Reservatório No. 1, um suprimento de água de 180 milhões de galões que esteve fora de serviço grande parte das últimas décadas, tem como pano de fundo o horizonte da cidade, 15 de outubro, 2019, em Atlanta. A cidade fez reparos e voltou a colocá-lo online em 2017, apenas para fechá-lo novamente depois que vazamentos de água foram notados perto de empresas localizadas abaixo da barragem. Se a barragem quebrasse catastroficamente, a água pode inundar mais de 1, 000 casas unifamiliares, dezenas de empresas, uma ferrovia e uma parte da Interestadual 75, de acordo com um plano de ação de emergência. (AP Photo / David Goldman)
Em uma manhã fria de março passado, Kenny Angel recebeu uma batida frenética na porta. Dois trabalhadores de uma empresa de serviços públicos no norte de Nebraska vieram com um aviso severo:Saia de sua casa.
Um pouco mais de 400 metros rio acima, a Represa Spencer de 92 anos estava se esforçando para conter o inchaço, Rio Niobrara coberto de gelo após uma tempestade de neve e chuva invulgarmente intensa. Os trabalhadores tentaram, mas não conseguiram forçar a abertura dos portões congelados do vertedouro de madeira da barragem. Então, temendo o pior, eles fugiram em seu caminhão, parando para avisar Angel antes de partir sem ele.
Minutos depois, a barragem desabou, desencadeando uma onda de água carregando pedaços de gelo do tamanho de carros. A casa de Angel foi varrida; O corpo dele nunca foi encontrado.
"Ele teve um aviso de cerca de 5 minutos, sem aviso prévio no dia anterior, "Scott Angel, um dos irmãos de Kenny, disse.
Os inspetores estaduais deram à barragem uma classificação "razoável" menos de um ano antes. Até que falhou, parecia um pouco diferente de milhares de outros nos Estados Unidos - e isso poderia ser um presságio de um problema.
Uma investigação de mais de dois anos pela The Associated Press encontrou dezenas de barragens em todo o país em condições ainda piores, e em locais igualmente perigosos. Eles pairam sobre as casas, negócios, rodovias ou comunidades inteiras que podem enfrentar enchentes com risco de vida se as represas não resistirem.
Esta combinação de fotos fornecidas pelo Departamento de Recursos Naturais de Nebraska, mostra a represa de Spencer perto de Spencer, Neb., em novembro de 2013, principal, quando estava retendo a água do rio Niobrara e novamente em março de 2019, após o rompimento da barragem durante uma enchente. Os inspetores estaduais deram à barragem uma classificação "razoável" menos de um ano antes. Até que falhou, parecia um pouco diferente de milhares de outros nos EUA, e isso pode pressagiar um problema. (Departamento de Recursos Naturais de Nebraska via AP)
Uma revisão dos dados federais e relatórios obtidos de acordo com as leis estaduais de registros abertos identificados 1, 688 barragens de alto risco classificadas em condições ruins ou insatisfatórias no ano passado em 44 estados e em Porto Rico. O número real é quase certamente maior:alguns estados se recusaram a fornecer classificações de condição para suas barragens, reivindicando isenções para solicitações de registro público. Outros simplesmente não classificaram todas as suas barragens devido à falta de financiamento, pessoal ou autoridade para fazê-lo.
As mortes por rompimento de barragens diminuíram desde que uma série de colapsos catastróficos na década de 1970 levou os governos federal e estadual a intensificar seus esforços de segurança. Ainda cerca de 1, 000 barragens falharam nas últimas quatro décadas, matando 34 pessoas, de acordo com o Programa de Desempenho Nacional de Barragens da Universidade de Stanford.
Construído para controle de inundação, irrigação, abastecimento de água, energia hidrelétrica, recreação ou armazenamento de resíduos industriais, as barragens do país têm, em média, mais de meio século. Alguns não são mais adequados para lidar com as chuvas intensas e inundações de um clima em mudança. No entanto, eles estão sendo invocados para proteger mais e mais pessoas à medida que conjuntos habitacionais surgem nas proximidades.
“Existem milhares de pessoas neste país que vivem a jusante de barragens que provavelmente são consideradas deficientes, dados os padrões de segurança atuais, "disse Mark Ogden, um ex-oficial de segurança de barragens de Ohio que agora é um especialista técnico da Associação de Oficiais de Segurança de Barragens do Estado.
A associação estima que seriam necessários mais de US $ 70 bilhões para reparar e modernizar os mais de 90 bilhões do país, 000 barragens. Mas, ao contrário de muitas outras infraestruturas, a maioria das barragens dos EUA é propriedade privada. Isso torna difícil para os reguladores exigirem melhorias das operadoras que não podem ou não querem pagar os altos custos.
