Yet another case of the MSM taking some beauracrat's bent for overregulation, and then blowing it out of proportion for it's sensational value. The USACE had to have two basic classifications for dam vunerability: (1)a dam's likelyhood of failure, and (2)the degree of destruction should a dam fail. Dworshak rates extremely safe per number 1, but of course rates as "unsafe" per number 2 due to the amount of water being held back plus the population and narrow canyons downstream. That second reg is pretty pointless, but a beauracrat's gotta do something to "earn" his taxpayer subsidized paycheck!

No doubt the dam breaching fanatics would love to use this info to push for removal of Dworshak, even though it is the cool water being released from Dworshak in late summer that is keeping the water temps of the lower Snake River suitable for salmon and steelhead. What's even more ironic is that for the last few decades the water flowing into the Snake River from free flowing streams like the Salmon River (a stream that flows out of the largest federal wilderness in the Lower 48 states!) has exceeded 70 degrees on a regular basis during late summer, while it is the cool Clearwater River water from a man-made dam that is helping to cool the water in the slack pools behind the lower Snake River dams. Progressive Man - 1, eco fascists - 0!

It is not uncommon for large concrete dams to leak copious amounts of water during winter months. During cold weather, concrete shrinks, fissures form, and it is astonishing to see how much water can shoot out of those fissures. I worked at a dam in Montana for a brief period, and walking along those lower corridors with all that water gushing out can be more than a bit disconcerting!

On a railroad note, the fly ash used in the construction of Dworshak was brought in by rail from the Midwest on the Northern Pacific via the P & L.