We know DWR is following Metabunk. Check out this post. One of Croyle’s people. Even misspelled his name to make it look good.
https://www.metabunk.org/oroville-dam-spillway-failure.t8381/page-41#post-204996
I for one wanted to note how lucky Oroville, DWR and everyone else was that they had Director Coyle on board that disastrous night. When the water started over the emergency spillway and the erosion was apparent immediately. It would have been massively stressful. Calling for the evacuation of town at the same time. Then someone has to throw out the idea, “we need to reopen the main spillway”.
It is clear now, in hindsight, when they reopened the main spillway they saved that structure and that town. I am sure in the heat of that moment, that was not so clear. They kept level heads, and managed with what data they had in hand. There was certainly a bit of luck that the remaining spillway structure and enough solid rock to handle the flows.
Every decision the response team has made sense, seems from what is available, to have been great decisions. Closing the Hyatt at the right times. Pushing massive debris removals. Anchoring and shotcrete on the remaining spillway. Armoring the emergency spillway. All seem, in hindsight, to have been done in the right order at the right times, to create more options as they went along.
I take a slight exception with the AP article’s headline
Content from external source
AP Exclusive: Managers made errors in handling of dam crisis
(link for reference: below). I do not think there was much wrong in the ‘handling’ of the crisis. I realize this is like editors/authors trying to come up with a sensationalized headline. Just feel it does not quite convey the correct sense.
Sure there was a lot wrong with the operations and maintenance of the structure that led to the crisis. That has been well documented, discussed here. The overall handling of the crises once the hole appeared in the deck, seems pretty good.
ref:
https://apnews.com/0a4b46c359444c58918ad374f7cd3d28
Maybe they are better at the pound of cure than the ounce of prevention...