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Oroville Dam: Two Years After The Mass Evacuation, Here’s Where We Are

/in , /by /Chico Enterprise-Recordby Risa Johnson

Two years ago today, about 188,000 people were ordered to evacuate for fear the damaged Oroville Dam spillway would fail. While the worst fears never materialized, the incident had impacts still felt in the community. It also spawned new legislation related to dam safety, a modern rebuild of the spillway, and many lawsuits against the state Department of Water Resources. This is by no means a comprehensive summary, but below are some major updates related to the spillway crisis.

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Two Year Anniversary Of Oroville Spillway Crisis: Emergency Spillway Nears Completion

/in , /by /KRCR News Channel (Redding, Calif.)by Kelli Saam

Thursday marks two years since the first hole opened up in the Oroville Dam Spillway, triggering an emergency that forced the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people. The crisis started on February 7, 2017. The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) had been releasing 60,000 cubic feet of water per second, when they noticed the concrete on the spillway began to disintegrate. That first day, the hole was 30 feet deep by 180 feet wide.

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What Caused Nearly 20,000 Quakes At Oroville Dam? Scientists Weigh In On Mystery

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

The earthquakes hit just days after last year’s near-catastrophe at Oroville Dam, when the spillway cracked amid heavy rains and 188,000 people fled in fear of flooding. The timing of the two small tremors about 75 miles north of Sacramento was curious, and frightening. Were the quakes part of a seismic hot spot that caused the giant concrete spillway to tear? Was the weight of the water behind the dam triggering the quakes? Could all of Lake Oroville be prone to slipping?

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Trial Date Set For Oroville Dam Lawsuits Against DWR

/in , /by /Chico Enterprise-Recordby Risa Johnson

A trial date has been set to hear several lawsuits against the state Department of Water Resources over the Oroville Dam crisis. The court scheduled the trial for June 1, 2020 during the second case management conference Friday in the Sacramento County Superior Court. Nearly all cases against DWR over the spillway crisis are being considered together through what is called a coordinated proceeding. A few new parties have been added to the proceeding since the last conference, including PG&E, Butte County and Mary’s Gone Crackers with Richard Wilbur Ranch, Inc.

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See Four Months Of Oroville Dam Spillway Construction In One Minute

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby David Caraccio

The California Department of Water Resources has released a time-lapse video showing four months of daily construction progress from June 26 through October 31. The camera angle looks up the lower chute of the spillway from the diversion pool until mid-August, then shifts to the middle chute from August 15 to September 11, where roller-compacted concrete was placed,” DWR said in an Nov. 1, 2018, YouTube post with the video. “The timelapse video then resumes footage from the lower chute vantage point from mid-August through October 31.”

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Oroville Dam Repairs Aren’t Enough, Feds Warn. Should State be Forced to Plan for a Mega-Flood?

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler

Federal regulators are raising new concerns about the troubled Oroville Dam, telling California officials their recently rebuilt flood-control spillways likely couldn’t handle a mega-flood. Although the chances of such a disastrous storm are considered extremely unlikely — the magnitude of flooding in the federal warning is far greater than anything ever experienced — national dam safety experts say the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s concerns could have costly repercussions for California. The public agencies that store water in Lake Oroville may be forced to spend millions of dollars upgrading the dam.

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A Race To The Finish On Oroville Dam Spillway Fix

/in , /by /Engineering News-Record (New York)by Scott Blair

The Lake Oroville spillway’s 400-acre construction site is an intense flurry of activity. In one corner, an excavator driver uses an old tire as a squeegee to clean away loose rock and prep a foundation. In the steeply sloping spillway chute, a crane operator flies in a rebar cage to workers who tie it into neighboring chute wall segments. Everywhere, dump trucks buzz around the circuitous roadways while rock crushers and batch plants keep pace with dozens of dozers and excavators. Drones hover in the sky photographing and surveying the site, while inspectors pour over every detail of the finished assets.

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Trump Signs Bill Requiring Independent Inspection Of Oroville Dam

/in , /by /Oroville Mercury Registerby Risa Johnson

President Donald Trump recently signed into law a bill which requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to conduct an independent review of the Oroville Dam facility. The 2019 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill requires that the licensee of the Oroville Dam request the U.S. Society on Dams to nominate independent consultants to prepare a risk analysis. That analysis will be considered with the next safety review of the dam in 2019. Congressman Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, issued a written statement in support of the action on Thursday.

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Oroville Dam Work Spillway Work On Target To Meet Nov. 1 Deadline

/in , /by /CBS Sacramento

Concrete placement on the Oroville Dam spillway is likely to meet the Nov. 1 public safety construction deadline despite some setbacks, the California Department of Water Resources said on Wednesday. One of the slabs in the middle chute of the spillway needed to be replaced earlier this month due to hot weather and high winds affecting its surface. That slab is one of 221 that have been placed on the spillway through the work process and DWR doesn’t expect that to affect the schedule.

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Oroville Dam Repairs Hit $1.1 Billion, Could Climb Further

/in , /by /Bakersfield Nowby Paul Elias

The cost of repairs and other improvements stemming from last year’s near disaster at the nation’s tallest dam is $1.1 billion, a staggering total nearly $250 million over projections at the start of the year and that could go higher, California officials said Wednesday.

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