"A maioria das pessoas não tem ideia sobre as vulnerabilidades quando vivem a jusante dessas barragens privadas, "disse Craig Fugate, ex-administrador da Federal Emergency Management Agency. "Quando eles falham, eles não falham com o aviso. Eles simplesmente falham, e de repente você pode se encontrar em uma situação em que uma parede de água e destroços correndo em direção à sua casa com muito pouco tempo, caso existam, para sair."
Joel Iverson, diretor de operações da Monday Night Brewing, é fotografado na cervejaria que fica ao lado do reservatório nº 1, um suprimento de água de 180 milhões de galões que esteve fora de serviço grande parte das últimas décadas, 15 de outubro, 2019, em Atlanta. Iverson já havia notado água escorrendo da encosta da barragem perto da cervejaria que ele co-fundou. "Se aquele for, vai nos levar embora e muita cerveja, "disse Iverson. (AP Photo / David Goldman)
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Não está claro se Angel, um veterano da Guerra do Vietnã de 71 anos, recusou-se a fugir ou simplesmente ficou sem tempo depois que trabalhadores do Distrito de Energia Pública de Nebraska o avisaram que a água estava atingindo a barragem perto de Spencer, uma cidade com menos de 500 residentes.
Um advogado da esposa de Angel, que não estava em casa quando a barragem quebrou, entrou com um processo de US $ 5 milhões alegando negligência. Alega que a concessionária de energia falhou em manter a barragem de maneira adequada, treinar seus funcionários ou informar os Anjos sobre condições perigosas.
Mesmo que a casa dos Anjos estivesse diretamente em seu caminho, a barragem foi classificada como um perigo "significativo" em vez de "alto", o que significa que não era obrigatório pela lei de Nebraska ter um plano de ação de emergência formal. Cerca de 20% das barragens de alto risco regulamentadas pelo estado em todo o país ainda carecem de planos de emergência, de acordo com o Corpo de Engenheiros do Exército dos EUA, que mantém o inventário nacional de barragens.
Quando foi inspecionado pela última vez em abril de 2018, A classificação "razoável" de Spencer Dam foi acompanhada por uma notação sinistra:"Existem deficiências que podem levar ao rompimento da barragem durante raros, eventos extremos de tempestade. "
Tim Gokie, engenheiro-chefe do programa de segurança de barragens de Nebraska, disse que o aviso foi devido à infiltração de água no passado que a concessionária de energia abordou com a instalação de um sistema de drenagem. Em última análise, Gokie disse, a nascente do rio Niobrara simplesmente inundou a barragem de concreto e terra, que foi construída em 1927 para gerar hidroeletricidade, não para controle de enchentes.
Neste 27 de dezembro, 2018, foto, Murray Beach, um banqueiro de investimentos que mora na costa de Willett Pond, aponta o vertedouro do lago, que está localizado na fronteira de Norwood e Walpole, Mass. O vertedouro na Represa Willett Pond de 107 anos é capaz de lidar com apenas 13% do fluxo de água de uma inundação grave antes que a barragem seja transbordada, de acordo com um recente relatório de inspeção do estado. “Não estamos falando apenas de inundar a casa de alguém. Estamos falando de cobrir a casa de alguém, "disse Beach, que pertence a um grupo de cidadãos que faz lobby há anos para que o vertedouro seja reparado. (AP Photo / Charles Krupa)
"O fato é que era apenas uma situação sem precedentes, O porta-voz do Nebraska Public Power District, Mark Becker, disse. "Foi além do que todos esperavam."
Nebraska foi um dos estados mais atingidos por tempestades e inundações este ano, que causaram cerca de US $ 1,5 bilhão em danos às estradas, represas, serviços públicos e outras infraestruturas em 28 estados, de acordo com uma análise AP.
Uma Avaliação Climática Nacional divulgada pela Casa Branca no ano passado observou o aumento da frequência e intensidade das tempestades à medida que o clima muda. Isso pode empurrar algumas barragens além do que foram projetadas para lidar.
Mesmo se mantido em boas condições, milhares de barragens podem estar em risco por causa de tempestades extremas, disse Fugate, o ex-funcionário da FEMA.
"São como bombas-relógio paradas ali, esperando que as condições erradas ocorram para causar uma falha catastrófica, " ele disse.
