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Oroville Dam in California Has Some Problems caused by too much rain
[SFGate] Story update Feb. 10 at 7 a.m.: The massive crater in the main spillway of Oroville Dam continued to grow Thursday as state officials released more water from Lake Oroville to keep up with the stormwater and snowmelt filling up the reservoir. The hole is now about 45-feet-deep and 300-feet-wide by 500-feet-long, according to KCBS.As the lake level continues to rise, officials are saying they'll likely release water from Oroville Dam's unpaved emergency spillway for the first time ever on Saturday. The emergency release has never been used, and crews are clearing trees and brush if it's needed. The lake is now at 98 percent capacity [It has never been this high at this point in the year - it has also never overtopped the dam but it may do so in the next few days - although the Dam will not collapse]. Earlier this week, chunks of concrete flew off the nearly mile-long spillway, creating a 200-foot-long, 30-foot-deep hole. Engineers don't know what caused the cave-in that is expected to keep growing until it reaches bedrock [probably a design error when the Dam was built or else a construction error same time frame]. The department does not expect the discharge from the reservoir to exceed the capacity of any channel downstream as the water flows through the Feather River, into the Sacramento River and on to the San Francisco Bay. To keep track of the Reservoir situation in California go here. To keep track of this year's good news for the Salt Lake City water basin go here. To keep track of this year's good news for the Lake Powell and other Colorado River Reservoirs go here. Posted by: lord garth 2017-02-10 |
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