U.S. Fish & Wildlife SEED Inspections

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) owns about 300 dams nationwide. FWS issues indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts for engineering services to support its Dam Safety Program. Schnabel has provided services for over 10 years through multiple IDIQs as a subconsultant to W. W. Wheeler and Associates, Inc.

Our services include SEED (safety evaluation of existing dams) inspections, alternatives analyses, final design services and construction monitoring for dam safety modifications. Since 2011, we have performed formal, intermediate, and checklist SEED inspections for more than 40 dam sites, including high and significant hazard dams in Maryland, Montana, and Texas, along with low-hazard dams in Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota. In addition, we have updated Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) and co-facilitated EAP periodic tests for high-hazard dams. For Umbarger Dam in Texas, we performed hydrologic and hydraulic analysis and a risk analysis. In New Jersey, we performed studies to evaluate the cost to repair or remove several low-hazard dams and dikes in the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge that sustained damage from Hurricane Sandy.