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Old 02-11-2017, 09:45 AM
 
Location: Vancouver, WA
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With non-stop rain and the continual inflow of water from the northern half of the state, this lake and dam are at max capacity. The breaking spillway looks in really bad shape.

Oroville Dam: extraordinary erosion, and a crisis, on the spillway - The Landslide Blog - AGU Blogosphere

This video show the flow through the broken spillway which looks massive:

https://weather.com/news/news/orovil...hole-emergency

Derek
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Old 02-11-2017, 11:35 AM
 
Location: in a galaxy far far away
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I've been following this story on the local news networks. (wish beau charles would check in and give us an update) I'm not surprised by this, though. The infrastructure in this country has been deteriorating for years. They wait until a catastrophe happens and then try to fix it instead of doing regular (and thorough) inspections. I read that silt from this spill is flowing into the hatchery, forcing them to move the baby salmon. Last report was they've moved over a million of them farther away. What a mess.

Just yesterday, a train (22 cars) derailed next to the Consumnes River, near Elk Grove. This area is notorious for flooding but with all the recent rainfall the ground is so saturated it couldn't sustain the weight of the train.

The short break in storms would be a good time for officials to get out there and do some heavy inspecting. Maybe they could anticipate the areas that are most vulnerable. It's not over, though. We aren't finished with the rainy season and if the rest of it is anything like what we've already experienced, there will be more major destruction. yikes
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Old 02-11-2017, 11:56 AM
 
Location: Oroville, California
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Oh, hi guys! Well, we're doing fine so far. The dam is not in danger. The emergency spillway did start flowing at 8AM this morning. Its not much (6,000 to 12,000 CFS). That's coupled with the 55,000 CFS going through the damaged spillway. The river level is still below flood stage, so no danger yet and no evacuations. The level is lower than it was in 2006 or the El Nino of of '97. Sunny warm day today. No rain until late next week so they have so time to make room.

The Feather River is a muddy mess though. The state fish hatchery is really the only thing to suffer so far. Millions of young salmon have been moved. The emergency spillway is estimated to be used for a day and a half or two days.

Last edited by BeauCharles; 02-11-2017 at 12:04 PM..
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Old 02-11-2017, 12:12 PM
 
Location: Vancouver, WA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BeauCharles View Post
Oh, hi guys! Well, we're doing fine so far. The dam is not in danger. The emergency spillway did start flowing at 8AM this morning. Its not much (6,000 to 12,000 CFS). That's coupled with the 55,000 CFS going through the damaged spillway. The river level is still below flood stage, so no danger yet and no evacuations. The level is lower than it was in 2006 or the El Nino of of '97. Sunny warm day today. No rain until late next week so they have so time to make room.

The Feather River is a muddy mess though. The state fish hatchery is really the only thing to suffer so far. Millions of young salmon have been moved. The emergency spillway is estimated to be used for a day and a half or two days.
Glad to hear it, BeauCharles. Its getting pretty crazy in your neck of the woods lately. That damaged spillway looks a mess. Hopefully with the break between storms they can divert enough of the water to handle the next set of storms to come. Its going to be wild ride this year as the rain continues. I wonder is there is any hope of fixing that spillway as it looks almost like a total loss from the latest pictures I saw of it?

Hard to believe this time last year we were looking at the ravages of a five year drought. I guess the shabby spillway was lower on the priority list.

Its nice to see the sun for while, isn't it! Today is sunny and beautiful out in Monterey as well.

Derek
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Old 02-11-2017, 03:01 PM
 
Location: in a galaxy far far away
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Good to hear from you Beau Charles and glad the town hasn't been evacuated. Any idea how long they'll have to wait before repairs can be done on the major spillway? With all the rain and runoff, I imagine it will be months before they can even get to it. Be safe and keep check in every once in a while.
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Old 02-11-2017, 05:27 PM
 
Location: Oroville, California
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HereOnMars View Post
Good to hear from you Beau Charles and glad the town hasn't been evacuated. Any idea how long they'll have to wait before repairs can be done on the major spillway? With all the rain and runoff, I imagine it will be months before they can even get to it. Be safe and keep check in every once in a while.
A lot of the releases that run until well into the summer have been mandated to keep the river high and cold for fish (not for flood control), so given the circumstances I would think they could shut off the flow earlier than we're used to seeing (to start construction). They claim they can have it repaired by late fall, but I don't trust estimates. Seems like everything takes twice as long as projected.
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Old 02-11-2017, 05:46 PM
 
Location: in a galaxy far far away
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BeauCharles View Post
A lot of the releases that run until well into the summer have been mandated to keep the river high and cold for fish (not for flood control), so given the circumstances I would think they could shut off the flow earlier than we're used to seeing (to start construction). They claim they can have it repaired by late fall, but I don't trust estimates. Seems like everything takes twice as long as projected.
Yeah, I guess once they get beyond the rainy season, it will be easier to make a determination. 'Course, there's still over a month to go before that ends. Agreed about things taking twice as long to accomplish.
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Old 02-11-2017, 11:01 PM
 
Location: Vancouver, WA
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The LA Times had some pretty crazy looking photos of it going down the spillway today: Oroville Dam's emergency spillway used for first time amid rising waters; officials say public safe - LA Times
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Old 02-12-2017, 09:00 PM
 
Location: Sherman Oaks, CA
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The auxiliary spillway isn't doing so well, so low-lying areas in Oroville have been evacuated this evening. They increased the water flow going through the main spillway, which relieved some of the pressure from the auxiliary one, but if the auxiliary spillway fails completely, uncontrolled flow is inevitable and will cause lots of flooding. However, the dam itself is okay. Only the spillways are in trouble (but this is bad enough, of course).
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Old 02-12-2017, 09:09 PM
 
Location: Vancouver, WA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SandyCo View Post
The auxiliary spillway isn't doing so well, so low-lying areas in Oroville have been evacuated this evening. They increased the water flow going through the main spillway, which relieved some of the pressure from the auxiliary one, but if the auxiliary spillway fails completely, uncontrolled flow is inevitable and will cause lots of flooding. However, the dam itself is okay. Only the spillways are in trouble (but this is bad enough, of course).
Yeah, I just saw this in the news. Things are getting more dicey, enough to evacuate certain areas which seems to be increasing. This is occurring even without rain currently. Next week looks to hold a lot more rain in the forecast.

Evacuation orders issued for low levels of Oroville

Things seem to be progressing quickly as more evacuations are just being announced. 130,000 evacuated over California dam concerns.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/cal...132332499.html

Last edited by MtnSurfer; 02-12-2017 at 09:23 PM..
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