After an extended multi-year drought, having problems with the overflow system was probably the furtherest thing from their mind.
And THAT'S how averages are made.
Looks like they might have a dam failure if they don't do something quickly. If I was living downstream in the plain, I would load up my essentials and get out of there for a while.
After an extended multi-year drought, having problems with the overflow system was probably the furtherest thing from their mind.
And THAT'S how averages are made.
I agree but I would think they would take core samples and such to assess the structural integrity of the dam occasionally and a drought would seem to me to be a good time to assess it.
Now they think the entire dam may breach. Traffic is totally jammed.
I would think there are supposed to be routine inspections done to ensure the dam, spillway, etc. are structurally sound. If that dam breaches I expect some folks will have a lot of questions to answer.
I just saw that. That is CRAZY!
Drop some big frigging pipes in to siphon water out of the reservoir to relieve volume down the spillway. Keep dropping in pipes until it can be managed.
When I first saw that and heard them say "There is no danger to the integrity of the dam" I instantly thought BS, you don't know what you are talking about. Now they evacuated 200K people, the emergency spillway can't be used like it was designed to be used because it would chew away the hill.
They better hope that the rain slows down or there will be BIG problems.
The emergency spillway design flaw was brought up 10-12 years ago and the Federal Dam inspector said it was O.K.
That's a big oops................
Oroville Dam. Oroville Dam is the centerpiece and largest water storage facility of the State Water Project. Located about 70 miles north of Sacramento at the Feather River confluence, Oroville Dam creates a reservoir that can hold 3.5 million acre-feet of water.
The emergency spillway design flaw was brought up 10-12 years ago and the Federal Dam inspector said it was O.K.
I discovered a couple of years ago I live just a few miles downstream from one of the most high risk dams in the country. I called my insurance agent and asked her "if the Lake Lewisville dam had a catastrophic failure and my house was flooded would my house be covered by my homeowners insurance"? She said absolutely not! I asked "so if I survived I would basically lose everything...my biggest single asset? She said yep! I now have flood insurance until they get the repairs completed.
"
dam failure. The results would be an estimated 431,000 people displaced by floodwater, countless deaths, $21 billion in property damage and a downtown Dallas under 50 feet of water"
Lake Lewisville Dam - One of the riskiest dams in the US
But Zep, would they pay out or let you sit out in the cold while they try not to pay and file a lawsuit against some entity because it was their fault? Is the flood insurance only by natural causes and not a man-made fault?
Along the same lines... when they evacuate an area such as this, is there a compensation for expenses occurred by those evacuated?
Soooo..........that river goes right through the middle of Sacramento???
I am guessing they will wait to secede until after they get the federal dollars to fix this.
We have a small (300 acre) lake near here that has a primary spillway like that, but only about 12-15 feet or so high. It spills over most of time as it has excess watershed. That spillway has withstood some horrendous floods. It must be poured into the bedrock.
Just to indicate the level of genius maintenance used at that dam here is a picture for you.
See the emergency auxiliary spill way had been allowed to grow over. It was decided that the trees had to be cleared to prevent them from being washed down the river. That was followed up by rift raft being dumped in and cement pump trucks pumping cement at the base of the auxiliary spillway. I took that as either indication that they decided the spillway was either not built right to begin with or they felt they made a booboo that was going to cause it to erode. Remember all of this happened before the first drop topped over. I would hate to know I had to do all that to a spill way before it could be put in use on my property.
What is the update on the spillways? the hole in the primary spillway, I assume they can't fill that till all water stops going over that spillway? They might as well bust the primary out and start over?
And the emergency spillway which was just trees, grass, i assume nothing is going over that now anymore? Maybe they should make the emergency spillway concrete too?
Lake Mcconaughy in Nebraska on the North Platte has a spillway like that called the "Morning Glory". I witnessed it going over big time a few years ago when we were passing through.
That is pretty neat Zep.
Wouldn't want to paddle too close to that with a kayak. Might be kind of a quick ride.
