Memorial for Victims of Folsom Dam Tragedy

[terranova]

I'm hearing two sides to this Auburn Dam controversy, and i'm not sure who really knows what they're talking about. In a nutshell, some say that the dam is needed to avoid a flood disaster, while others say that simply beefing up the existing levees and increasing the capacity of the Folsom dam would be more than adequate to deal with any potential storm. There are also those who say that the Auburn Dam would lead to an even greater disaster if *it* were to fail. Who to believe?

[CeJeH]

Go with the facts. Think about it this way:

When Folsom Dam was built, it was supposed to provide 500 year flood protection, meaning it would be able to withstand the biggest flood that would come thru in a period of 500 years. Since it was completed, there have been 5 new record storms that have rolled thru the region in the last 70 years or so! That 500 year flood protection has been downgraded into the 100 year range, perhaps even less. 100 year flood protection is the minimum amount required by the US Army Corps of Engineers to provide flood insurance to a region. So; essentially we have the bare minimum amount of flood protection provided to us by Folsom Dam, at best! On top of that, the vast majority of our levees are old and not up to current standards.

We need Auburn Dam to provide flood protection.

[jpII]

I thought one of the reason against the building of the Auburn dam was that the weight of the water would have caused the area to become seismically unstable. Not unlike what has happend at the Oroville dam in northern CA. As far as I know the conserns brought up here are being addressed by The Folsom Joint Federal Project (JFP).

[NickB1967]

Originally Posted by jpII

I thought one of the reason against the building of the Auburn dam was that the weight of the water would have caused the area to become seismically unstable. Not unlike what has happend at the Oroville dam in northern CA. As far as I know the conserns brought up here are being addressed by The Folsom Joint Federal Project (JFP).

But what *has* happened at Oroville? It at one time was, and I'm not sure but still might be among, the world's largest earth and rockfill dams.

Meanwhile, Auburn was to be built with reinforced concrete, like the famed Hoover Dam, precisely because of seismic concerns.

[ryuns]

Well, since it doesn't rain anymore, I'm sure glad we didn't spend money protecting ourselves from those pesky floods! Boy, would we have been red in the face!

[jpII]

In 1975, 8 years after the Oroville reservoir was filled, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake occurred. This earthquake may have been caused by the reservoir and due to continuing seismic concerns it is one of the most heavily monitored dams in the nation. As far as I know it is the second largest dam in California now.

[bradlywhite]

Oroville Dam is the largest Dam in CA and the tallest Dam in the US. They do monitor the Dam constantly. I heard that the outcome of the report for the earthquake was that it settled the dam into the surrounding hills and actually made it sturdier. I like to think of it as God completing the Dam for us.

[Samoi137]

Route 10 nowhere near Folsom Lake. The one painfully true statement was the guy stating the he wished there had been a way to prevent the tragedy that didn't cost so much money.