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A vehicle passes over the spillway at Willett Pond on the border of Norwood and Walpole, Massa., Dec. 27, 2018. If the dam were to give way, it could send hundreds of millions of gallons of water into the heart of the Norwood, a Boston suburb of nearly 30, 000 pessoas. (AP Photo / Charles Krupa)
The nation's dams are categorized as high, significant or low hazard in the National Inventory of Dams database. High hazard means loss of human life is likely if a dam were to fail. A significant rating means no deaths are likely, although economic and environmental damage are possible.
There is no national standard for inspecting dams, leading to a patchwork of state regulations. Some states inspect high-hazard dams every year while others wait up to five years. Some states never inspect low-hazard dams—though even farm ponds can eventually pose a high hazard as housing developments encroach.
Dam conditions are supposed to be rated as unsatisfactory, poor, fair or satisfactory. But the ratings are subjective—varying by state and the interpretations of individual inspectors—and are not always publicly disclosed.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the U.S. government has cited national security grounds in refusing to include dams' conditions in its inventory, which was updated most recently in 2018. But the AP was able to determine both condition and hazard ratings for more than 25, 000 dams across the country through public records requests.
The tally includes some of the nation's most well-known dams, such as Hoover Dam along the Colorado River, but mostly involves privately owned dams. Many are used for recreation.
The AP then examined inspection reports for hundreds of high-hazard dams in poor or unsatisfactory condition. Those reports cited a variety of problems:leaks that can indicate a dam is failing internally; unrepaired erosion from past instances of overtopping; holes from burrowing animals; tree growth that can destabilize earthen dams; and spillways too small to handle a large flood. Some dams were so overgrown with vegetation that they couldn't be fully inspected.
A surveyor walks the banks of the Mill River, at the site of the former Whittenton Pond Dam, just upstream from downtown Taunton, Massa., 25 de julho 2018. The dam was removed following concerns that the 170-year-old plus structure could fail, after it buckled and nearly failed in 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Georgia led the nation with nearly 200 high-hazard dams in unsatisfactory or poor condition, according to the AP's analysis.
Among them is Reservoir No. 1 in Atlanta, a 180 million-gallon water supply dating to the late 1800s that has been out of service much of the past few decades. The city made repairs and brought it back online in 2017, only to shut it down again after leaks were noticed.
If the dam were to catastrophically fail, the water could inundate more than 1, 000 casas, dozens of businesses, a railroad and a portion of Interstate 75, according to an emergency action plan .
Joel Iverson has previously noticed water trickling out of the dam near the brewery he co-founded, Monday Night Brewing.
"If that one goes, it's going to wash away us and a lot of beer, " Iverson said.
The Atlanta Watershed Management Department declined the AP's request for an interview about the reservoir and instead asked for questions in writing. When those were submitted, it declined to answer them.
In this April 2, 2019, foto do arquivo, water flows down the Oroville Dam spillway in Oroville, Calif. The state spent $1.1 billion repairing the Lake Oroville spillway, enacted new emergency plan requirements and launched a review of 93 other dams with similar spillways. (AP Photo / Rich Pedroncelli, Arquivo)
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One of the most common problems for aging dams are spillways incapable of handling an extreme rainfall event.
If water can't escape quickly enough through spillways, it could flow over the top of a dam, which increases the probability of rapid erosion that can cause it to collapse.
The spillway at the 107-year-old Willett Pond Dam near the Boston suburb of Norwood is capable of handling just 13% of the water flow from a serious flood before the dam is overtopped, according to a recent state inspection report. If the dam were to give way, it could send hundreds of millions of gallons of water into the heart of the city of nearly 30, 000 pessoas.
"We are not talking of just flooding someone's house. We are talking about covering their house, " said Murray Beach, who lives on the shore of the 220-acre privately owned lake and belongs to a citizens group that has lobbied for years for the spillway to be repaired.
A 2017 inspection report said improvements to the spillway could cost between $1 million and $5 million. A nonprofit that owns the lake received a $215, 000 state grant last year to design spillway improvements. But there is no timeline to fix it.
Neste 30 de novembro, 2017, foto do arquivo, work continues on the Oroville Dam spillway in Oroville, Calif. The scare at Oroville, the nation's tallest dam, led to evacuation orders for nearly 200, 000 pessoas, although no one was injured and the dam ultimately held. (AP Photo / Rich Pedroncelli, Arquivo) 
Tamiko Porter, who operates a Montessori school serving some 75 students, said she was surprised to learn there was a dam upstream that could flood her school if it failed.
"Oh God, please let it happen when my kids aren't here, " Porter said.
Norwood emergency management director Bernard Cooper said there is no imminent risk of dam failure.
