BOSTON -- The severe flooding over the past few days caused two dams in Canton and Waltham to overflow.

Team 5 Investigates reported two years ago on the number of unsafe dams in Massachusetts and the list has grown since then.

The Bolivar Pond Dam in Canton is on the state's list of unsafe dams. Monday's fierce rains pushed the dam over the edge, and washed one side away.

In Waltham, the Moody Street Dam was in danger of breaking until workers came in to release some of the pressure.

Late last month, the state stepped in in Freetown when the privately owned Forge Pond Dam became a public safety concern. By the end of the month, the dam will be destroyed. According to the state, the owner, now deceased, had neglected the dam for years.

Team 5 Investigates asked the commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, who oversees dam safety, if the flooding might lead to the breech of more dams.

"We will breech more dams if we have to," said Commissioner Richard Sullivan. "We're doing that at Forge Pond," he said.

But it took three years after the state first declared Forge Pond on the verge of collapse to intervene. Team 5 Investigates reported two years ago that there were 27 dams in the state listed as unsafe. Today, there are 38.

"The increase in the number is a reflection of the fact that we've been out in the field, committed to doing those inspections and following through on the enforcement of those dams," said Sullivan.

Most of the unsafe dams are privately owned, including East Bridgewater's Cotton Gin Mill Pond Dam and the Belair Dam in Pittsfield, whose owner can't be found.

Like most of the unsafe dams on the list two years ago, they remain unsafe. The state owns only a few hundred of the thousands of dams in the Commonwealth. With so many dams in disrepair, there's a call for the state to take over all of them.

"Well, they're the responsibility of the private land owners," said Sullivan. "Only when the private owner doesn't have the means or refuses to take those steps, we'll take it from there."

That goes for municipally owned dams too, which means that if Monday'ss break at Canton's town-owned Bolivar Dam needs more intervention, the state stays out of it.

"As a last resort when it becomes a serious public safety issue, not until then do we as a Commonwealth come in and spend Commonwealth dollars," said Sullivan.

As for Freetown, the state plans to breech the Forge Pond Dam beginning next week. In the meantime, they're watching the weather very closely.