A usable hydropower emergency preparedness plan is an operational document, not a descriptive report. It identifies the dam and reservoir, names the people and organizations that must act, defines emergency levels, shows who notifies whom and in what order, provides downstream inundation information, and explains how the plan will be exercised, reviewed, updated, distributed, and protected.
FEMA’s Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety: Emergency Action Planning for Dams (FEMA P-64) provides a practical federal outline that can also help nonfederal owners. It is not a universal legal checklist. The owner must reconcile the plan with the applicable regulator, project license, dam-safety requirements, and local and regional emergency-management arrangements. Requirements and approval processes vary by jurisdiction and project.
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Start with the plan’s purpose and operating assumptions
Write the plan for people who may have to use it under pressure, with incomplete information, poor weather, power loss, or disrupted communications. A reader should be able to find the facility identity, determine the current emergency level, locate the correct notification path, and begin assigned actions without searching through background material.
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State the conditions under which the plan applies. These may include an unusual event at the dam, a confirmed or developing failure threat, a release problem, flooding, structural distress, loss of critical systems, or another hazard identified by the project’s hazard analysis. Do not copy generic thresholds from another dam. Activation criteria must fit the facility, its hazards, operating context, and regulator-approved arrangements.
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1. Identify the plan, facility, and people who own it
Document control and facility identity
The opening pages should make the document unmistakable. Include:
- The dam, powerhouse, reservoir, and project name used in official records.
- The owner and operating organization, along with applicable facility or license identifiers.
- The physical location, including the information responders need to distinguish the facility from other project assets.
- The plan title, revision date, and current version or document number.
- A contents list that points readers to sections, figures, tables, appendices, and maps.
Keep a revision history showing what changed, when it changed, and who approved or issued the revision. Obtain acknowledgments or signatures from implementing parties when the governing process calls for them. Signatures do not replace regulatory approval; they demonstrate that participating organizations received and accepted their assigned responsibilities through the applicable process.
Plan holders and implementing organizations
List the organizations expected to use or implement the plan, such as the owner’s operations and dam-safety staff, emergency management agencies, law-enforcement or public-safety partners, downstream jurisdictions, and other entities identified by the project. Identify a primary contact and an alternate for each role. Store current contact details in a controlled section or appendix so they can be updated without rewriting the entire plan.
2. Give responders a quick operational summary
Include a short, prominent summary for an operator or incident coordinator who has only minutes to orient themselves. It should identify:
- How an incident is recognized and who has authority to classify it.
- The emergency levels used by this project and the action associated with each level.
- The first notifications and the order in which they occur.
- The person responsible for initiating the emergency action plan and the person who assumes coordination if that individual is unavailable.
- Where to find detailed procedures, maps, contact lists, equipment information, and public-warning instructions.
This summary is a navigation aid, not a substitute for the full plan. Use plain language, short action statements, and page references that remain accurate after revisions.
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3. Show exactly who notifies whom
Build notification flowcharts
Use flowcharts to show the initiation point, recipient, priority or sequence, responsible party, and emergency level or scenario covered. A single crowded diagram can be less useful than several focused charts. Use separate charts when different hazards, operating conditions, or downstream areas produce different notification paths.
Each chart should answer these questions at a glance:
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- Who decides whether the plan is activated or escalated?
- Who makes the first call or message?
- Which agencies and downstream jurisdictions are contacted next?
- Which notifications are concurrent, and which must wait for confirmation?
- What information must be passed, including location, observed condition, emergency level, expected consequences, and callback details?
- How is the notification recorded and verified?
Control contact information
Contact names, telephone numbers, radio channels, email addresses, and alternate methods change frequently. Keep them in a controlled list with a responsible maintainer and a verification date. Include procedures for failed calls, unanswered numbers, unavailable staff, and communications-system outages. The plan should identify an alternate route rather than assuming that one telephone tree will always work.
4. Define emergency levels and the actions attached to them
Describe every emergency level used at the project and connect each level to observable activation criteria, decision authority, required notifications, protective actions, and escalation or termination conditions. The names of levels and their thresholds are project-specific; FEMA P-64 does not supply universal values that can be applied to every dam.
Make each level operational
For each level, specify:
- The hazard or scenario it represents.
- The facts or indicators that trigger it, including who evaluates uncertain or conflicting information.
- The role authorized to declare, change, or close the level.
- Immediate actions for operators and dam-safety personnel.
- Notifications required at that level and the order or priority of those notifications.
- Monitoring, inspection, instrumentation, or control-room actions.
- Conditions that require escalation to a more serious level.
- Information that must be handed to emergency managers and downstream responders.
Use the same level names and definitions in the summary, flowcharts, maps, checklists, training materials, and exercise documents. Inconsistent terminology can delay a warning or cause organizations to take incompatible actions.
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5. Provide downstream inundation maps that support decisions
What an effective map should show
Include the downstream inundation information needed by emergency managers and other responders to coordinate protective actions. Depending on the project’s approved analysis, maps may show the modeled area, affected communities, transportation routes, critical facilities, warning points, evacuation or shelter coordination information, and map references that allow users to identify locations in the field.
