High-Hazard Dams Without an Emergency Action Plan
A high-hazard classification means failure would likely cause loss of life. An emergency action plan is the document that says who gets warned and how. 2,476 of the 17,049 high-hazard dams in the United States have no such plan on record — 14.5% of them. This is that gap, state by state, computed from the USACE National Inventory of Dams extract stamped 2026-8-28.
high-hazard-without-eap.csv — all 52 states, with high-hazard counts, EAP status, condition ratings and totals. Free to reuse with attribution to USACE NID and PE-Calc.
Ranked by number of dams
North Carolina accounts for 25% of the entire national gap on its own — more than one in four — and has both the most high-hazard dams of any state and the largest number lacking a plan.
| State | High-hazard | No EAP | Rate | Share of US gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 1,678 | 635 | 37.8% | 25% |
| Texas | 1,648 | 328 | 19.9% | 13% |
| Alabama | 228 | 178 | 78.1% | 7% |
| South Carolina | 679 | 168 | 24.7% | 6% |
| Indiana | 282 | 126 | 44.7% | 5% |
| West Virginia | 448 | 115 | 25.7% | 4% |
| New Mexico | 255 | 115 | 45.1% | 4% |
| Ohio | 421 | 81 | 19.2% | 3% |
| Maryland | 107 | 69 | 64.5% | 2% |
| Georgia | 556 | 60 | 10.8% | 2% |
| Florida | 104 | 54 | 51.9% | 2% |
| California | 877 | 53 | 6.0% | 2% |
| Missouri | 1,478 | 51 | 3.5% | 2% |
| Illinois | 252 | 50 | 19.8% | 2% |
| Rhode Island | 95 | 46 | 48.4% | 1% |
| Mississippi | 349 | 40 | 11.5% | 1% |
| Virginia | 452 | 37 | 8.2% | 1% |
| Pennsylvania | 788 | 37 | 4.7% | 1% |
| Kansas | 328 | 35 | 10.7% | 1% |
| Washington | 416 | 35 | 8.4% | 1% |
Ranked by rate
Absolute counts favour big states. By proportion, among states with at least 50 high-hazard dams, the picture is different — and in several states most high-hazard dams have no plan at all.
| State | High-hazard | No EAP | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 228 | 178 | 78.1% |
| Maryland | 107 | 69 | 64.5% |
| Florida | 104 | 54 | 51.9% |
| Rhode Island | 95 | 46 | 48.4% |
| New Mexico | 255 | 115 | 45.1% |
| Indiana | 282 | 126 | 44.7% |
| North Carolina | 1,678 | 635 | 37.8% |
| West Virginia | 448 | 115 | 25.7% |
| South Carolina | 679 | 168 | 24.7% |
| Texas | 1,648 | 328 | 19.9% |
| Illinois | 252 | 50 | 19.8% |
| Ohio | 421 | 81 | 19.2% |
Who owns them
The gap is overwhelmingly private. 65% of high-hazard dams lacking a plan are privately owned — typically recreation and farm pond dams whose owners often do not know the structure is regulated, let alone that it carries a planning obligation. That is a very different policy problem from a public agency failing to file.
| Owner type | Dams | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Private | 1,629 | 65% |
| Local Government | 550 | 22% |
| Not Listed | 115 | 4% |
| State | 85 | 3% |
| Federal | 49 | 1% |
| Public Utility | 40 | 1% |
Condition of high-hazard dams
Separately from planning, 2,791 high-hazard dams are rated Poor or Unsatisfactory. These ratings are dam-safety findings, not maintenance notes: they mean identified deficiencies that could lead to failure under loading the dam is expected to withstand.
| State | High-hazard | Poor | Unsat. | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 1,678 | 208 | 39 | 14.7% |
| Texas | 1,648 | 105 | 112 | 13.2% |
| Georgia | 556 | 189 | 4 | 34.7% |
| South Carolina | 679 | 145 | 17 | 23.9% |
| New Mexico | 255 | 136 | 9 | 56.9% |
| Pennsylvania | 788 | 134 | 11 | 18.4% |
| Mississippi | 349 | 81 | 59 | 40.1% |
| Ohio | 421 | 128 | 4 | 31.4% |
| New York | 451 | 111 | 5 | 25.7% |
| Kentucky | 277 | 89 | 17 | 38.3% |
| Indiana | 282 | 89 | 2 | 32.3% |
| Hawaii | 118 | 75 | 13 | 74.6% |
Method, and what these numbers do not say
Basis. High-hazard-potential dams only. State EAP requirements differ — North Carolina requires plans for high and intermediate hazard dams under G.S. 143-215.31(a1), while other states set the bar elsewhere — so a fifty-state ranking that mixed those bases would be comparing different legal obligations. High hazard is the one cohort where essentially every state requires a plan, which makes it the only honest basis for a national comparison. It also means these figures understate the true gap in states like North Carolina.
Limits. NID reflects what state and federal programs have reported to USACE. It can lag a state program's own records, and "EAP Prepared: No" means no plan is recorded in the inventory rather than proof that no plan exists. A dam newly classified may legitimately be inside its filing window. Treat these as inventory figures, not as compliance findings about any individual structure.
Reproducing it. Pull the national extract from
https://nid.sec.usace.army.mil/api/nation/csv and group by
State, Hazard Potential Classification and EAP Prepared.
The build script that generates this page is
open source.