"Sim, it needs work. The spillway should be rebuilt. Absolutamente, no question, " Cooper acknowledged. But "there is no money in the system for that."
Concerns about inadequate dam spillways date back decades to when the Corps of Engineers undertook its first nationwide assessment of dams posing a high risk to life and property. From 1978 to 1981, the Corps inspected 8, 818 dams. About one-third were deemed unsafe due to deficiencies, and about 80% of those cited inadequate spillway capacities.
Hunter Croan walks along a dried-up section of Lake Dunlap, 30 de setembro, 2019, in Lake Dunlap, Texas. Croan is one of many homeowners who were left high and dry, their lakeside docks now dry as the Guadalupe River retreated to its natural bed after the the center spill gate of the lake's 91-year-old dam failed. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
One of the dams cited for a "seriously inadequate" spillway in 1978 was Lake Sebago, located in a New York state park near the village of Sloatsburg. Forty years later, nothing has changed.
A 2018 state inspection letter warned of "inadequate spillway capacity and dam stability" and asked for an improvement plan within 30 days. None was provided.
The state dam safety office has no authority to force the state parks department to make repairs.
To modify the Lake Sebago spillway, workers would have to rebuild a road and bridge that pass over the dam. The project could cost over $15 million, said Jim Hall, the recently retired executive director of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, which manages multiple dams.
"That structure has been in place with the same spillway capacity for over probably 60 to 70 years and it hasn't been overtopped, " Hall said. "Should it be improved to meet all codes? Sim, that would be nice. Does it make it the highest priority for us to do in relation to other dam structures we have? Probably not."
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Water flows over a spill gate on Lake McQueeney, 2 de outubro, 2019, Lake McQueeney, Texas. A judge has issued a 12-month temporary injunction preventing the draining of McQueeney and five other lakes along the Guadalupe River after property owners sued. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
In a 1982 report summarizing its nationwide dam assessment, the Corps of Engineers said most dam owners were unwilling to modify, repair or maintain the structures, and most states were unwilling to spend enough money for an effective dam safety program.
Desde então, every state but Alabama has created a dam safety program.
But the Great Recession a decade ago forced many states to make widespread budget and personnel cuts. Since a low point in 2011, states' total spending on dam safety has grown by about one-third to nearly $59 million in the 2019 fiscal year while staffing levels have risen by about one-fifth, according to data collected by the Corps of Engineers.
Califórnia, which runs the nation's largest dam safety program, accounts for much of that gain. It boosted its budget from $13 million to $20 million and the number of full-time staff from 63 to 77 following the failure of the Oroville dam spillway in 2017.
The scare at Oroville, the nation's tallest dam, led to evacuation orders for nearly 200, 000 pessoas, although no one was injured and the dam ultimately held. An independent investigation cited "a long-term systemic failure " by regulators and the dam industry to recognize and address warning signs.
California spent $1.1 billion repairing the Lake Oroville spillway, enacted new emergency plan requirements and launched a review of 93 other dams with similar spillways.
Water spurts through a wood section of a spill gate on Lake McQueeney, 2 de outubro, 2019, Lake McQueeney, Texas. A judge has issued a temporary injunction preventing the draining of the lakes along the Guadalupe River as a result of an agreement between suing property owners and the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Na Carolina do Sul, after more than 70 dams failed following heavy rains in 2015 and 2016, the state tripled the personnel in its dam safety program and ratcheted up spending from about $260, 000 annually to more than $1 million.
But some states have continued to pare back their dam safety programs. Thirteen states and Puerto Rico were spending less in 2019 than they did in 2011, and 11 states had fewer full-time positions in their programs.
The Association of State Dam Safety Officials says almost every state faces a serious need to pump additional money and manpower into dam safety programs.
"If you don't have the staff to inspect a dam, or don't have the authority to do that, you don't know what the problems are, " said the association's Ogden.
"If you are able to do the inspection but you can't follow up, and you have dam owners who don't have the resources to fix their dam, then ultimately you know what the problem is but you can't get it addressed, " ele adicionou.
Many states face a quandary when it comes to problematic private dams when they can't identify the owners. Rhode Island's two-person dam safety office last year listed 32 high- or significant-hazard dams with safety concerns whose owners were unknown.
Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority's John Moryl walks through the hydroelectric plant at the spill gates on Lake McQueeney, 2 de outubro, 2019, in Lake McQueeney, Texas. The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority announced plans to drain a chain of six lakes, including Lake McQueeney. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
"If we don't know the owner, then we can't take any action to order anybody to fix it, " said David Chopy, chief of compliance and inspection for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.
