Feds Order Independent Safety Review Of Oroville Spillways

Federal officials Monday ordered California to convene a five-member independent board of dam experts to review the condition of Oroville’s auxiliary spillway and the damaged regular concrete spillway, and to make recommendations about how to improve safety during the emergency and over the long-term. In a letter to the state Department of Water Resources, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also required the state to hire “a fully independent third party” to perform a “forensic analysis” to determine the cause of the main spillway failure and whether it could occur again.