Emergency: California’s Oroville Dam Spillway Near Failure, Evacuations Ordered

Breitbart ^ | Feb 12, 2017 | Joel B. Pollak1

[KC Burke]

As we all know, there are plenty of good people there. Jim Robinson and his family for a start. My brother, my best friend, lots of nice people. They have their homes, their histories, their families and all of their careers there.

They are just outnumbered by leftists and crazies.

[Jim W N]

There’s a lot of nice people everywhere but it seems Leftists have a way of sort of taking over the best places including California as well as really cool places like New England and NYC.

[meyer]

Resident: "There is a leak above the Hyatt power plant...its been there for years…grass doesn't grow unless you've got water…when the lake level goes down...you can see the grass die..because the water is not going through…you got water...you pressurize the dam to the most its been pressurized in the history of that dam…and now...with the green patches... where the grass is growing..were saying that leak..nobody wants to talk about it at your office?...I mean… there's water coming through…let the water out before it all comes out..on us."

"There's no seepage, but we're going to investigate possible seepage (and not tell you)" - DWR.

The grass could be turning brown for a couple of reasons - overall drought, or lack of pressure from behind the dam. If it's due to lack of pressure behind the dam, then there is seepage. If it's due to overall lack of precipitation, then it 'might' be coming from elsewhere (i.e., the hillside to the right (left if you look from the reservoir side). The fact that there are shallow erosion marks below the green area indicates that there is, at times, a fairly large amount of water there.

Regardless, they need to KNOW what's happening in order to mitigate it before it becomes a huge problem.

[WildHighlander57]

Thank you again for your great graphics and analyses!

I found a thread related to the dam seepage; “DWR grilled in Gridley” (h/t blueplum):

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3548674/posts?page=1#1

[meyer]

Juan Browne has another video, from April 28, “DWR Grilled in Gridley”...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=881_j_FiWQo

[meyer]

Juan doesn’t think that the seepage is a problem. I don’t know if it is or not, but neither he nor I am an expert on such things.

Personally, I believe that it’s something they need to look into soon, but I don’t think it’s an immediate threat like the spillway.

[SteveH]

Good data gathering.

It would be good if there was some sort of survey of similar existing problems and (if any) solutions.

I would just guess that these dams are made watertight with a layer or layers of clay, and that earth fill would be put on top of that. If so, I wonder if that means that the clay layer has somehow been breached. If that is true, then what are the causes and what would the cures be? It almost seems as if a significant portion of the dam would need to be rebuilt at the top (eg above 780 feet) to fix the immediate problem. The pentultimate question would be how bad the problem actually is and if it is sufficient to monitor the problem to ensure that it does not get any worse.

In Santa Clara Valley there is Lexington Reservoir which is 195 ft. high. It has a seepage pond at the downstream toe, since the 1950’s. The seepage is enough to sustain some flow of the downstream creek through the midsummer months (at least, most of the time)n. Some seepage is normal though evidently not at such a high level as Oroville has. I have seen cross section diagrams on the net that have diagonal “seepage lines” through earth dams.

I am just an onlooker, so no expert info here.

[mad_as_he$$]

“Lexington Reservoir”

I call it Sludgengton. Drove by it twice a weekday for 21 years. I often wondered if the inhabitants of Los Gatos and Campbell knew about the “leak”.

[Jim W N]

How about freaking and freeping? I guess that’s two things at once but I do that all the time. Not sure I’m the only one. :-) Not sure how good I am at it though. :-)

[Jim W N]

Just curious, does anyone know how many times over the years and the duration of each time the main spillway was released at fill capacity?

Also, unless I’m mistaken, wasn’t this year the first time the Emergency spillway was used?

[Jim W N]

If it’s nothing, then prove it’s nothing.

I think they may be of the mind that they need to be shown it is dangerous first. As in "Whoops, looks like the dam failed..."

[Jim W N]

IIRC, ER333 was the first to notice the issue and document it right here on FR.

In this case, I think because of ER333, FR IS the news source.

[Jim W N]

bidding for naming the Emergency Spillway Gulch is back on

I vote for "Son of Moonbeam Gulch"?

No? I'll keep trying. :)

[Jim W N]

Based on your assessment what could you reasonably predict as the time-frames of a worst case and best case scenario (IOW how much time do the residents of Oroville & environs have - worst case/best case)?

[Jim W N]

Guess “Dead Man’s Gulch” wouldn’t fly, huh?

[Jim W N]

Thanks ER. Sometimes it feels like we’re in the vortex of “lunacy vectors”.

[Jim W N]

Perhaps there should be more books written on these heroes to help raise awareness of this critical important moral core. I will say one thing, it takes a special breed of person to be fierce in these qualities. Sometimes, it is within the quietest of personalities...

I think your observations are worthwhile and compelling. Reminds me of an interesting passage in the Bible:

There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man. Ecc 9:14-15.

[abb]

Weathered Rock Ravine.

[Jim W N]

Wow. I'm beginning to think DWR may have an extremely anemic case of a lack of what you called older/elder "grey beards" around as part of the group...veterans...the heart & conscience of maintaining high standards and maintaining the moral core.

[Jim W N]

“Head for the Hills Gulch”?