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In What Kind Of Condition Are San Diego’s Dams?

A comprehensive condition assessment of nine dams owned by the city of San Diego has been underway for the past year, according to the Public Utilities Department said. Asked about the condition of San Diego dams after Sunday’s mass evacuation in Oroville in Northern California, department officials told City News Service that they hired independent experts in dam design, construction and safety to perform detailed inspections of the dams in February of last year.

 

Why Keep The Salton Sea?

In 1905, an engineer gave California a lake. He didn’t do it on purpose; the cuts he made in a canal a few miles into Mexico burst open, releasing the full force of a flooding Colorado River into the Imperial Valley. For two years it filled a pit known as the Salton Sink, in southeastern California, until the government managed to close the breach.

Shasta Dam Set For High Release For Next Few Weeks

Flood water from the Sacramento River will continue to be a concern for residents along the river as the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation releases 79,000 cubic feet per second from Shasta Dam for the next couple of weeks. The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office says residents along the river should be aware of rising flood water. The Redding and Anderson Police Departments will be working with the California Highway Patrol, Redding Fire Department and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as flooding occurs.

 

Satellite Images How How Much Central Coast Reservoirs Have Filled In Just One Month

Images captured by a satellite launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base four years ago show the dramatic difference in water levels for two Central Coast reservoirs after recent rains. The U.S. Geological Survey posted a Landsat 8 image from Dec. 29, showing low water levels for Lake San Antonio in Monterey County and Lake Nacimiento in both San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties. California’s drought left Lake Nacimiento only 22 percent full as of late last year.

OPINION: Avoiding the Next Oroville Dam Disaster

At 770 feet, the Oroville Dam is the nation’s highest. At 48 years old, it’s certainly not the nation’s newest dam. It’s important to keep that fact in mind as crews work around the clock in an attempt to reinforce the dam’s damaged emergency spillway before the next round of rains begin later this week in Northern California. The Oroville Dam, like many of the dams, levees, seawalls, and other human efforts to contain nature, is a crucial piece of infrastructure that must be maintained and monitored.

VIDEO: How Rain and Melting Snow Could Affect the California Dam Crisis

More rain is expected in Northern California and the melting season is just around the corner. Here’s what all that extra water means for the Lake Oroville dam.

OPINION: The Oroville Dam Disaster Is Yet Another Example Of California’s Decline

A year ago, politicians and experts were predicting a near-permanent statewide drought, a “new normal” desert climate. The most vivid example of how wrong they were is that California’s majestic Oroville Dam is currently in danger of spillway failure in a season of record snow and rainfall. That could spell catastrophe for thousands who live below it and for the state of California at large that depends on its stored water.

 

California Dams Lagging Behind Inspection Schedules

 

 

Oroville Dam Isn’t The Only Piece Of California Flood Infrastructure Under Strain

All eyes have been on the crisis at Oroville Dam, but weeks of wet weather have put pressure elsewhere on the network of levees and dams protecting cities and farms in California’s vast Central Valley flood plain. Almost all of the major reservoirs that ring the Valley have filled to the point that officials have cranked up releases to catch water from a storm building up off California’s coast that’s expected to hit Wednesday night.

How Do You Fix Crippled Oroville Spillway? Tons of Rocks and Sandbags

With new storms approach, work will continue Tuesday at Oroville Dam to shore up a damaged emergency spillway that prompted the evacuation of more than 100,000 residents. What are workers doing? Drops: Helicopters are dropping sacks of rocks into a hole created by erosion. Dump trucks are also bringing in more rocks to patch other spots and create slurry. Road: They’re also building a gravel road out to where the helicopters are dropping the rocks. Then the trucks can drive out and create a slurry to deposit.