Lake Oroville FLOWS OVER its emergency spillway for first time in the history of the nation’s tallest dam

Water started flowing over an emergency spillway at the nation’s tallest dam, on Lake Oroville, for the first time Saturday
Erosion had damaged the Northern California’s main spillway
Water began running over the emergency spillway around 8 a.m., according to California’s Department of Water Resources
It was the first time the emergency spillway has been used in the reservoir’s nearly 50-year history
Officials have stressed Oroville Dam is sound and there is no imminent threat to the public

DailyMail.com
12 February 2017

Water started flowing over an emergency spillway at the nation’s tallest dam, on Lake Oroville, for the first time Saturday after erosion damaged the Northern California dam’s main spillway.

Officials hoped to avoid using Oroville Dam’s emergency spillway, fearing it could cause trees to fall and leave debris cascading into water that rushes through the Feather River, into the Sacramento River and on to the San Francisco Bay.

Crews prepared for several days, clearing trees and brush.

Water began running over the emergency spillway around 8 a.m., according to California’s Department of Water Resources.

It was the first time the emergency spillway has been used in the reservoir’s nearly 50-year history. The dam was finished in 1968, The Sacramento Bee reported.

Water was expected to continuing flowing over the emergency spillway for 38 to 56 hours, agency spokesman Eric See said at a news conference Saturday afternoon.

In addition to the emergency spillway, water is also flowing through the main spillway that was significantly damaged from erosion, he said.

‘This is a very unusual event for us here in Oroville,’ See said.

Unexpected erosion chewed through the main spillway earlier this week, sending chunks of concrete flying and creating a 200-foot-long, 30-foot-deep hole that continues growing.

Engineers don’t know what caused the cave-in that is expected to keep getting bigger until it reaches bedrock.

The Rest…HERE

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 12th, 2017 at 1:48 pm and is filed under Earth Changes, Weather. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.