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Extracted from Consolidated Report

This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.

San Mateo County Grand Jury • 2006-2007

Issue | Background | Findings | Conslusions | Recommendations | Responses | Attachments Summary of Emergency Planning

Published: March 31, 2008 2 pages
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Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F5, F6, F7, F8, F9, F10, F11, F12, F13, F14, F15, F16, F17, F18, F19, F20, F21, F22, F23, F24, F25, F26, F27, F28, F29, F30, F31, F32, F33, F34, F35, F36, F37, F38, F39, F40, F41, F42, F43, F44, F45, F46, F47, F48

Findings 5 findings

F1
The Telephonic Emergency Notification System (TENS) from Dialogic Communications Corporation, which is an Internet-based calling system that rapidly alerts residents in their homes and mobilizes first responders. Phone lists are being generated so that residents living in areas identified on inundation maps can be notified by TENS in the event of an imminent dam or levee failure.
F2
Length & height: feet
F3
Normal Storage: acre-feet
F4
Hazard potential: S= significant, no loss of life expected, significant property damage H=high, probable loss of lives and significant property damage. Access to information about dams in the County • When OES/HS personnel tried to obtain National Inventory of Dams information from the Army Corps of Engineers website in April 2007, OES/HS was denied access without a password. • OES/HS applied for the required password in April 2007, but had not received it by late May 2007. • As noted earlier, National Inventory of Dams information is no longer publicly available directly from the Army Corps of Engineers, yet it appears to be available from other sources. • The California Department of Water Resources Division of Safety of Dams inventory is not organized by county, which makes it very difficult to use. Emergency Action Plans • The OES/HS recently contacted owners of 19 dams located in San Mateo County that were listed in the National Inventory of Dams (the 19 included some low risk dams); the OES/HS found that none of those dams had an Emergency Action Plan, although the National Inventory of Dams indicated that all the dams listed in Table 1 had such plans. • A representative of the California Department of Water Resources Division of Safety of Dams told the OES/HS that no Emergency Action Plans are on file for dams in our County, and in fact, there are very few Emergency Action Plans on file for dams located elsewhere in California. • The California Department of Water Resources Division of Safety of Dams has no authority to require that Emergency Action Plans be prepared by the dam owners. Dam inspections • The California Department of Water Resources Division of Safety of Dams apparently inspects all dams annually, including Crystal Springs Dam, although the National Inventory of Dams lists the last inspection dates for dams as in 2000 or 2001 (See Table 1). Preparedness • The OES/HS has maps on file that show areas that would be inundated in case of a failure of the dams listed in Table 1. • Table 2 lists types of facilities that are in potential inundation zones. Table 2. Important facilities located in dam inundation zones (Source: Association of Bay Area Governments, 2004) Type of facility Total in In inundation County zones HEALTH CARE FACILITIES: 69 15 Hospital 12 2 Long-Term Care Facility 18 2 Primary Care or Specialty Clinic 19 5 Home Health Agency or Hospice 20 6 SCHOOLS: 227 27 Elementary School 160 21 Intermediate, Middle, or Jr. High School 29 3 High School 29 2 Continuation High School 4 0 College or University 5 1 CRITICAL FACILITIES: 615 109 City-Owned 516 104 County-Owned 49 4 Owned by Special Districts 50 1 BRIDGES AND INTERCHANGES: 358 76 Locally-Owned 153 45 State-Owned 205 31 6 • OES/HS has four parallel methods for notifying citizens of a variety of hazards, including residents facing possible inundation from a dam failure. Those methods are:
F49
0WD0dby500cfalDi:I..... I BRlIlGESANDINTERCHANGES: 358 76 .Qwoed 1$3 .5 5"'~ 20S 31 6 o OESIHShas fowparallelmethodsfurnotifyingcitizen..of. varietyof ha<cdo,includingresidcnls·facingpossibleinunc1alionfrom adamfailure. -~-~TIiose-melhods-are,· , --,.-.---......----.'. l. Therelq,honieBmergencyNotijle$lonSystem (TBNS)from 'DialogicCommunications ColpOlll1ioo,whichtsanlnlerJ!Ot-b..ed oellingsystemthatnpidlya10rtsrcoidcnuintIleirhome. sud mobilizesfirst respo;1dcrs.!'honeIi.Itsarebeinggencnted80that r";dcnls tivingin_identiJied·oniJJuDdationmap.canbcnoimed byTENS ;"thoovcntofan;mmillCZldamorlc:vcofaillIM. ,

Recommendations 15