State Agencies Mobilize to Oroville Dam, Strategize Repairs and Rumor Control
Channel: Cal OES
Date: 2017-02-11

So that’s it folks, that is the Lake Oroville spillway. And that’s what 35000 cubic feet per second looks like. And believe it or not that’s small compared to 1997 when it was at 100,000 cubic feet per second.

That raging torrent is intentional. The California Department of Water Resources continues to release water out of Lake Oroville despite the massive damage being caused by erosion.

“I guess it’s sort of a triage situation,” said Eric See, spokesperson for the California Department of Water Resources. “They know it’s causing damage but it’s not beyond what they deem as being safe.”

See says a hole in the spillway estimated to be at least 200 feet long and 30 feet deep is not a cause for alarm.

“It’s like getting a dent in your car, it doesn’t mean the car doesn’t run, it may not look very nice.”

But it is an issue they’re working on … with urgency. Record rain continues to pour, sending water into Lake Oroville at a rate of 118,000 cubic feet per second.

That’s more water going into the lake than being sent out; they need to keep releases going.

So an incident command post has been set up at DWR headquarters in Butte County.

“They’re doing a lot work to determine the next steps and processes for the actual dam situation,” said Ron Quigley, deputy administrator with the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, is here with several other Cal OES representatives, all on-hand to monitor the situation, coordinate communication and offer assistance when needed.

“It’s always good to be face to face and be a body in the room to coordinate and support” said Quigley.

Oroville Dam opened in 1968, creating the reservoir and using its water to generate power.

DWR says it was designed with two spillways, this one and another emergency spillway. 

It was also designed to handle water coming over the top of the lake.

But for now, the spillway is doing its job.

Although the hole beneath that flow is sending water over the edge and taking much of the surrounding terrain with it.

At least one media outlet erroneously reported the spillway had “completely collapsed.”

That’s a rumor DWR and every emergency responder is dispelling.

“We have dam safety engineers up there we have geologists we have spillway design engineers,” See said. “They’re looking at it right now constantly monitoring it and watching the erosion.”

To reiterate: the Lake Oroville spillway has not had a catastrophic failure. So if you happen to get one of those messages coming over your phone via social media, it’s a rumor. It has not happened.