Monitor, patch, watch and then monitor. This is the fundamental problem with California’s failing water infrastructure. Nearly 200,000 evacuees downstream of Oroville Dam witnessed how this failed government approach can impact their lives. My review of inspection reports shows a pattern of monitoring, delayed action and patchwork maintenance at Oroville Dam, including painting cracks to track their growth. This is not the first time the “monitor” strategy has endangered north state communities. In 1986, a levee failure in Yuba County destroyed nearly 3,000 buildings and killed two people.