About EAPs

IEAP Examples

The Indiana Dam Safety Program has created an Incident and Emergency Action Plan template (form) for use on dams of any size in the state. For more information on the form and its use, contact the Dam Safety Program. The Indiana template is meant to be user friendly and the resulting IEAP may be shorter, depending on the characteristics of the dam and its inundation zone. Indiana also has created guidelines for creating Simplified Dam Breach Inundation Maps for use with the IEAPs.

Some of the kinds of information needed for the Indiana IEAP form can be seen in examples developed by the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) and USDA.

A Comprehensive IEAP

The Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) has made available a sample of a comprehensive IEAP that was prepared for watershed dam in Oklahoma. The contents and level of detail in the sample are similar to what should be found in an Indiana IEAP for a HHP dam.

A Simple USDA/NRCS IEAP

NRCS provided a simpler IEAP for a HHP dam built under its cost-sharing programs. When a dam is originally built as part of a USDA conservation cost-sharing program the dam owner is required to have an IEAP. This IEAP includes four inundation maps, each showing a segment of the area that would be reached by the wave front if the dam failed. One of these maps is in the Inundation Map Samples section of this website.

In reproducing this IEAP with permission of USDA, the name and identifying information about the dam were deleted, as were names, addresses, and phone numbers of persons listed in the notification lists, and signatures of those who received copies of the IEAP.

Information helpful in creating a more comprehensive IEAP can be found in the brochure Federal Guidelines for Emergency Action Planning for Dams. This document helps dam owners, in coordination with emergency management authorities, effectively develop and test IEAPs for dams. Simply having an IEAP is a good first step, but it is very important to update the information and notification lists regularly and partner with local Emergency Managers to conduct "exercises" of the IEAP to test functionality and identify areas needing improvement.