Weather has been unpredictable in recent years and California has suffered under the full brunt of that. California’s Oroville Dam is the nation’s highest dam at 901 feet above sea level. The dam has been working under capacity for years due to California’s 5 year drought. California State Governor, Jerry Brown, declared the drought a state of emergency back in 2014 which was the driest year in California’s recorded history. Now in 2017 it is shaping up to be the wettest year in recorded history and it’s only February. With over 7 inches of rain in a single week and dozens of inches of snow that melt into the reservoir.
The water levels have actually been so drastic that for the first time since the dam was built in 1968 the emergency spillway was opened. The emergency spillway was opened due to massive damage to the normal spillway. The water pressure has been so great that a hole opened in the concrete and continues to widen with no way to easily repair it. The hole also causes an ecological issue as officials struggle to save salmon that have become trapped in the hole.
Acting director of the California Department of Water Resources, Bill Croyle, stated the hole will take roughly 100-200 million dollars to repair the damage to the normal spillway. Croyle alo said that while the dam is still structurally safe, he could not guarantee that there will be no permanent long lasting damage or flooding to the surrounding areas. He predicts that if another “atmospheric river” storm approaches like the one that California just experienced there may be serious problems with the dam’s condition.
Flooding has become such a concern that in many parts of Northern California, nearly 200,000 residents have been forced to evacuate for an unknown period of time. Officials stated that if the emergency spillway fails, water would spill over the top of the dam and cause upwards of 30 feet of water to flood the nearby towns. Luckily, as of Monday morning the waters have receded a bit but officials will not lift the evacuation order. With more rain on the way there are still serious concerns over the dam’s safety.
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