[jpal]

Thanks Ray76.
Although it is hard to tell from from these thumbnail images alone, it does appear that the green spot was not as green in June 2011, when the lake stayed close to 900’, as it is in May 2017, when the lake is averaging closer to 850’. This appears to indicate that the greening of the green spot is not a direct function of lake level, even in the Spring, before it gets hot enough to potentially kill off the grass. It will be interesting to see how quickly the green spot browns out this year.

[PavewayIV]

Was browsing through DWR's latest Inspection Report dump If you're a terrorist, please do not read!

Haven't checked all of them regarding green spot, but saw this interesting blurb about instrumentation in the Jan. 20, 2004 report:

Sheet 3 of 4

On the Nov. 18, 2002 report, the 1999 Dam Review Safety Board is said to have made the recommendation. The inconsistency is irrelevant but interesting nonetheless

Now, not only were only 51 of 56 Oroville Dam piezometers noted to not be working 13 years ago, but it was the actual Dam Safety Review Board that specifically recommended that they should be retired (and eventually were). This simply defies all logic, and I'm just some idiot on the internet watching this from a thousand miles away.

Is there any rational ENGINEERING reason for such a recommendation given the history of dam failures they might have prevented if used? It's like an airline's 'Safety Board' recommending a few panels of gauges be pulled out of a modern passenger aircraft because some are broken and the information can be gathered indirectly through other means (like 'high-speed disassembly at altitude' or 'contact with terrain').

[PavewayIV]

And in case anyone is wondering about the legitimacy of the reports DWR published, one can clearly see that the inspector, WPennington, signed off on the 2004 report on 2/2/02, so there!