Events
Dam Safety 2026 Conference
Date
August 30, 2026 04:00am - September 4, 2026 03:59am
RTI is proud to participate in Dam Safety 2026, ASDSO's premier educational and networking event for professionals dedicated to dam and levee safety. As infrastructure owners and agencies face increasing challenges related to aging assets, extreme weather, resilience, and risk management, RTI researchers and technical experts are working alongside partners to develop data-driven solutions that support safer, more sustainable water infrastructure.
Visit us at the conference to learn how RTI's expertise in engineering, environmental science, risk assessment, and community resilience is helping clients address complex dam safety challenges and protect the communities they serve.
RTI Sessions at ASDSO 2026
CS32B - Concurrent Session 32B: Integrated Probabilistic Flood and Dam Breach Hazard Analysis
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
2:00 PM - 2:30 PM East Coast USA Time
Presenter: Ryan Johnson, P.E., Water Resources Engineer, RTI International
Abstract Description: Probabilistic Flood Hazard Analysis (PFHA) is traditionally applied to estimate hydrologic loading that may initiate dam failure mechanisms such as overtopping. Separate event tree models are often utilized to estimate the probabilities of downstream flooding that include dam breaches. However, the PFHA framework can be extended to explicitly include event tree model, enabling direct evaluation of the probability of breach and its resulting downstream flood hazards within a single, integrated analysis. This approach provides an efficient means of characterizing combined flood and breach risks to infrastructure and communities downstream of dams.
This presentation describes PFHA frameworks developed for two case studies: Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and New Brunswick Power’s Mactaquac Dam. It will highlight the key inputs and modeling components used to represent breach initiation and outflow. A central challenge in this application is defining the conditional probability of dam failure given a hydrologic loading condition. The case studies demonstrate that explicitly incorporating dam failure probability into PFHA can significantly alter downstream hazard curves, frequently identifying breach scenarios as the primary contributors to extreme flow probabilities. The results illustrate a practical and defensible method for integrating conditional dam failure probability and breach hydraulics into a PFHA.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn general knowledge about PFHA including inputs, outputs and uncertainty consideration.
- Demonstrate methods to incorporate conditional probability of dam failure into PFHAs.
- Discuss impacts of dam failure on downstream infrastructure in PFHA.
CS19C - Concurrent Session 19C: NOAA Atlas 15 - Climate-Informed Precipitation Frequency Estimates for the U.S.
Tuesday, September 1, 2026
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM East Coast USA Time
Presenter: Debbie Martin, Senior Hydrometeorologist, RTI International, Broomfield, Colorado
Abstract Description: The Office of Water Prediction (OWP) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) is developing a new authoritative precipitation frequency (PF) standard which are used in dam safety applications (e.g., spillway design and hydrologic risk assessment). When complete in 2027, NOAA Atlas 15 will provide seamless estimates across the contiguous United States (CONUS), as well as estimates for domains outside the contiguous United States (oCONUS), including Alaska, Hawaii, and select U.S. territories. NOAA Atlas 15 will consist of two volumes: Volume 1 will provide a snapshot of PF estimates for present day accounting for nonstationarity captured by historical gauge observations, and Volume 2 will provide future estimates corresponding to potential changes in global temperature based on model projections.
Preliminary PF estimates across CONUS were released in early 2026 for review by federal partners, stakeholders, and the public. Atlas 15 will be provided for durations 5-minutes through 60-days and annual exceedance probabilities through 0.1% (or 1 in 1,000) on a high-resolution grid, displayed as interactive graphics on a new web interface. This presentation describes ongoing efforts to develop a quality controlled extreme precipitation time series database, the evolution of a framework used to generate present-day preliminary estimates, and the development and application of adjustment factors used to provide future estimates.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn about the recent progress to develop NOAA's precipitation frequency estimates for the U.S.
- Learn about how NOAA is developing precipitation frequency estimates for potential future climates.
- Learn where the PF estimates are and how to access them.
CS7B - Concurrent Session 07B: Real Time Flood Inundation Mapping for Coordinated Dam and Levee Operations
Monday, August 31, 2026
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM East Coast USA Time
Presenter: Michael Crouch, P.E., CFM, Senior Water Resources Engineer, RTI International, Fort Collins, Colorado
Abstract Description: Yuba County, California is situated within a complex, highly regulated river system at the confluence of the Feather and Yuba Rivers, where flood risk is governed by coordinated operations at Oroville, New Bullards Bar, and Camp Far West dams and by the performance of an extensive levee system. Downstream flood hazards are strongly dependent on reservoir release strategies, system constraints, and potential levee failure locations under high-flow conditions. To support dam and levee safety planning and emergency management, the Yuba County Water Agency and Office of Emergency Services (OES) have implemented a Flood Inundation Mapping System (FIMS) that integrates operational forecasts with hydraulic modeling to evaluate evolving flood and levee failure scenarios.
The FIMS generates hourly inundation maps driven by 10-day forecast reservoir releases and simulates levee breach scenarios associated with deficiencies identified through inspection and assessment programs. Real-time hydrometeorologic and river flow forecasts from the California–Nevada River Forecast Center (CNRFC) are automatically ingested and used to update hydraulic simulations as conditions evolve. System outputs include time-dependent inundation extents, depths, velocities, and floodwave arrival times, providing actionable information to support emergency action planning, consequence assessment, and risk-informed decision making. This presentation describes the technical drivers for the system, the underlying modeling framework and data integration, and the flood hazard products developed to support dam and levee safety operations.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn about emerging methods for generating EAP maps in real time
- Learn about development of levee breach mapping based on forecasts of dam releases
- Learn about best practices for systemwide hydraulic modeling using combined 1D and 2D HEC-RAS
