Download Mark Baker’s Capabilities Statement
For Dam/Levee Owners:
Owner liaison. Mark Baker can represent you to engineering firms for scoping/negotiating quality dam safety technical work at least cost and meeting the culture/needs of the dam owner. He has 18 years of experience communicating between a large technical engineering firm (the Bureau of Reclamation Technical Service Center) and non-technical organization (Bureau of Indian Affairs and American Indian Tribes).
Dam safety program review. Mark can review all aspects of your program to make available funding go further and to adopt strategies to more effectively assess/mitigate dam risks. He has dam safety program review experience with FERC ODSP, TVA, State of California, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Office of Surface Mining and US Fish & Wildlife Service.
Transitioning to risk. Mark has guided two large dam owners/regulators to successfully change from standards-based to risk-informed dam safety programs. Strategies include education, risk screening, scaling risk products, and use of semi-qualitative risk assessments. It doesn’t have to be all at once. It is doable.
Policies & Guidelines. Having strong policies and standard practice guidelines is foundational to an effective and efficient dam safety program. Mark has researched and written numerous authority documents for two dam safety programs and for the Department of the Interior. He can help you write or update your P&Gs.
Trusted adviser. This is an agreement with us where you get on-call, valuable expertise with whatever challenge you are facing whether it be funding, organization, political, communication or technical. Contact Mark to learn more.
PFMA and Risk Facilitation. A quality Probable Failure Mode Analysis workshop is essential to dam risk management. There are strategies that Mark has learned over the 18 years of doing risk work that ensure your PFMA captures the correct risk-driving failure modes in an efficient meeting. Mark has reviewed the PFMAs in Comprehensive Reviews for over 110 dams. He has completed the USACE/Reclamation Risk Best Practices training - twice. Contact Mark for your PFMA facilitation needs.
Dam Safety Advisory Team (DSAT) member. If you are performing risk assessment for many dams using a variety of teams, you need a single, multi-disciplined DSAT team to convene and review the draft final risk assessments. This quality assurance step is essential to compensating for the variation in technical teams and getting a consistent risk inventory. Mark has participated in over 110 DSAT reviews.
Project scoping and development. Mark has written and negotiated hundreds of dam/levee scopes of work to be performed by technical engineering organizations. With his experience he knows how to refine particular projects to ensure high quality at a lower cost.
Technical product reviews. Mark has reviewed hundreds of draft dam examination reports, risk reports, deficiency analyses reports, conceptual designs, final designs and EAP/EWS documents. He can do the same for you.
Telling your story. You need support from your organization’s highest levels for your dam safety program resources and also expensive dam repairs. Mark has a plan to help you communicate with executives in a way that is effective and gets you the resources you need.
Dam incident/failure response and forensics. If you have a dam incident or failure occur at one of your dams, you need someone with dam forensic expertise to advise you immediately. Mark can help with crisis communication, messaging, advising senior leaders, media relations, and implementing a failure investigation team. He researched the best practices of past dam failure responses. He is the founder and co-chair of the ASDSO Dam Failures & Incidents Committee. He led the team that developed the Dam Failure Investigation Guideline. He knows not only the importance of determining the failure mechanics, but also the human/organizational factors.
Training. Mark has expertise in all facets of dam safety programs and can develop and deliver sessions that meet your audience’s needs. He is a sought after speaker and he his presentations consistently receive high ratings. Training titles include: RIDM - Risk Informed Decision-Making, Levels of Risk Assessment (Inventory, Screening, SQRA and Comprehensive Review), All About Dam Safety Programs, How to Conduct Dam Incident/Failure Forensic Investigations, The Race to Save Fontenelle Dam, Dam Failure Case Histories and Lessons for Today, and Higher Levels of Success through Better Communication and Interaction.
Trusted adviser. Imagine being able to call someone with expertise to talk about any issue a any time. Under this service contact, you have ongoing access to Mark and get real-time valuable expertise and advice with whatever challenge you are facing at the moment whether it be funding, organization, political, communication or technical. You also get full access to his entire library of policies, guidelines, training and research. Contact Mark to learn more.
For Dam/Levee Regulators:
Dam safety program review. Mark can review all aspects of your program to make available funding go further and to adopt strategies to more effectively assess/mitigate dam risks. He has dam safety program review experience with FERC ODSP, TVA, State of California, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Office of Surface Mining, and US Fish & Wildlife Service.
Transitioning to risk. Mark Baker has led the work of two dam owners/regulators to successfully change from standards-based to risk-informed dam safety programs. Strategies include education, risk screening, scaling risk products, and use of semi-qualitative risk assessments. It doesn’t have to be all at once. It is doable.
Regulatory program assistance. It is challenging to support multiple dam owners to have effective dam safety programs. Mark can review all or certain aspects of your program to implement use best technical approaches (including risk-informed) and help you address tough issues with dam owners. He can develop or review your key communication/messaging to dam owners.
Dam Safety Advisory Team (DSAT) member. If you are performing risk assessment for many dams using a variety of teams, you need a single, multi-discipline DSAT team to convene and review the draft final risk assessments. This quality assurance step is essential to compensating for the variation in technical teams and getting a consistent risk inventory. Mark has participated in over 110 DSAT reviews while with the Bureau of Reclamation.
Policies & Guidelines. Having strong policies, standard practice guidelines, and written communications with dam owners is essential. Mark has researched and written numerous authority documents for six dam safety programs in the Department of the Interior. He can help you write or update your P&Gs.
