Indian Programs

Key factors contributing to the Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) limited progress during the 1980s in addressing known or suspected dam deficiencies on Indian reservations--including limited staff resources, BIA's decision to encourage tribes to carry out program activities, and the absence of a management information system to help monitor and direct program activities--have, to a large degree, been addressed. A 1989 Inspector General report indicated that many BIA dams were in various stages of disrepair and in need of rehabilitation. While safety deficiencies have not been fully corrected, efforts are now under way at many BIA priority dams. The success of BIA's current dam strategy will, to a large degree, depend on how tribes and BIA carry out their program responsibilities. GAO believes that more time is needed before such an assessment is made. An effective record-keeping and reporting system to help monitor the situation at priority dams would help BIA assess progress.

GAO found that: (1) BIA has failed to fulfill its SOD program responsibilities to address or identify potential dam safety deficiencies in a timely manner due to limited staff resources, time spent encouraging tribes to enter into dam management contracts, the lack of an adequate management information system, a temporary diversion in priorities, and limited oversight of field office activities; (2) in response to the Interior Inspector General's 1989 report, Congress authorized funding for additional staff for dam safety activities and instructed Interior not to direct BIA program funds to fire suppression activities; (3) to enhance overall SOD program management, Interior plans to establish recordkeeping and information-reporting requirements to obtain needed program status information from area offices; (4) as of July 1991, BIA has contracted or negotiated contracts with tribes to manage SOD program activities at 55 of the 67 BIA priority dams and corrective actions were under way at 44 of the 53 dams that the Bureau of Reclamation had inspected for safety; and (5) Interior cited inadequate BIA progress in fulfilling SOD program objectives as the reason it proposed to transfer BIA program funding and SOD program responsibilities to Reclamation in its fiscal year 1991 and 1992 budget requests. GAO believes that, considering its proposal to transfer program responsibilities, Interior should examine how the transfer will: (1) impact federal Indian self-determination policies; and (2) improve Interior's ability to fulfill SOD program objectives.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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