Sacramento >> State-maintained dams and reservoirs will be inspected every year if a new bill can make it through the California Legislature.

Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, has introduced Assembly Bill 1270 “aimed to prevent another failure of critical water infrastructure like Oroville Dam,” according to a press release from Gallagher’s office.

The bill would require the Department of Water Resources to perform annual and physical inspections of dams and reservoirs and provide a five-year infrastructure improvement, maintenance and funding plan every year.

Currently there is no set requirement on when dams have to be inspected.

“We have to learn from the construction, design, and maintenance issues that led to the failure at Oroville,” Gallagher said in the release. “Not only will this require more comprehensive inspections, but it will require complete transparency from the Department regarding the funding and maintenance of the dams it operates.”

The Assembly’s Water, Parks and Wildlife committee will discuss the proposed legislation April 25.