Managing Construction And Infrastructure In The 21st Century Bureau Of Reclamation

In the more than 100 years since its formation, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation of the Department of Interior (DOI), through its construction program, has brought water, electric power, and recreation facilities to millions of people in the Western United States. With major water and power systems in place, the Bureau's attention has now turned to operation, maintenance, repair, and modernization of those facilities in an environmentally and economically sound manner. To help with this effort, DOI asked the NRC to advise the Bureau on "appropriate organizational, management, and resource configurations to meet its construction, maintenance, and infrastructure requirements for its missions of the 21st century." This report presents an assessment of the requirements facing the Bureau in the 21st century, an analysis of good practices and techniques for addressing those challenges, and a review of workforce and human resource needs. The report also provides alternative scenarios that describe possible future organizations for infrastructure management.

The water impounded behind a dam can be used to generate power and to provide water for drinking, irrigation, commerce, industry, and recreation. However, if a dam fails, the water that would be unleashed has the energy and power to cause mass destruction downstream, killing and injuring people and destroying property, agriculture, industry, and local and regional economies. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is responsible for managing and operating some of this nation's largest and most critical dams. The failure of one or more of these dams as the result of a malicious act would come with little warning and a limited time for evacuation. In the years since the 9/11 attacks, Reclamation has invested significant resources to establish and build a security program. Reclamation is now ready to evaluate the results of these efforts and determine how best to move forward to develop a security program that is robust and sustainable. This book assesses Reclamation's security program and determines its level of preparedness to deter, respond to, and recover from malicious acts to its physical infrastructure and to the people who use and manage it.

The Bureau of Reclamation is responsible for the construction of most of the large irrigation and water resources infrastructure in the West. Reclamation manages water resource facilities in 17 western states with an original development cost of over $20.0 billion. Furthermore, Reclamation is over 100 years old. This ageing infrastructure requires increased maintenance and replacement efforts and expenditures. This book describes Reclamation's approach to managing ageing infrastructure. There is also a discussion of four specific approaches to managing Reclamation's ageing infrastructure through legislative action. Furthermore, the principal federal program to aid municipal wastewater treatment plant construction is authorised in the Clean Water Act (CWA). This book explores the funding for EPA wastewater assistance and some of the funded projects which are not authorised in the Clean Water Act nor the Safe Drinking Water Act. This book also examines the urgent actions needed to be taken for additional funding to resolve any deficiencies in dams. While dams have multiple benefits, they can also present a risk to public safety and economic infrastructure. This book consists of public documents which have been located, gathered, combined, reformatted, and enhanced with a subject index, selectively edited and bound to provide easy access.

The water impounded behind a dam can be used to generate power and to provide water for drinking, irrigation, commerce, industry, and recreation. However, if a dam fails, the water that would be unleashed has the energy and power to cause mass destruction downstream, killing and injuring people and destroying property, agriculture, industry, and local and regional economies. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is responsible for managing and operating some of this nation's largest and most critical dams. The failure of one or more of these dams as the result of a malicious act would come with little warning and a limited time for evacuation. In the years since the 9/11 attacks, Reclamation has invested significant resources to establish and build a security program. Reclamation is now ready to evaluate the results of these efforts and determine how best to move forward to develop a security program that is robust and sustainable. This book assesses Reclamation's security program and determines its level of preparedness to deter, respond to, and recover from malicious acts to its physical infrastructure and to the people who use and manage it.