While I agree with the gist of this, the ones to finally call the shots on such projects are always in a bad spot.
They underprovision and an anomaly happens. Now they are the ones who did everything wrong and should be blamed.
The overprovision and nothing ever comes close to the theoretical limit of the structure. Now they have wasted huge amounts of money and again, should obviously be blamed.
The easiest way out: Plan exactly to what is considered standard. No one will blame you in either case, even if you know that it is insufficient or stupid.
This is something that will probably hold true in many different industries, the consequences for dams are just a little worse..
They underprovision and an anomaly happens. Now they are the ones who did everything wrong and should be blamed. The overprovision and nothing ever comes close to the theoretical limit of the structure. Now they have wasted huge amounts of money and again, should obviously be blamed. The easiest way out: Plan exactly to what is considered standard. No one will blame you in either case, even if you know that it is insufficient or stupid.
This is something that will probably hold true in many different industries, the consequences for dams are just a little worse..