Across the United States, more than 121,000 dams quietly shape daily life by supplying water, generating hydropower and providing flood control. But according to the National Performance of Dams Program, on average about 10 dams fail each year.Sometimes these failures have devastating, even deadly consequences. Many are aging, high-hazard structures in need of costly repairs, and the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit found money is scarce and owners are often left footing the bill.Behind a locked gate and up a winding road in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is the nearly 100-year-old McClure Dam. It supplies up to half of Santa Fe’s drinking water and is owned by the city. “This is a high hazard dam,” John Del Mar said as he looked out at the dam. Del Mar is an Engineering Section Supervisor with the City of Santa Fe Water Division. “The current rated condition from the state engineer’s office is poor for this dam,” Del Mar said. “That stemmed from some analysis that was done back in 2018.”Because this dam was built 100 years ago, there’s uncertainty in how it was built, so the dam was given the rating of “poor condition.” It’s also high hazard, meaning lives and property would be at risk if it failed. “We have to manage them as a public asset, part of our utility system, and once we know of problems, we’re obligated to fix them. So that’s what sets us on the course of this kind of a repair,” Del Mar said.Del Mar said the dam could cost $20-$30 million to repair. The city of Santa Fe is already in the midst of repairing the Nichols Dam downstream as well. That project costs roughly $20 million. To fund the projects, Santa Fe is dipping into funds they have, proposing raising utility rates and tapping into state funding—options many owners don’t have.Private dam owners struggle to get repair funds Just north of Santa Fe lies Las Vegas, New Mexico. There, Storrie Lake is known to locals as a place to camp, boat and fish. But for cattle rancher Michael Quintana, the lake is more important to him.”We’re in the business of capturing as much water in our lake as we can so we can use it for agriculture purposes,” Quintana said.Quintana is one of the owners of the Storrie Lake Dam, a crucial part of the state highway.”If we were to lose our dam, it would be a huge inconvenience for people to try to get to the Northern part of the state,” Quintana said.But he recently received unfortunate news from state dam officials.”They downrated our dam. Right now, it’s in poor condition,” Quintana said.Roughly 62% of U.S. dams are privately owned, leaving many owners like Quintana responsible for repairs.”There’s a lot of fear in having that ownership for the fact that we lack a lot of ability to fund the maintenance on a dam,” Quintana said. Estimated repairs are about $75 million—far beyond what the owners can afford. Looking for outside sources, the owners are reaching out for help securing funding through sources like local lawmakers.They have sought state help and applied to FEMA’s National Dam Safety Program as well. National funding gap remains largeUsing FEMA’s online money allocation data, the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit has discovered that since 2019, New Mexico has received about $3.7 million from FEMA’s National Dam Safety Program.”Money is always limited and there is often not enough to go around,” said Sushil Chaudhary, chief of the Dam Safety Program in New Mexico.Nationwide, FEMA has allocated roughly $304 million over six years across all 50 states. The Association of State Dam Safety Officials estimated in their 2025 report that it will take $165 billion to fix the nation’s non-federal dams.Chaudhary expressed another problem he feels his department and many around the country deal with: small staff sizes. In New Mexico, 10 staff members, seven of whom are inspectors, oversee about 300 non-federal dams. They have the third-best ratio of dams to staff of any state.Nationwide, roughly 530 state dam officials monitor more than 117,000 non-federally owned dams. Inspection responsibilities fall upon the federal government for the other 3% of dams that are federally owned.Working with the Hearst Television Data Team, the National Investigative Unit found that 25% of high hazard dams have not been inspected in the past five years or do not have record of a last inspection date. A high hazard dam would cause loss of life if it were to fail.Right now, there are roughly 2,600 high hazard dams in poor or unsatisfactory condition across the country. Dams in poor condition have a safety deficiency, and dams in unsatisfactory condition require immediate or emergency repair.But that could be an undercount. The most up-to-date records gathered by the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit and Hearst Television Data Team indicate that 67% of dams don’t have a condition rating. Of those, 4,000 are high hazard dams.Chaudhary said they get behind on inspections at times because they have other responsibilities.”We also need to perform the analysis that we need for regulatory purposes,” Chaudhary said. “We cannot rely on dam owners to do the analysis all the time. So we have to do our own.”Chaudhary circled back on the statistic that about 10 dams fail every year.”If you look at that data, the failure is not slowing down. So failure will keep happening. The dams are getting older. With that, various components of the dams deteriorate. While we cannot prevent failure of the dams, we can manage risk. We can save lives. We can do things that allow us to save lives and property,” Chaudhary said.Dams near youCurious if any of these dams with late inspections are near you? The Hearst Television data team has built a tool that allows you to see all of the dams in your area and learn whether any are in unsatisfactory or poor condition. Simply search your address or town name in the box below, and the map will populate with any dams near you, their latest condition rating and when they were last inspected.This story was shot and edited by Hearst National Investigative Photojournalist Reid Bolton.PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=
SANTA FE, N.M. —
Across the United States, more than 121,000 dams quietly shape daily life by supplying water, generating hydropower and providing flood control. But according to the National Performance of Dams Program, on average about 10 dams fail each year.
