An ad hoc committee of the National Research Council will analyze and provide conclusions on how dam and levee safety programs may be broadened to include community- and regional-level preparation, response, mitigation, and recovery from potential infrastructure failure. The study will examine

• Holistic systematic approaches to safety analysis. Links between the geotechnical, geologic, hydrologic and hydraulic, and civil-structural engineering aspects of safety and the risks to communities and other stakeholders will be identified. The committee will consider how incorporating preparedness, response, mitigation, and recovery into safety programs can enhance long-term community- and regional-level resilience.

• Communication and engagement. The committee will describe current practices for identifying local and regional stakeholders, and for collecting and disseminating information among them, including how concerns are reassessed as infrastructure conditions change, safety issues emerge, and community needs and interests evolve. Conclusions regarding the improvement of these practices will be provided.

• Decision-making and decision-support systems. The committee will summarize how safety information, including stakeholder input, and inspection, monitoring, analysis, and impacts data are used in safety programs for decision making for both infrastructure management and improving community- and regional-level resilience against the primary (e.g., inundation) and secondary impacts (e.g., regional power loss) of infrastructure failure. The committee will provide conclusions regarding how stakeholder input may be incorporated into the design of safety and communication decision processes.

The committee will identify tools, products, and guidance that could be developed at the federal level to address the issues above. The human behavioral drivers that may promote or inhibit the expansion of dam and levee safety programs to promote community resilience will be considered. The committee’s conclusions will assist the federal government in developing a more comprehensive and effective dam and levee safety program, but no policy or funding recommendations will be made.