Enhancing dam safety: an integrated framework for dam safety management

Purpose Irrespective of substantial socio-economic benefits offered by dams, the failures that resulted in devastating disasters indicate the timely need to recognize that the existing dams are ageing, deteriorating and becoming vulnerable to adverse climate changes, necessitating the enhancement of current dam safety management strategies. The purpose of this paper is to present the development of a conceptual model for an integrated dam safety management framework. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted literature review as a methodology, wherein the referred literature includes international dam safety guidelines, dam safety reviews and scholarly articles related to dam safety management. The insights and recommendations from literature and the critical review of the same were crucial in formulating the findings to incorporate the current best practices in dam safety and to address gaps in current practices. Findings The developed conceptual model is based on seven key principles including the recognition of “Dam, reservoir and the downstream community” as “combined system”, the need for “Risk-informed decision-making” and “Periodic dam system benchmarking” and the importance of assessing dam safety by integrating technical, management, socio-economic and environmental aspects by adopting a life cycle approach. The model reflects on the significance of collective effort through multidisciplinary engagement in enhancing dam safety management. Originality/value The developed conceptual model forms a basis for dam owners via multidisciplinary integration to ensure safe operation and improve disaster resilience of the dams and downstream communities.