[env-trinity] Giant cavity opens in Oroville Dam spillway as Jerry Brown focuses on Delta Tunnels

[Dan Bacher]

  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/2/8/1631621/-Giant-cavity-opens-in-Oroville-Dam-spillway-as-Jerry-Brown-focuses-on-Delta-Tunnels
Photo of giant cavity in Orovile Dam spillway courtesy of the  
Department of Water Resources
Giant cavity opens in Oroville Dam spillway as Jerry Brown focuses on  
Delta Tunnels
by Dan Bacher

A 250-foot long cavity opened in the Oroville Dam spillway yesterday  
as approximately 55,000 cubic feet per second was being released from  
Lake Oroville into the Feather River downstream.


The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) shut the spillway  
to investigate the rupture on February 7. The discovery of the giant  
hole caused a halt and reduction in water deliveries downriver.

The rupture takes place at a time when Governor Jerry Brown is  
promoting the construction of two massive Delta Tunnels and new water  
storage. Project critics say that the state should instead focus on  
maintaining and improving existing water system infrastructure, such  
as properly maintaining the spillway at Oroville, rather than focusing  
on environmentally destructive and enormously expensive tunnels and  
dams.

To help determine “an appropriate level of flow down the damaged  
spillway,” DWR plans to release up to 20,000 cubic feet per second  
(cfs) this afternoon, then ramp down the flows and assess any further  
damage to the eroded spillway, the agency reported in a news release.

"The test flow will run for two hours, perhaps as soon as late this  
afternoon," according to Ted Thomas, spokesman for the Department of  
Water Resources. "The test flow is expected to further erode the lower  
reach of the spillway, where a cavity opened yesterday as  
approximately 55,000 cfs was being released from the reservoir."

"With the test flows, engineers will verify how much flow the spillway  
can handle. The spillway is necessary to maintain reservoir  
operations, given the immediate forecast of continued rain for the  
next two days and also in preparation for the remaining runoff  
season," said Thomas.

"In the coming days, DWR will continue to investigate ways to bolster  
and protect the spillway. At the same time, as part of a contingency  
plan, the DWR is removing trees and debris from the corridor near the  
dam where water would flow in the event the emergency spillway is  
needed," he said.

DWR said the emergency spillway, separate from the damaged spillway,  
is not gated, and water would flow naturally from the reservoir if it  
were to reach its capacity of 3.5 million acre feet at 901 feet  
elevation.

As of this afternoon, the reservoir holds 3 million acre-feet of  
water. Before the test flow, approximately 14,000 cfs were being  
released from the reservoir through other outlets, including the Hyatt  
Power Plant. The test will boost those flows temporarily to 34,000  
cfs. Inflows to the reservoir are approximately 85,000 cfs, according  
to Thomas.

Thomas concluded, "Enough vacant space exists in the reservoir to  
capture the flow of the rains expected through Friday afternoon. The  
dam is sound, and no imminent threat to the public exists."

DWR said it is coordinating closely with State and federal wildlife  
and dam safety officials as it responds to the spillway erosion. Lake  
conditions, including lake levels, inflows, and outflows can be  
obtained via a recorded message at 530-534-2307.

Critics of the Delta Tunnels project said the Oroville Dam spillway  
rupture shows how basic dam assessments, management plans, and  
maintenance are being neglected as Governor Jerry Brown constantly  
promotes the California WaterFix as the "solution” to the state’s  
water supply and ecosystem problems.

“According to the American Society of Engineers 2013 Report, there are  
678 high hazard dams in California, and 48% of them do not have an  
emergency plan,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of  
Restore the Delta, responding to the Oroville Dam rupture. “Watching  
the damage unfold at Oroville, it is striking to us that Governor  
Brown, CA WaterFix proponents, and Department of Water Resources  
leaders keep telling Californians that the tunnels are the needed fix  
for updating California’s water delivery system, yet basic dam  
assessments, management plans, and maintenance are forgotten or put off.

“The Federal Government had indicated that Oroville Dam needed a  
further seismic assessment, but the Department of Water Resources  
stated in 2013 that a seismic assessment of Oroville Dam was not  
needed. What would happen if an earthquake were to happen near the dam  
today during this high water event?” she pointed out.

“While an emergency plan for Oroville Dam exists, it is clear that  
something is lacking in maintenance and planning that such a large  
hole has opened up in the spillway. Clearly, the Department of Water  
Resources is not prepared to manage the system during wet years,” she  
said.

“The Governor and DWR officials want to spend $60 billion, on  
unnecessary Delta tunnels, a wasteful expansion of infrastructure that  
will not address California’s dated water delivery system. What we  
need is a major investment in upgrading our 678 high hazard dams, and  
making sure that dams like Oroville can stand up without ruptures  
during high water years. We need to upgrade and maintain the  
infrastructure that we have first to protect people and ensure water  
deliveries. If the tunnels are built, there will be no additional cash  
from state and local agencies to pay for needed dam maintenance, and  
locally needed water system upgrades,” Barrigan-Parrilla concluded.

Governor Jerry Brown is currently under fire from 12 public interest  
groups for his many controversial environmental policies. The  groups,  
led by Consumer Watchdog and Food & Water Watch and including  
Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles, Restore The Delta,  
Rootskeeper, Powers Engineering, Basin and Range Watch, Aguirre &  
Severson LLP, Public Watchdogs, Southern California Watershed  
Alliance, the Desal Response Group and Committee to Bridge the Gap,  
challenged Brown’s “green” credentials at a press conference in Santa  
Monica on February 6.

The groups unveiled a comprehensive report card on Jerry Brown  
Administration’s environmental record showing he falls short in six  
out of seven key areas, including fossil fuel generated electricity,  
oil drilling, and coastal protection.

The report calls for a moratorium on the building of natural gas  
powered electricity plants, given what they described as “the glut of  
electric capacity,” and calls for an outside audit of state’s energy  
needs. The group showed how California can improve its environmental  
protections to meet standards set in other states.

The report, noting that Brown’s infrastructure projects, led by the  
California WaterFix, “deplete water resources and threaten wildlife,”  
also urges the Governor to abandon the Twin Tunnels project.

Read the report “How Green Is Jerry Brown?” at: www.consumerwatchdog.org/ 
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