An article from the Daily Republic in South Dakota talks about an earthen dam that recently failed there due to a 9-inch rainfall event on July 29th of this year. This rainfall event “overwhelmed its capacity” causing the failure of the earth dam.  There was no report of injury downstream of the dam. This dam was built in 1935, as were a number of them during the Work Programs after the Great Depression.  A Department of Game, Fish and Parks Engineer said that they “were satisfied with the condition of the dam” during inspections in 2007 and again in … Continue reading →