In some states, dams go uninspected because of exemptions in state law.
A 2013 Texas law exempts all dams on private property with a capacity of less than 163 million gallons that are rated significant or low hazard and are located outside of city limits in any county with fewer than 350, 000 pessoas. Como resultado, about 45% of its roughly 7, 200 dams are exempt from regulation.
Missouri performs safety inspections on only about 650 of its more than 5, 000 dams. That's because state law exempts all dams that are under 35 feet, used for agricultural purposes or subject to federal regulation.
Former Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt attempted to significantly expand the number of dams under state supervision after the mountaintop Taum Sauk Reservoir collapsed in December 2005, injuring a state park superintendent's family. But the legislation failed after some rural landowners expressed concerns. Then the proposal quietly faded away as new officials took over.
"Maybe it's time to take a look at that again and make sure that our dams are safe, " said Missouri state Rep. Tim Remole, who now leads the House committee overseeing dam safety.
This March 14, 2006, foto do arquivo, shows damage after a dam burst near Kilauea, on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. An earthen wall of the Kaloko Reservoir collapsed during heavy rains and sent a wave of water and mud rushing down a hillside. Seven people were killed on Bruce Fehring's property, including his daughter, son-in-law and grandson. (AP Photo/Casey Riemer, Arquivo)
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Until Angel's death in Nebraska this year, the last fatal dam failure in the U.S. occurred on the Hawaiian island of Kauai in 2006.
An earthen wall of the Kaloko Reservoir collapsed during heavy rains and sent a wave of water rushing down a hillside. Seven people—including a pregnant woman—were killed on Bruce Fehring's property, including his daughter, son-in-law and grandson.
Fehring, who wasn't there at the time, got a phone call from a neighbor saying something terrible had happened. He was shocked by the scene.
"It took a while to register, and I went, 'Oh my God, everything's been washed away, '" Fehring recalled. "I mean, you have no idea the power of water (until) you see what it can do in a very short amount of time."
Dam owner James Pflueger pleaded no contest to felony reckless endangerment and was sentenced to seven months of confinement and five years of probation. His property company pleaded no contest to seven counts of manslaughter. Prosecutors said Pflueger had filled in the dam's spillway while attempting to make space for a waterfront development.
In this May 21, 2006, foto do arquivo, Bruce Fehring and his wife Cyndee, Centro, lead a procession toward Kahili Quarry Beach during a memorial service to honor those killed when the Kaloko Dam failed in Kilauea, on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. An earthen wall of the Kaloko Reservoir collapsed during heavy rains and sent a wave of water and mud rushing down a hillside. Seven people were killed on Fehring's property, including his daughter, son-in-law and grandson. (Jamm Aquino/Honolulu Star-Bulletin via AP, Arquivo)
Tess Coody-Anders, a university executive and homeowner near Lake McQueeney, one of the dams slated to be drained, stands near a sign showing the lake is closed, 30 de setembro, 2019, in Lake McQueeney, Texas. "This is something that communities and states all across the country are grappling with as we are reckoning with our aging infrastructure, " said Coody-Anders. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The victims' families and those whose property was damaged, including actress Bette Midler, agreed to a $25 million civil settlement. Though categorized by the state as low hazard at the time it failed, Kaloko Reservoir is now listed as a high-hazard facility in poor condition . It remains largely unrepaired.
That's also the case with Lake Dunlap Dam, northeast of San Antonio. On a sunny morning in May, one of the 91-year-old dam's corroded spillway gates suddenly gave way. No one was hurt in the rush of water, but scores of homeowners' lakeside docks were left high and dry, facing barren swaths of dried lakebed after the river retreated, leaving boats stranded.
The dam was the second hydroelectric facility along the river to fail within the past three years. The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority responded with plans to drain a chain of four lakes because of concerns their similarly designed spillway gates also could fail.
But after property owners sued, the river authority agreed in September to a temporary injunction delaying the plan for a year. That could allow time to find funding for the estimated $90 million to $210 million to repair the dams.
Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority's John Moryl looks over the spill gates at Lake Dunlap, 2 de outubro, 2019, in Lake Dunlap, Texas. One of the spill gates at the dam failed in May and the lake drained down to the original channel of the Guadalupe River. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
"This is something that communities and states all across the country are grappling with as we are reckoning with our aging infrastructure, " said Tess Coody-Anders, a homeowner near Lake McQueeney, one of the dams slated to be drained.
"I hope that everyone will recognize that, like in our community, entire economies and ways of life have developed around what started out as a civil engineering project, " she added. "And you can't take that away."
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