What is a Dam? A dam is built to control and store water. Dams are made from earth, rocks or concrete and are usually constructed on rivers to store the water in a reservoir. Jacques Leslie puts it, "Dams are loaded weapons aimed down rivers, pointed at ourselves; they're proof of the gambling nature of the societies that build them.” Unsafe dams kill. The dam industry must take seriously its responsibilities on the issue of dam safety, and it must stop denying the reality of the possibility of dam failures, human failings, design errors and calculations and consequential risk to human life both upstream and downstream. Building a totally safe dam is simply not possible, the human factor and possibility of dam failure must be taken into account. The associated risks must be mitigated and managed in an open and accountable way. How can the public trust dam operators, governments and dam regulators if there is no accountability? “Worldwide, as in the US, there is systematic underfunding of dam maintenance. No figures are available for the cost of making the world’s dams safe. But if securing US dams would cost $30 billion and the US has an estimated 10% of the world’s dams, a ballpark figure for the global under-investment in dam safety would be $300 billion” Dam Safety Concerns Grow in Wake of Failures, Changing Climate World Rivers Review, June 2005 By Patrick McCully