ABSTRACT
The primary objective of these Dam Decommissioning Guidelines is to provide dam owners, dam engineers, and other professionals with the information necessary to guide decision-making when considering dam decommissioning as a project alternative. They are not intended to be used as a design manual but as a guideline to highlight the issues to be considered. These guidelines apply only to water retaining structures and not tailings dams. Additional details on dam decommissioning and dam removal can be found in guidelines developed by the United States Society on Dams (USSD) (Reference 1) and the Department of Sustainability and Environment (State government of Victoria, Australia) (Reference 2).
