Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists
Risk Assessment for Dam and Levee Foundations Workshop
November 4-6, 2025 | Denver West Marriott
Program
The Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists (AEG), Dams and Levees Technical Working Group, is proud to present a workshop that focuses on the role and contribution of engineering geologists and geotechnical engineers in the Risk Informed Decision Making (RIDM) process in managing dam and levee safety programs. Risks associated with geological potential failure modes and communicating these conditions to the Risk Assessment (RA) team will be emphasized including the methodology, and implementation of RA for dam and levee foundations.
Speakers
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Speakers (Bios coming soon...)
Proud to bring exceptional speakers from across the country
Day 1 – Workshop Agenda Summary (November 4, 2025)
Introduction to Risk-Informed Dam and Levee Safety Programs, and the Instrumental Role of the Geologist within these Programs
7:00am Breakfast, mingle, registration
8:00am Welcome, Introductions, and Workshop Overview
8:30am Douglas Boyer, FERC - Background, Purpose, & Current Status of RIDM
9:00am Nate Snortland, USACE - Basis and Results of RA program
9:30am Mid-Morning Break
10:00am RA 101
10:45am Cassandra Wagner, USACE - Role of Engineering Geologist in RA
11:30am Lunch
1:00pm Scott Walker, TVA - Biases
1:15pm Bryan Simpson, USBR, - PFM's (relative to RA) ‐ Soil Foundations
2:15pm Scott Walker, TVA - PFM's (relative to RA) ‐ Other Geohazards (Landslides, karst, faulting, etc.)
2:45pm Mid-Afternoon Break
3:15pm Todd Loar, USACE - PFM's (relative to RA) ‐ Rock Foundations
4:15pm Cassandra Wagner, USACE - Data Mining
4:45pm Daily "Wrap‐Up", Preparation for Day 2 (i.e. Break‐Out Session #1 read‐ahead)
5:00pm Social event with appetizers
Day 2 – Workshop Agenda Summary (November 5, 2025)
Risk Assessment Instruction and Break-out Activities – Embankment and Concrete Dams
7:00am Breakfast, mingle, registration
8:00am Introduction of Day Two Agenda, Topics, and Purpose
8:05am Scripted SQRA RA Team - Mock SQRA that is pre‐scripted to give the attendees a external view into the process of developing a PFM and
working through the RA process to ultimately get to a elicitation and team generated risk characterization, including development of Likely/Less
Likely factors,
9:30am Mid-Morning Break
10:00am Spillway Failure Modes: Soil and Rock Erosion Mechanics (RA Focused)
11:00am How to interpret investigations results for risk analysis including scoping for new investigations (including geophysics), defining critical questions
11:45am Construction PFMs
12:00pm Lunch
1:15pm Break‐Out Session #1: Project Background & Supporting Data - Moderated by Cassandra Wagner, USACE
3:30pm Mid-Afternoon Break
4:00pm Break‐Out Session #1: Project results and findings - Moderated by Cassandra Wagner, USACE
4:30pm Daily "Wrap‐Up", Preparation for Day 3
Day 3 – Workshop Agenda Summary (November 6, 2025)
Risk Assessment Instruction and Break-out Activities – Embankment and Concrete Dams
7:00am Breakfast, mingle, registration
8:00am Introduction of Day Two Agenda, Topics, and Purpose
8:10am Hawkins Gagnon, Schnabel Engineering - Case Study on FERC RA, start to finish
9:00am Panel - Roundtable Fed/State/Consultant/Regulator
10:00am Mid-Morning Break
10:00am How to prepare/document for RA (Go forth and practice), importance of documentation
11:30am Workshop Conclusions, discussion, open‐forum discussion