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Coordinate maps with downstream authorities
Review map usability with the downstream emergency managers who will act on the information. Confirm that place names, jurisdictional boundaries, roads, bridges, critical facilities, warning points, and contact references match current local arrangements. Give authorized users a clear way to identify the applicable map for each emergency level or scenario.
Review maps when conditions change
Revisit inundation information when facility or reservoir conditions change, when the inundation zone or underlying assumptions change, or when downstream development alters exposure or response needs. A map that was accurate for an earlier reservoir configuration or community layout may no longer support a current decision.
6. Describe preparedness and response actions
Assign actions to the owner
Turn the plan from a list of intentions into a set of actions. Identify who is responsible for surveillance, technical assessment, operational changes, access control, equipment or contractor coordination, incident logging, public-warning support, and recovery handoff. State what information each role must provide to the incident coordinator and when.
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Define partner responsibilities
Describe the actions expected from emergency-management organizations, public-safety agencies, downstream jurisdictions, and other participating entities. Clarify the boundary between the owner’s responsibilities and the authorities responsible for warnings, evacuations, traffic control, shelters, or other protective measures under local arrangements.
Document communications and supporting information
Explain primary and backup communications methods, message approval, situation-reporting intervals, information verification, and recordkeeping. Put technical data, equipment references, contact lists, forms, notification scripts, map indexes, and other supporting material in appendices or controlled attachments. Cross-reference each appendix from the procedure that uses it.
Write checklists for time-critical tasks, but do not reduce judgment to a checkbox. Include prompts for confirming facts, recording decisions, documenting who was notified, and escalating when information is incomplete.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.7. Exercise the plan and turn findings into improvements
Coordinate exercises with the people who will act
Preparedness activities should include the organizations and individuals assigned responsibilities under the plan. Select an exercise format that tests the plan’s real dependencies, such as notification, decision-making, communications, mapping, coordination, and public-warning interfaces. The appropriate format and frequency depend on the project’s regulator, license, and emergency-management arrangements.
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Use a structured exercise cycle
FEMA’s exercise resource describes a structured program with:
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- Program management to set objectives, responsibilities, and a schedule.
- Exercise design and development based on realistic hazards and plan actions.
- Conduct, including controlled delivery of information and documentation of decisions.
- Evaluation against agreed objectives and expected performance.
- Improvement planning that assigns corrective actions, owners, and target dates.
Record what worked, what failed, which contacts could not be reached, where the flowchart or map caused confusion, and which procedures were impractical. Track each corrective action to closure and incorporate completed changes into the controlled plan rather than leaving lessons in a separate exercise file.
8. Review and update the plan on a defined schedule
FEMA P-64 states: “The EAP should be reviewed at least annually for adequacy and updated as needed.” Document the annual review even when it produces no revision. The record should identify the reviewers, date, materials checked, findings, and decision to revise or retain the current version.
Update promptly after material changes
Do not wait for the annual date when a change could affect response. Update the plan after:
- Changes to personnel, organizations, phone numbers, radio systems, or notification responsibilities.
- Changes to the dam, powerhouse, reservoir, operating procedures, instrumentation, or access conditions.
- New hazard information or changed inundation assumptions.
- Downstream development or emergency-management changes that affect exposed people or response routes.
- Exercise findings, incidents, near misses, investigations, or corrective actions.
- Changes required by a regulator, license condition, or local emergency-management agreement.
Distribute revised pages or electronic files to every plan holder, withdraw superseded copies, and record the distribution. FEMA notes that loose-leaf binders can simplify replacing outdated pages in printed copies, but a binder does not replace electronic document control.
9. Control sensitive information while keeping responders supplied
Protect operational copies
Emergency plans can contain sensitive technical details, security information, facility vulnerabilities, and personal contact data. Control electronic copies with version identification, access permissions, backup arrangements, and a method for confirming that responders have the current file. Keep operational copies available to authorized responders even if normal networks or offices are unavailable.
Consider a redacted public copy
The owner and participating entities should decide whether a public version is appropriate and what to remove. A redacted copy may omit sensitive technical information and individual contact details while retaining general emergency information that can be shared safely. Label the public and operational versions clearly so they cannot be confused during an incident.
A practical drafting sequence
Owners can organize the work in this order:
- Confirm the applicable regulator, license conditions, emergency-management agreements, and approval process.
- Assemble the facility profile, current contacts, hazard analysis, operating procedures, and existing maps.
- Define project-specific emergency levels, activation criteria, decision authority, and closure conditions.
- Assign owner and partner responsibilities, including alternates and communications methods.
- Draw and test notification flowcharts for each materially different hazard or downstream area.
- Develop or update inundation maps and document their scenarios, assumptions, date, and intended users.
- Write the quick operational summary, action checklists, appendices, and document-control instructions.
- Conduct a coordinated exercise, evaluate performance, and assign corrective actions.
- Issue controlled operational and, where appropriate, redacted public copies.
- Schedule the annual adequacy review and establish immediate update triggers for material changes.
What a complete plan lets someone do
A complete plan lets an authorized responder identify the facility and current revision, recognize the applicable emergency level, find the correct decision-maker, notify the next organization in sequence, understand the downstream area and assumptions involved, perform assigned actions, and record what happened. It also gives the owner a defensible maintenance process: exercises produce improvements, contact verification feeds revisions, and annual reviews document whether the plan remains adequate.
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