The U.S. government built the Dover Dam in 1935 in response to to catastrophic flooding in the Muskingum basin.

The dam would not face its biggest trial until January of 2005, when flood waters tested its limits and earned it the distinction of one of the most at-risk dams in the federal system.

"The 2005 event was a pool of record," said Rodney Cremeans, Project Manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "That's about the level of service this dam can currently provide."

The worst-case scenario evacuation maps drawn up by the Tuscarawas County Emergency Management Agency show if the Dover Dam filled to its capacity and failed, water could burst through at the rate of 36,000 cubic feet per second.

They call that scenario "extremely unlikely," but they have prepared for it.

"If this dam were to fail, you would see issues downstream, the communities of Dover, New Philadelphia on downstream into Zanesville, ultimately to Marietta where the Muskingum meets the Ohio," said Darrin Lautenschleger of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District.

A multi-million dollar federal project is under way in Dover to fortify the dam.

Contractors are installing 3-inch wide metal bars through drains in the floor of the dam's gallery to fortify it against an additional three feet of water.

It's a short-term solution.

The long-range plan calls for stronger anchors at a cost of more than $100 million.

Click here for more on the Dover Dam rehab project.

Meantime, the Association of Dam Safety Officials is spreading the word about the challenges state-level inspectors face in keeping up with maintaining smaller dams across the country.

Funding and staffing shortfalls have caused many regular inspection cycles to fall behind, according to a 2005 study by the association.

Click here to see the association's state-by-state analysis of funding and full-time dam safety inspectors.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources told NEWS9 their agency had recently caught up with its five-year inspection cycle.

West Virginia inspectors also told NEWS9 they are current with dam inspections statewide.

Click here to read more about Ohio's system of classifying dam structures.

Click here to learn more about West Virginia's Dam Safety Program.

Dams classified as high-hazard are not necessarily the dams in the greatest danger of failing, rather they refer to dams that would cause the greatest damage if they were to fail.

Click below to review dam inspection records for your county.

Ohio Dams West Virginia Dams

Eric Minor, NEWS9