In 1988, more than half the federal dams were rated as poor or had their condition unknown. Now, all are considered to meet safety standards or are undergoing construction to meet them, said Ed Vidmar, Resource Management Division director for the Bureau of Reclamation's Provo Area Office.

He added that all dams have an intensive "Comprehensive Facility Review" every six years, with major engineering studies conducted by Reclamation's Denver Technical Service Center.

At the midpoint between such reviews, engineers from the bureau's regional office in Salt Lake City perform a somewhat less intensive safety review. And once a year, inspectors from the bureau's Provo Area Office conduct safety reviews of dam exteriors and key features.

Some dams get even more attention. For example, the massive, 50-story Flaming Gorge Dam, the largest in Utah, receives exterior inspections monthly, said Walter Payne, a maintenance official in the bureau's Salt Lake City regional office.

Additionally, he said, "Measurement of movement (by the dam structure) is done monthly," as is measurement of movement of water under the dam. Also, he said, flows from drains are checked four times a year, as is seepage.

Some of the major ongoing work of federal dams includes upgrading the large Deer Creek Dam in Provo Canyon. Vidmar said once construction relocates roads and traffic off the top of that dam, the bureau plans spillway modifications to improve safety.

The bureau is also finishing a second set of modifications to the large Pineview Dam above Ogden. During one of the regular re-evaluations of that dam, Vidmar said, engineers found that earlier improvements in 1991 did not meet "new standards that came because of the Kobe, Japan, earthquake. Some of the materials used tend to liquefy (in an earthquake), so the standards were changed," he said.

2005 outlook

Utah has been in a long drought, which Marble notes means "spillways have not really been tested a lot in recent years." But with mountain snowpack heavier this year, long-forgotten concerns about dam safety are suddenly becoming more important.

One dam already partially failed this year. "Strates Dam in Sanpete County failed. It washed out (because of interior erosion) under the spillway. It was about 25 feet tall, and the top 7 feet of the reservoir came off," he said. That was a "moderate hazard" dam that did not threaten any populated areas.

Marble said, "The only area we're really keeping an eye on right now with concern for the spring is the Enterprise area" in Washington County.

Some tense moments came at the Lower Enterprise Dam there during flash floods in January. That concrete dam had water flowing over its top for a time, with its spillway unable to handle heavy rainfall that filled its reservoir to overflowing.