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Department of Water Resources Chief Ousted After Report Blames Oroville Dam Crisis On Lax Safety Culture

Grant Davis, director of the California Water Resources Department, was replaced Wednesday just days after an independent investigation of the Oroville dam spillway incident last year found that a flawed safety culture contributed to the disaster.

Winter Storms and Conservation Concerns

Despite this two-day rain storm that’s wrapping up, overall, we’ve had a very dry fall and winter.  Jeff Stephenson, a principal water resources specialist for the San Diego County Water Authority, spoke with Morning Extra about the impact the recent rain will have and how the water supply for 2018 is looking. Visit WaterSmartSD.org for information about low-water landscaping classes, rebate offers, a home water-use calculator and other resources.

 

Big Snows Come to California — Finally — Ahead of Long Holiday Weekend

California skiers and riders are facing the best conditions of the season after recent storms dumped snow from Lake Tahoe to Mammoth Lakes, frosting slopes ahead of the long Martin Luther King holiday weekend. It was a warm storm, particularly for L.A.’s local mountain resorts, and San Bernardino Mountain operations were hoping that Monday’s rain would turn to snow on Tuesday.

Storm Triggers Flooding, Mud Flows and Freeway Closures Throughout Thomas Fire Burn Area

Heavy rain triggered freeway closures throughout the region Tuesday and unleashed mud flows in areas ravaged by wildfires last month, leaving rescue personnel to scramble through clogged roadways and downed trees as they respond to emergency calls , officials said. As of 5 a.m., at least 5 inches of rainfall had been collected in a gauge north of Ojai in Ventura County, in the burn area of the Thomas fire, which forced evacuations and destroyed homes last month, according to the National Weather Service in Los Angeles.

Two-Day Storm Boosted Sacramento Rainfall To 88 Percent Of Average

The storm that swept through the Sacramento region Monday and Tuesday helped compensate for a dry December while causing its share of flooding and downed trees. The downpour began with 2.38 inches of rain in downtown Sacramento on Monday, the most on Jan. 8 since the National Weather Service began recording data in 1877, and had run up to 3.56 inches by 4 a.m. Wednesday. The previous record was set last year, when 1.96 inches was reported on that date.

Deadly Mudslides Plague Southern California, But Wine Country Stays Firm

As crushing mudslides buried homes and left more than a dozen dead in fire-ravaged Southern California on Tuesday, state and local officials were closely watching burned swaths of Wine Country to make sure the state’s biggest storm of the season didn’t bring similar devastation. Authorities reported minor rock slides along the Sonoma County coast, but inland areas stripped of vegetation by October’s firestorm and made vulnerable to slipping appeared to hold. Residents in hilly areas were told to prepare for evacuations, though none was initiated.

Safety Wasn’t The Only Thing On Oroville Dam Operators’ Minds As They Responded To Crisis, Report Shows

California water officials have always insisted public safety was their only concern as they struggled with the crisis unfolding last February at Oroville Dam. The forensic team investigating what happened at Lake Oroville, however, has pinpointed another factor guiding the decisions made by the Department of Water Resources: the state’s desire to continue shipping water to faraway farms and cities that rely on deliveries from the reservoir.

Safety Probe Warns California’s Dam Crisis A ‘Wake-Up Call’

“Long-term and systemic failures” by California dam managers and regulators to recognize inherent construction and design flaws at the tallest U.S. dam caused last year’s near-disaster there, an independent panel of dam safety experts said Friday, calling it a wake-up call for dam operators around the country. Members of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials and the U.S. Society on Dams carried out an independent investigation into the human and technical problems that caused the crisis at California’s Oroville Dam. The experts issued their report Friday.

Will More Needed Rain Follow Early Week Storm Into California?

With the first significant storm of the winter season targeting the Southwest, many residents may be wondering if the weather pattern is finally flipping with more needed rain and mountain snow in the offering. Aside from the concern for flooding and mudslides in the burn areas and widespread travel delays, a turn to wet weather would benefit the Southwest.

Outlook 2018: The Biggest Water Topics In The West This Year

For the next few months much of the talk around water issues in California and the rest of the Western United States will be about how much precipitation falls, the water content of the snowpack and how temperatures will impact runoff in the spring. So far, we know we’re off to a slow start in terms of snow accumulation in much of the West.