California dam problem

[Melody]

Well, after years of drought, the west coast has made up for it this winter, with numerous heavy storms. Reservoirs that were half empty are now full, the snow pack in the Sierras is massive, and the country's tallest dam is close to having a major disaster. The Oroville Dam in a region of northern California that's had almost constant rain for weeks, is close to capacity, and they've been using the spillway to prevent it overtopping. As of last week, the spillway started to disintegrate, and now they're having to evacuate the towns below the dam because if the spillway fails completely and the water starts overtopping the dam, there could be a major disaster. The emergency spillway, which I don't think has been used since the dam was built in the late 1960s, has been used for the first time to take pressure off the damaged spillway, and is showing signs of erosion that could escalate dramatically if it continues to be used.

 

According to the weather forecast there are two or three dry days ahead and then another storm is set to roll through. I hope they manage to do their emergency repairs in time.

 

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-oroville-dam-how-20170213-story.html

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/13/lake-oroville-dam-california-emergency-repairs-evacuation

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co_-hInsSe8

 

Edited February 13, 2017 by Melody