Portfolio risk assessment: A tool for dam safety risk management

Dam owners, engineers and regulators need to prioritize dam safety evaluations and structural and non-structural risk reduction measures. Traditionally,prioritizations have been based on downstream hazard assessment and weighting schemes. However, these have significant weaknesses and cannot be relied on as the basis for effective and efficient management and reduction of dam safety risks. The portfolio risk assessment (PRA) approach, which the authors have developed and applied to several portfolios of dams, is a tool for prioritizing risk reduction measures and dam safety evaluations. Significantly more cost effective and rapid rates of risk reduction may be achieved using this approach. PRA provides valuable inputs to insurance, capital budgeting and other business process and for strengthening all aspects of a dam safety program. This paper focuses on the initial application of PRA. However, a PRA can be updated and used as a core element in an on-going dam safety management.