Dam incident/failure response and forensics. If you have a dam incident or failure occur at one of your regulated dams, you need someone with dam forensic expertise to advise you immediately. Mark can help with crisis communication, messaging, advising senior leaders, media relations, and implementing a failure investigation team. He researched the best practices of past dam failure responses and knows the advantages of a strong response and the pitfalls of a poor response. He is the founder and co-chair of the ASDSO Dam Failures & Incidents Committee. He led the team that developed the Dam Failure Investigation Guideline. He knows not only the importance of determining the failure mechanics, but also the human/organizational factors.
Communicating with Executives. You need support from your organization’s highest levels for your dam safety program resources and also expensive dam repairs. Mark has a plan to help you communicate with executives in a way that is effective and gets you the resources you need.
Training. Mark has expertise in all facets of dam safety programs and can develop and deliver sessions that meet your audiences needs. Mark Baker is a trained speaker and he his presentations consistently receive high ratings. Training titles include: RIDM - Risk Informed Decision-Making, Levels of Risk Assessment (Inventory, Screening, SQRA and Comprehensive Review), All About Dam Safety Programs, How to Conduct Dam Incident/Failure Forensic Investigations, The Race to Save Fontenelle Dam, Dam Failure Case Histories and Lessons for Today, and Higher Levels of Success through Better Communication and Interaction.
Trusted adviser. Imagine being able to call someone with expertise to talk about any issue a any time. Under this service contact, you have ongoing access to Mark and get real-time valuable expertise and advice with whatever challenge you are facing at the moment whether it be funding, organization, political, communication or technical. You also get full access to his entire library of policies, guidelines, training and research. Contact Mark to learn more.
For Dam/Levee Engineering Firms:
Client development/liaison/communication. It can be difficult for an engineering firm to communicate with non-engineer client and develop/maintain positive relationships. Mark has 17 years of experience as a program manager/client liaison between a large technical organization (Bureau of Reclamation’s Technical Service Center and the Bureau of Indian Affairs/Tribes). In this role, all dam safety work flowed through him and he reviewed/signed all proposals and technical products. He successfully initiated, negotiated, and managed $5 million of billable engineering work per year between 1993 and 2011.
Project proposals. Mark has the experience to help your technical team develop strong project proposals and scopes of work. As a trained project manger, he knows the importance of understanding both the needs of the client and the technical team when beginning new work. His projects are successful because he takes the time to start projects right.
Product reviews. When projects are nearing completion, Mark can review the results and with his writing/communication background he can ensure the project results are both technically justifiable and clear. He can improve your product results communication with the client and build momentum for the next project steps.
Risk product development. Mark can help your firm develop risk-based product templates, procedures and client offerings for both dams and levees, including: risk screening, semi-qualitative risk assessments (SQRA), and Comprehensive Reviews (CRs). He can apply strategies to ensure quality while being efficient with staff time. Mark co-led the development of the CR product for a large dam owner/regulator. He also worked on a team to develop risk screening products for both dams and levees. He has many years of experience with quantitative and qualitative risk assessment.
PFMA Facilitation. Probable Failure Modes Analyses are challenging. Unfortunately, without someone highly experienced in PFMAs and risk, the process can be inefficient or risk-driving failure modes can be missed. Mark has PFMA experience with over 110 dams and can help your team produce quality PFMAs. He is trained in Reclamation/USACE Risk Best Practices.
Comprehensive Risk Review leader or peer reviewer. With your technical staff (geotech, structural, hyrology, seismic, geology), Mark can lead a successful dam Comprehensive Review or Screening Level Risk Assessment project or provide peer review throughout the project.
Levee Risk Screening. Mark helped to develop one of the first levee risk screening products. He sponsored the exam and risk screening of seven levee systems while with the the National Park Service. The USACE became a partner on the project and Mark became a valuable contributor to the development of the nation-wide USACE levee risk screening tool. Mark can lead your engineering team to prepare for and conduct levee exams and risk screenings.
Dam Safety Advisory Team (DSAT) member. If you are performing risk assessment for many dams using a variety of teams, you need a single, multi-discipline DSAT team to convene and review the draft final risk assessments. This quality assurance step is essential to compensating for the variation in technical teams and getting a consistent risk inventory. Mark has participated in over 110 DSAT reviews while with the Bureau of Reclamation.
Dam incident/failure response and forensics. If you are contacted by a dam owner or regulator following a dam failure or major incident, consider adding Mark as your team leader or member. He is an excellent project manager, communicator and writer. He is an industry leader in dam forensics. He authored a technical paper on best practices and pitfalls of past dam failure responses. He is the founder and co-chair of the ASDSO Dam Failures & Incidents Committee. He led the team that developed the Dam Failure Investigation Guideline. He knows not only the importance of determining the failure mechanics, but also the human/organizational factors.
Training. Mark has expertise in all facets of dam safety and can develop and deliver sessions that meet your needs. He is a trained speaker and he his presentations consistently receive high ratings. Training titles include: RIDM - Risk Informed Decision-Making, Levels of Risk Assessment (Inventory, Screening, SQRA and Comprehensive Review), All About Dam Safety Programs, How to Conduct Dam Incident/Failure Forensic Investigations, The Race to Save Fontenelle Dam, Dam Failure Case Histories and Lessons for Today, and Higher Levels of Success through Better Communication and Interaction.
Trusted adviser. Imagine being able to call someone with expertise to talk about any issue a any time. Under this service contact, you have ongoing access to Mark and get real-time valuable expertise and advice with whatever challenge you are facing at the moment whether it be funding, organization, political, communication or technical. You also get full access to his entire library of policies, guidelines, training and research. Contact Mark to learn more.