Our November news report that 450 of Ohio's 1,700 dams are considered unsafe provoked a nearly incredulous response from the state's dam safety chief: "How did you run across that?" Admittedly, that was pretty obscure information. It's information that could ultimately save lives and there was only one way for me to get it – by using a database manager to analyze dam inspections data. Before last August, when I attended an IRE and NICAR Boot Camp, I was clueless about how to do that.
It started with a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers database called the National Inventory of Dams. I first laid eyes on the database during the NICAR training and quickly realized I could turn this from a classroom exercise into a more comprehensive report. So, before leaving the Boot Camp, I purchased the data from the IRE and NICAR Database Library and with some assistance from Jeff Porter, was able to whittle down the data to just Ohio dams.
I used Microsoft Access to store and view data tables, and to write queries that filter data. I was able to use Structured Query Language (SQL) to write queries that showed me the name of each dam, the year its construction was completed, the most recent inspection date and the hazard level, which indicated how close the dam is to populated areas. With a few keystrokes, I discovered 1,727 dams in Ohio with 462 rated high hazard.
Not only that, many of the dams appeared to have gone years without inspection. Now, here's the really big lesson in learning CAR: You can run queries in seconds, but that does not replace old-fashioned fact-checking and digging. I obtained paper records of the most recent inspections, using open-records requests. I also learned that visiting the dams and walking around them pays off. I discovered a charming 85-year-old who lived just down the street from the most dangerous dam in Ohio.
In addition, I spent weeks talking with nationally recognized experts on dam safety to ensure I had interpreted the data correctly. I contacted Ohio officials early in my reporting, explaining what I was doing. I relied on them for assistance. Most state dam inspection programs are seriously under funded and under staffed. People in those agencies recognized that a story about years-long budgetary neglect could ultimately help them and those living downstream from the dams.