For the first time since the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) began issuing its Infrastructure Report Card in 1998, the nation’s infrastructure has received an overall grade of C. The 2025 assessment, released on March 25, marks a modest but meaningful improvement over the C- assigned in 2021. While the latest evaluation highlights progress, it also underscores persistent challenges, particularly in critical sectors such as dam safety, where aging infrastructure and underfunded programs pose serious risks to communities across the country.
A mixed bag: where infrastructure stands in 2025
The ASCE’s grading system evaluates various infrastructure categories based on condition, capacity, funding, and resilience. The 2025 report found that eight sectors improved their grades, seven remained unchanged, and two experienced a decline. While the incremental improvements reflect increased investment from recent federal initiatives, experts caution that continued funding shortfalls could erode progress in the coming years.
One of the most scrutinized categories in the report is the nation’s dams. Although the grade for dams improved slightly from a D to a D+, the funding and maintenance backlog remains alarming. The cost of bringing these structures to a state of good repair is estimated at over $165 billion, yet current federal investment levels fall far short of meeting this demand.
The state of America’s dams
The US is home to over 92,000 dams, which play a crucial role in generating hydroelectric power, supplying drinking water, and protecting communities from flooding. However, nearly 17,000 of these dams are classified as high hazard potential, meaning that failure could result in significant loss of life and property damage.
Despite their importance, America’s dams are aging rapidly. The average dam is over 60 years old, and by 2025, seven out of ten will have surpassed the half-century mark. Many of these structures were not designed to withstand modern-day challenges, including climate change-driven extreme weather events, growing downstream populations, and increased flood risks.
Moreover, climate change has exacerbated these vulnerabilities. According to meteorological data, heavy rainfall events have increased in both frequency and intensity, leading to higher stress levels on dam structures. The failures of the Edenville Dam in Michigan in 2020 and the Rapidan Dam in Minnesota in 2024 serve as stark reminders of what can happen when dam maintenance is deferred.
Funding gaps and legislative shortfalls
The financial needs for dam rehabilitation are staggering. Between 2024 and 2033, the ASCE estimates that $185 billion is needed to maintain and upgrade the country’s dam infrastructure. However, only $20 billion in funding has been allocated for this period, leaving a $166 billion gap that could leave many dams vulnerable to failure.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), passed in 2021, provided a much-needed boost with approximately $3 billion earmarked for dam safety programs. However, $364 million of that funding was later redirected for other purposes, highlighting the ongoing struggle to secure dedicated resources for infrastructure upkeep. Additionally, federal dam safety programs continue to receive annual appropriations well below their authorized funding levels.
“The trend is in the right direction,” said Darren Olson, P.E., BC.WRE, M.ASCE, the chair of ASCE’s Committee on America’s Infrastructure, which produces the report card. “I think we’ve been very successful since (1998) in working with our elected officials to talk to them about how poor the condition of our country’s infrastructure had gotten after decades of underinvestment and just how important it (is) — whether you talk about the public welfare, our national economy, public safety — to invest in (it).”
The Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) also weighed in on the report. “ASDSO endorses the 2025 ASCE Report Card for America’s Infrastructure released on March 25, 2025. New grades focus on recent improvements across the board reflecting the once-in-a-generation investment provided by Congress in 2021. But much is needed to continue this progress, and recent actions to defund federal programs for dam safety will affect success.”
This lack of funding is further compounded by a shortage of personnel overseeing dam safety programs. On average, a single state dam safety official is responsible for overseeing 190 existing dams and the construction of new dams. With such an overwhelming workload, many crucial inspections and maintenance activities are delayed, increasing the risk of catastrophic failure.
The cost of neglected infrastructure
Failing dams pose serious risks to public safety and economic stability. The ASCE report points to recent dam failures as warning signs. In 2020, Michigan’s Edenville Dam collapsed after heavy rainfall, forcing thousands to evacuate. More recently, in 2024, the Rapidan Dam in Minnesota failed under similar circumstances. Such incidents highlight the growing need for proactive maintenance and emergency preparedness.
The economic consequences of dam failures extend beyond immediate damage. Flooding from a dam collapse can compromise roadways, bridges, and drinking water supplies, straining interconnected infrastructure systems and placing excessive burdens on local and state governments. According to FEMA estimates, the total cost of dam failures and associated damages in the past two decades has exceeded $20 billion.
Beyond direct financial losses, these disasters erode public trust in infrastructure resilience. Communities living downstream from high hazard-potential dams face constant uncertainty about their safety, which can impact property values and local economic development.
Policy and innovation
To address the growing challenges in dam safety, the ASCE recommends several key policy initiatives:
- Strengthening Federal Programs: Fully funding the National Dam Safety Program and the High Hazard Potential Dam Rehabilitation Grant Program to ensure state dam safety programs have the necessary resources.
- Emergency Action Plans (EAPs): Ensuring that all high hazard-potential dams have an up-to-date emergency action plan by 2030.
- Innovative Engineering and Data Utilization: Modernizing methods for predicting extreme weather events and improving data collection on dam conditions.
- Strategic Dam Removal: Assessing the environmental and safety trade-offs of removing obsolete or unsafe dams.
- Improved Land Use Planning: Enhancing communication and coordination at the local level to account for dam-related risks in urban and rural development.
The role of technology
Advancements in technology and engineering solutions provide opportunities to improve dam safety. The integration of smart sensors and real-time monitoring systems can help detect structural weaknesses before they become critical. Predictive analytics using artificial intelligence (AI) can analyze weather patterns and assess potential failure risks with greater accuracy.
Several pilot programs in states such as California and Colorado have successfully used AI-driven dam monitoring systems, leading to early interventions that prevented potential failures. Expanding these initiatives nationwide could significantly enhance dam safety and reduce long-term repair costs.
What’s next?
Despite the incremental improvements in the 2025 report card, ASCE experts emphasize that the current progress is not enough to ensure long-term sustainability. The continued rise in high hazard-potential dams, coupled with insufficient funding and outdated infrastructure, puts millions of Americans
at risk.
As federal and state governments grapple with competing budget priorities, industry professionals and advocacy groups urge policymakers to maintain momentum in infrastructure investment. Without a sustained commitment, the recent gains seen in the 2025 report could be easily reversed.
As the nation looks toward 2030, the challenge will be not just maintaining infrastructure but modernizing it to meet the needs of a rapidly changing climate and population landscape. Whether policymakers can rise to the occasion remains to be seen, but one thing is certain – the cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of investment.