Sometimes these failures have devastating, even deadly consequences. Many are aging, high-hazard structures in need of costly repairs, and the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit found money is scarce and owners are often left footing the bill.
Behind a locked gate and up a winding road in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is the nearly 100-year-old McClure Dam. It supplies up to half of Santa Fe’s drinking water and is owned by the city.
“This is a high hazard dam,” John Del Mar said as he looked out at the dam.
Del Mar is an Engineering Section Supervisor with the City of Santa Fe Water Division.
“The current rated condition from the state engineer’s office is poor for this dam,” Del Mar said. “That stemmed from some analysis that was done back in 2018.”
Because this dam was built 100 years ago, there’s uncertainty in how it was built, so the dam was given the rating of “poor condition.” It’s also high hazard, meaning lives and property would be at risk if it failed.
“We have to manage them as a public asset, part of our utility system, and once we know of problems, we’re obligated to fix them. So that’s what sets us on the course of this kind of a repair,” Del Mar said.
Del Mar said the dam could cost $20-$30 million to repair.
The city of Santa Fe is already in the midst of repairing the Nichols Dam downstream as well. That project costs roughly $20 million. To fund the projects, Santa Fe is dipping into funds they have, proposing raising utility rates and tapping into state funding—options many owners don’t have.
Private dam owners struggle to get repair funds
Just north of Santa Fe lies Las Vegas, New Mexico. There, Storrie Lake is known to locals as a place to camp, boat and fish. But for cattle rancher Michael Quintana, the lake is more important to him.
“We’re in the business of capturing as much water in our lake as we can so we can use it for agriculture purposes,” Quintana said.
Quintana is one of the owners of the Storrie Lake Dam, a crucial part of the state highway.
“If we were to lose our dam, it would be a huge inconvenience for people to try to get to the Northern part of the state,” Quintana said.
But he recently received unfortunate news from state dam officials.
“They downrated our dam. Right now, it’s in poor condition,” Quintana said.
Roughly 62% of U.S. dams are privately owned, leaving many owners like Quintana responsible for repairs.
“There’s a lot of fear in having that ownership for the fact that we lack a lot of ability to fund the maintenance on a dam,” Quintana said. Estimated repairs are about $75 million—far beyond what the owners can afford. Looking for outside sources, the owners are reaching out for help securing funding through sources like local lawmakers.
They have sought state help and applied to FEMA’s National Dam Safety Program as well.
National funding gap remains large
Using FEMA’s online money allocation data, the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit has discovered that since 2019, New Mexico has received about $3.7 million from FEMA’s National Dam Safety Program.
“Money is always limited and there is often not enough to go around,” said Sushil Chaudhary, chief of the Dam Safety Program in New Mexico.
Nationwide, FEMA has allocated roughly $304 million over six years across all 50 states. The Association of State Dam Safety Officials estimated in their 2025 report that it will take $165 billion to fix the nation’s non-federal dams.
Chaudhary expressed another problem he feels his department and many around the country deal with: small staff sizes. In New Mexico, 10 staff members, seven of whom are inspectors, oversee about 300 non-federal dams. They have the third-best ratio of dams to staff of any state.
Nationwide, roughly 530 state dam officials monitor more than 117,000 non-federally owned dams. Inspection responsibilities fall upon the federal government for the other 3% of dams that are federally owned.
Working with the Hearst Television Data Team, the National Investigative Unit found that 25% of high hazard dams have not been inspected in the past five years or do not have record of a last inspection date. A high hazard dam would cause loss of life if it were to fail.
Right now, there are roughly 2,600 high hazard dams in poor or unsatisfactory condition across the country. Dams in poor condition have a safety deficiency, and dams in unsatisfactory condition require immediate or emergency repair.
But that could be an undercount. The most up-to-date records gathered by the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit and Hearst Television Data Team indicate that 67% of dams don’t have a condition rating. Of those, 4,000 are high hazard dams.
Chaudhary said they get behind on inspections at times because they have other responsibilities.
“We also need to perform the analysis that we need for regulatory purposes,” Chaudhary said. “We cannot rely on dam owners to do the analysis all the time. So we have to do our own.”
Chaudhary circled back on the statistic that about 10 dams fail every year.
“If you look at that data, the failure is not slowing down. So failure will keep happening. The dams are getting older. With that, various components of the dams deteriorate. While we cannot prevent failure of the dams, we can manage risk. We can save lives. We can do things that allow us to save lives and property,” Chaudhary said.
Dams near you
Curious if any of these dams with late inspections are near you? The Hearst Television data team has built a tool that allows you to see all of the dams in your area and learn whether any are in unsatisfactory or poor condition.
Simply search your address or town name in the box below, and the map will populate with any dams near you, their latest condition rating and when they were last inspected.
This story was shot and edited by Hearst National Investigative Photojournalist Reid Bolton.
