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4 Questions About Damaged Oroville Dam

Lake Oroville and its dam in Northern California are critical components in California’s complex water-delivery system. Damage to spillways that are used to drop water levels in the lake and relieve pressure on the dam prompted evacuation orders covering nearly 200,000 people. Here’s a look at Lake Oroville and its place in California’s water system Lake Oroville is the starting point for California’s State Water Project, which provides drinking water to 23 million of the state’s 39 million people and irrigates 750,000 acres of farms.

Live Updates: Mass Evacuation Below Oroville Dam As Officials Frantically Try To Make Repairs Before New Storms

“This is not a drill. Repeat this is not a drill,” the National Weather Service said Sunday, urging people living below Oroville Dam to evacuate. More than 100,000 people were told to evacuate because of a “hazardous situation” involving the Northern California dam’s emergency spillway. At one point, the NWS warned that the auxiliary spillway was expected to fail and could send an “uncontrolled release of flood waters from Lake Oroville.” However, by late Sunday night, officials said the immediate threat had passed because water had stopped washing over the emergency spillway.

OPINION: See The dangerous Flooding At Oroville Dam For Yourself

The Oroville reservoir spill forced nearly 200,000 people to evacuate and Gov. Jerry Brown to issue a state of emergency, and officials are hurrying to make repairs before the next storms. Water overwhelming a failing retaining wall at the massive dam has raised questions and calls for action about California infrastructure. News reports are everywhere. By now, you’ve heard about it, but have you seen it? The video and photographs are wild. It’s a complicated scenario that can best be described in images. So here’s a look at the situation from those watching it unfold in person.

Inspections Underway At San Diego Dams After Oroville Scare

A comprehensive condition assessment of nine dams owned by the city of San Diego has been underway for the past year, the Public Utilities Department said Monday. 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.

San Joaquin Valley Continues To Sink Because Of Groundwater Pumping, NASA Says

California’s San Joaquin Valley continues to sink at an alarming rate because of groundwater pumping and irrigation, according to a new study by NASA. Ground levels in some areas have dropped 1 to 2 feet in the last two years, creating deeper and wider “bowls” that continue to threaten the vital network of channels that transport water across Southern California, researchers say. The findings underscore the fact that even as record rain and snow have brought much of California out of severe drought, some parts of the state will probably struggle with water problems for years to come.

 

Endangered, Threatened Species Could Benefit From Congressional Redlands Bill

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a bill reintroduced in the U.S. Senate Monday, Feb. 13, would show some love to local endangered species, restoring mining-degraded habitat in the Upper Santa Ana River Wash in Redlands. The bill proposes a land swap that would move mining operations to protect plants and animals where the wash joins Mill Creek. Those include three endangered species – the San Bernardino kangaroo rat, slender-horned spineflower and Santa Ana woolly-star; the threatened California gnatcatcher; and the cactus wren.

VIDEO: Precarious Oroville Dam Highlights Challenges Of California Water Management

At Northern California’s Lake Oroville, water levels receded Monday, stopping the overflow of water from the dam’s emergency spillway. This reduced the risk of immediate uncontrolled flooding — but longer-term concerns remain. William Brangham speaks with Jeffrey Mount of the Public Policy Institute of California about the massive evacuation that took place and the outlook for the dam’s future.

A Race Against Mother Nature As Officials Send Water Cascading Out Of Lake Oroville

With more storms expected to slam Northern California later this week, officials worked frantically Monday to drain water from brimming Lake Oroville in hopes of heading off a potentially catastrophic flood. The operators at America’s tallest dam found themselves in a precarious position Monday, with both of the spillways used to release water compromised and the reservoir still filled almost to capacity after a winter of record rain and snow. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of evacuated residents downstream of the dam still have no clear word when they can return home.

Here’s The Nightmare Scenario At Oroville Dam That Officials Are Fighting To Prevent

Any dam engineer would be terrified of this nightmare scenario — the possible collapse of a retaining wall in California’s second largest reservoir.  That’s the prospect officials faced when they ordered more than 100,000 people evacuated downstream of the nation’s tallest dam Sunday. It occurred insidiously: a pocket of erosion that crept ever closer to a low concrete wall that was supposed to be the last, best defense against disaster.

Too Much Water: How Oroville Dam Problems Became A Crisis

The mass evacuations underway below the Oroville Dam capped a week of frantic efforts to prevent flooding as America’s tallest dam reached capacity and its main spillway was severely damaged. Here is a brief explanation of the events so far. On Saturday, water levels reached so high that an emergency spillway was used for the first time. Officials initially believed the measure worked. But on Sunday afternoon, as more water from record storms flowed into Lake Oroville, officials detected a hole in the emergency spillway. That prompted the evacuation order.