Isophoric News · Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Comptroller's follow-up finds DEC has partly acted on its dam safety recommendation; enforcement policy still in draft
The state Department of Environmental Conservation has partially implemented the one recommendation from a February 2025 audit of its dam safety oversight, the state comptroller's office said in a follow-up report issued Oct. 7. As of July 31, 2026, DEC had not assigned condition ratings to 92 of the 857 intermediate and high hazard dams it oversees (11 percent), down from 26 percent in the first audit, and missed its inspection goals in eight instances, down from 21. DEC's dam safety compliance and enforcement policy remains in draft, as it was during the original audit, and DEC officials told auditors they plan to release it for public comment by the end of 2026. The auditors also found that DEC is not meeting its goal of sending inspection reports to dam owners and municipalities within 30 days: of five 2025 reports sampled, one went out within 30 days and four took 32 to 84 days, which DEC attributed to competing priorities in the program. As of August 2026, DEC regulated 6,546 dams, the report said.
