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Crews Reinforcing Emergency Spillway, Water Releases Continue For Lake Oroville

  •  Bob Moffitt 
  •  Randol White 
Friday, February 10, 2017 | Sacramento, CA
Bob Moffitt / Capital Public Radio
 

Bob Moffitt / Capital Public Radio

UPDATE, 10:30 A.M. Feb. 10:  A steady stream of cement trucks have been pouring concrete at Lake Oroville Friday morning. 

The trucks are extending the lip of the emergency spillway. 

The Department of Water Resources continues to release water at a rate of 65,000 cubic feet per second. That's a little less than half the volume of water entering the lake.

The emergency spillway has never been used, even in 2013 when Lake Oroville reached 900 feet in depth. It holds 901 feet.

As of 10:30 a.m., officials are saying the emergency spillway may not have to be utilized if current releases are maintained.

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Bob Moffitt / Capital Public Radio


UPDATE, 8 A.M. Feb. 10: In Butte County, more water is rushing down the badly damaged Oroville Dam spillway Friday. Officials are trying to manage the flow so that an emergency release from Lake Oroville, the huge reservoir behind the dam, won’t be necessary. 

California state engineers say the damage does not threaten communities downstream even as Lake Oroville continues to fill with water. 

CapRadio's Bob Moffit says the Department of Water Resources will increase water outflows from Lake Oroville to 65,000 cfs at around noon Friday. 

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Engineers Use Eroding Spillway To Control Rapidly Rising Lake Oroville

020917Oroville SpillP

A photo of the damage spillway at Lake Oroville. 

Original Post: Engineers at Lake Oroville are releasing water over the reservoir's quickly-eroding spillway in an effort to maintain flood control measures.

It's flowing at a rate of 35,000 cubic-feet-per-second, but the lake that's already more than 90 percent full, is filling up much faster than that.

Inflow Thursday was measured at more than two-to-three times the release rate.

A massive gash in the spillway's concrete has grown dramatically since the gates were reopened yesterday, spurring some on social media to claim the spillway has completely collapsed.

Department of Water Resources spokesman Doug Carlson says that is not the case.

"It has not collapsed, contary to the rumor." says Carlson. "It has been increasingly damaged by the heavy flow of water coming down, that was anticipated. It must be emphasized, the dam is not in danger, its integrity has not been compromised."

Geotechnicians say bedrock is likely just underneath the topsoil that's being washed away around and underneath the spillway.

That topsoil has so muddied the waters downstream that salmon at a nearby fish hatchery are being moved by tanker trucks to another location.

The goal for operators right now is to release enough lake water to avoid using an emergency spillway that's nothing more than a hillside lined with trees.

Schools were closed Thursday as a precautionary measure in Oroville, Palermo and Thermalito because of high lake levels.


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    Related Stories

  • California Department of Water Resources

    News Network: Reporters Update Oroville Spillway Situation

    Tuesday, February 14, 2017
    Following a tumultuous series of evacuations surround the Oroville Dam area, updates are coming in around the clock from Yuba, Butte and Sutter counties. One reporter talks about how concerns about the dam's emergency spillway are a decade old.
  • California Department of Water Resources

    Evacuation Ordered For Low Levels Of Oroville, Auxiliary Spillway Expected To Fail

    Sunday, February 12, 2017
    UPDATE 5:26 p.m. Feb. 12: Orovillle residents are being ordered to evacuate Sunday. Officials say the auxiliary spillway at the dam is expected to fail.
  • Kelly M. Grow / California Department of Water Resources

    Spillway Updates From Lake Oroville

    Friday, February 10, 2017
    The state is considering opening an emergency spillway on the Oroville Dam this Saturday for the first time in history. Bob Moffitt is in Oroville and joins Insight.

 Lake Oroville

Bob Moffitt

Former Sacramento Region Reporter

Bob reported on all things northern California and Nevada. His coverage of police technology, local athletes, and the environment has won a regional Associated Press and several Edward R. Murrow awards.  Read Full Bio 

Randol White

All Things Considered Anchor/Reporter

Randol White is an award-winning, accomplished, and well-rounded broadcast journalist with more than two decades of radio, television, web and print experience.  Read Full Bio 

 @RandolWhite  Email Randol White

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