DAM SAFETY ADVOCATES FEEL FORGOTTEN IN BIDEN’S $2 TRILLION INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN.

When President Joe Biden last week introduced a sweeping $2 trillion infrastructure plan, the details read like a Christmas wish list for people hoping to see more federal spending on roads, bridges, airports, schools and other deteriorating public resources.

But while the long list of projects in what Biden called a “once-in-a-generation investment in America” seems exhaustive, some advocates, including those concerned about the threat posed by aging dams, are concerned that their priorities are getting short shrift.

“I read it like three times and I’m like, ‘Am I missing something here?’” said Lori Spragens, executive director of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, who noted that the urgent need to repair crumbling dams that threaten lives and property across the country gets only a passing mention in the nearly 12,000-word fact sheet the administration released.

They shouldn’t be too surprised at being forgotten, considering Biden’s previous administration. As Joel Kotkin wrote in 2010, “When FDR commissioned projects such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, he literally brought light to darkened regions. The loyalty created by FDR and Truman built a base of support for liberalism that lasted for nearly a half-century. Today’s liberals don’t show enthusiasm for airports or dams — or anything that may kick up some dirt. Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior Deanna Archuleta, for example, promised a Las Vegas audience: ‘You will never see another federal dam.’”