Posted on 02/17/2017 11:09:41 AM PST by sevinufnine
Communities just downstream of California's Lake Oroville dam would not receive adequate warning or time for evacuations if the 770-foot-tall dam itself — rather than its spillways — were to abruptly fail, the state water agency that operates the nation's tallest dam repeatedly advised federal regulators a half-decade ago.
The state Department of Water Resources informed federal dam regulators that local emergency officials "do not believe there is enough time to perform evacuations in the communities immediately downstream of the dam during a sudden failure," according to a Feb. 8, 2011, letter reviewed by The Associated Press.
Absent "significant" advance warning, emergency responders instead would likely withdraw to safer ground and prepare for victims, said the same letter by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees safety of hydroelectric dams, in a summary of the state's conclusions.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I’ve been watching this situation in the news and do not believe those returning home should do so just yet.
Where the Oroville dam lies is about to receive upwards of 10 inches of rain. Authorities are saying “the dam is not in danger of rupturing.”
Well, maybe not. BUT, if you look at photos of the dam and spillway with its damage, it’s quite clear the spillway could easily errode away allowin nearly as much water to eventually flow through.
It’s giving me the creeps.
So maybe billions of gallons of water won’t be released immediately for a spillway rupture, but it very, well could still be released downstream and God help those folks if it does.
Ca Gov Jerry Brown’s family owns land in the floodplane of Oroville dam. He recently had it test drilled for oil (at state expense).
If the dam fails and the land floods, will Jerry Brown and his buddies grab up the land for pennies on the dollar?
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-brown-state-research-oil-ranch-20151105-story.html
“If [Oroville] California dam failed, people likely stuck”
More likely dead than stuck.
Once the water starts churing in that hole where already damaged. How long would it take for it to eat it’s way back towards the lake? If so, the hole would widen so fast it would be (in my opinion) nearly as bad as the dam bursting in the end. Water would continue to chew it’s way though as it washed away more and more dirt and concerete spillway.
This is a terrible event just waiting to happen.
They ought to wait until some of these large storms have passed....maybe longer
There are hundreds of dams in the same category...’if’ the entire dam fails, there isn’t enough time to get away.
Frankly, I think the only way that would happen is an earthquake. Possible, but has absolutely nothing to do with the Oroville Dam.
The Oroville Dam is at risk of a sudden collapse of the emergency spillway - still a formidable wall of water (30 feet) to watch out for. I don’t think that collapse would happen, unless water started flowing over that spillway again...so the evacuation response time is keyed to how fast the water rises the next time.
I actually believe they will let the main spillway rip and tear the concrete spillway apart, and avoid that emergency spillway again.
Anyhoo...If I lived there, I’d get out before big rains came again.
Precisely
Well, it sort of rhymes with “stuck”, anyway.
Nobody seems to be talking about the possibility of failure to the massive levee system surrounding the Sacramento area.....nor the fact that the dam’s emergency spillway was obvious build on fill material......the drainage into the Oroville Dam is quite large.....
I know. We have some mountain property and 3 dirt/gravel roads over the streams with properly installed culverts.
Several years ago, we had tremendous snow and then much rain. The creek, normally a foot deep, rose and washed over the roads. One of them has 2 large culverts side by side with the dirt and gravel built up to be nearly 6 feet higher than the creek. To say it was astonishing to see the damage it did was an understatement.
The waters chewed their way through that road several feet down and pushed all the 50-100+ pound rocks around the exit of the culvert on the other side yards down creek.
Now...and this is a mountain stream mind you! Not a billion gallon lake. I cannot even imagine what’s going to happen once the rain falls. The ground is already saturated and everything will flow straight into that lake.
“Hate being a broken record here,”
You’re not a broken record. I’m just frustrated the news media is more concerned that Trump put them in their place yesterday than concerning themselves with hundreds of thousands of lives being in danger.
Then again, knowing the media...they’re salivating at the thought so they can report on death and mahem :(
“Brown told the Sacramento Bee in 2013 that he and his family owned a controlling interest in the acreage near Williams and that he planned to put a house on the property. “
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-brown-state-research-oil-ranch-20151105-story.html
Related: http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-jerry-brown-20141230-story.html
“The Oroville Dam is at risk of a sudden collapse of the emergency spillway - still a formidable wall of water (30 feet) to watch out for.”
I hope you’re right. But when I look at the photos of hour close that spillway is to the dam, and the fact the waters could continue to wash away dirt/fill dirt all the way UP TO the dam, I think a massive amount of water could escape around the dam itself and drain 1/2 of that lake downstream.
********************
The real question is how the ‘mineral rights’ are accounted
for in CA. Who owns them, what percentage, etc and do they
transfer with the land sale or are they a separate transaction.
Jerry Brown owns this one.
It is a ratings game... So true.
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