WHEREAS, National Dam Safety Awareness Day is intended to increase public awareness about the potential dangers of improperly constructed or maintained dams across the United States; and

WHEREAS, National Dam Safety Awareness Day was established to memorialize the South Fork Dam failure in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, that occurred on May 31, 1889, and remains the worst dam-related disaster in our nation’s history with over 2,200 lives lost; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation is the state agency responsible for regulating most dams in the Commonwealth, where more than 2,400 regulated dams—the majority privately owned—exist, and where state law requires owners to properly construct, alter, operate, and maintain their dams to protect life and property; and

WHEREAS, dams in Virginia range from low- to high-hazard depending on their size, location, and downstream development; and

WHEREAS, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ National Inventory of Dams (NID), the average age of dams in Virginia is 78 years old; and

WHEREAS, Virginians may access their property’s potential flood risk during a dam failure by inputting their address into the Virginia Flood Risk Information System and Dam Safety Inventory System; and

WHEREAS, all owners, governmental officials, first responders, emergency management personnel, downstream residents, and citizens are encouraged to recognize the importance of dam safety and the necessity to properly maintain and operate dams;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Abigail D. Spanberger, do hereby recognize May 31, 2026, as DAM SAFETY AWARENESS DAY in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.