is firmly against environmental protection measures, with 0% for Senate Minority Leader Chris Holbert and 8% for House Minority Leader Patrick Neville. These scores imply that climate change is not an issue for state Republican leadership, and thus climate change may not be a good enough reason for Republicans to approve of the dam reinforcements. Thankfully for the Democratic Party, the unified government means they have no need for Republican support to fund these reinforcements. Climate change will require significant infrastructure investments in the future, and nowhere is this more clear than dams.
Dams are useful tools in Colorado for water, agriculture, and energy. However, the unpredictability of storms in the era of climate change means that dams are more prone to failure than ever, and they must be reinforced to prevent the worst case scenario. Safety regulations have already been updated to reflect this reality, but the funding for reinforcement has yet to be approved. With the Colorado state government unified, it falls to the Democratic Party to pass the funding measures and prevent dam failures statewide.
Hinchliffe, Kelsey, and Frances Lee. More Party Competitive States Have More Polarized Legislatures. USAPP, 3 Nov. 2016, https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2016/11/03/more-party-competitive-states-have-more-polarized-legislatures/.
According to the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, there are 1803 active dams across the state of Colorado, of which 1763 are state-regulated. Of these, 429 state-regulated dams are "high risk," meaning that there are people at risk of death or displacement should they fail. Further complicating things, over half of all dams in Colorado are privately-owned, causing an extra layer of red tape over the process of inspection (Karlik). Although state regulators have the authority to restrict the amount of water held by dams, that alone would not be enough to handle a sudden snowmelt or flash flood. To prevent the worst-case scenario, dams need to be reinforced with climate change taken into account. This has already been achieved at the state level, with dam safety rules taking into account an "atmospheric moisture factor" to predict the increase in storm severity over time (Karlik). However, the cost-intensive work on reinforcing dams to meet this new guideline has not been done yet, as it is awaiting the statewide inspections. Given that the safety rules were changed successfully, the funding for the dam reinforcement should also be successful, but there are notable state legislators who might be opposed to reinforcing dams based on climate science rather than more imminent concerns.
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| The locations of every dam in Colorado. Photo courtesy of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials |
The Colorado state legislature has Democratic majorities in both houses, and state Democrats are almost universally in favor of environmental protection measures. The state Democrat with the lowest 2019 Conservation Score from Conservation Colorado is Rep. Bri Buentello with 82%. In addition, the Speaker of the House, House Majority Leader, and Senate Majority leader all have scores of 100%, with the President of the Senate having a score of 92%. The unified party cohesion is not surprising, because parties in swing states, like Colorado, have a much higher chance of having unified parties (Hinchliffe). In contrast, state Republicans are not fully united for or against environmental protection measures, with scores anywhere from 0% to 64%. This is more surprising, given the data from Hinchliffe and Lee, but perhaps the issue of climate change, with its significant popularity among the electorate (Atcheson), is an outlier for party cohesion. In addition, the Republican Party in Colorado historically has had a significant moderate contingent that was never fully eliminated (Straayer), and they may be more willing to break with party hardliners to support measures championed by the Democratic Party. The senate Republican leadership, on the other hand, is firmly against environmental protection measures, with 0% for Senate Minority Leader Chris Holbert and 8% for House Minority Leader Patrick Neville. These scores imply that climate change is not an issue for state Republican leadership, and thus climate change may not be a good enough reason for Republicans to approve of the dam reinforcements. Thankfully for the Democratic Party, the unified government means they have no need for Republican support to fund these reinforcements. Climate change will require significant infrastructure investments in the future, and nowhere is this more clear than dams.
Dams are useful tools in Colorado for water, agriculture, and energy. However, the unpredictability of storms in the era of climate change means that dams are more prone to failure than ever, and they must be reinforced to prevent the worst case scenario. Safety regulations have already been updated to reflect this reality, but the funding for reinforcement has yet to be approved. With the Colorado state government unified, it falls to the Democratic Party to pass the funding measures and prevent dam failures statewide.
Works Cited
2019 Conservation Scorecard: Rep. Bri Buentello. Conservation Colorado, 8 Jul. 2019, http://scorecard.conservationco.org/2019/house/buentello/.
2019 Conservation Scorecard: Sen. Chris Holbert. Conservation Colorado, 8 Jul. 2019, http://scorecard.conservationco.org/2019/senate/holbert/.
Atcheson, Koki. Climate Change Concern Hits Record High. Conservation Colorado, 12 Feb. 2019, https://conservationco.org/2019/02/12/blog-concern-about-climate-change/.
"Colorado Dam Safety Performance Review." Association of State Dam Safety Officials, 2018
https://damsafety-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/files/CO-Performance%20Report%202018.pdf
Hinchliffe, Kelsey, and Frances Lee. More Party Competitive States Have More Polarized Legislatures. USAPP, 3 Nov. 2016, https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2016/11/03/more-party-competitive-states-have-more-polarized-legislatures/.
Karlik, Michael. “State Evaluating Dam Safety in Context of Climate Change.” Colorado Politics, 2 Dec. 2019, https://www.coloradopolitics.com/news/state-evaluating-dam-safety-in-context-of-climate-change/article_347e3426-151a-11ea-a48f-737511a5c1ff.html.
Straayer, John A. State of Change: Colorado Politics in the Twenty-First Century. University Press of Colorado, 2011.
Straayer, John A. State of Change: Colorado Politics in the Twenty-First Century. University Press of Colorado, 2011.
This was a very interesting and well written article! I had no idea that there were that many dams in Colorado. I like how in depth you went in your discussion of how polarization in the General Assembly will play a role in the discussions and bills introduced in the future.
ReplyDeleteGreat piece! I did not realize that this was such a problem here in Colorado. I also didn’t know that there were so many dams. This seems to be a very vital issue to pass measures on here. Although it falls behind funding for education, health care, and corrections, I believe infrastructure in Colorado should have some of the highest funding. The weather patterns and climate change make for lots of damage to infrastructure, so it should be a huge focus in legislation on both sides.
ReplyDeleteWell done! This is such an interesting topic and great piece! I am surprised about how many dams are in Colorado. You make a great point that dams will need to monitored more as the risks and harms of increasing Climate Change keep rising. I hope that this issue does not become a partisan issue and that we can agree to protect our environment.
ReplyDelete