Oroville Dam - California

[Srputz]

What was coming out of garrison at the peak. Like 120000. Just going from memory and look at the cut that made. Forever changing the landscape.

 

[dust in the wind]

I think it was 150,000 from garrison.

 

[dean nelson]

yeah that's what some are saying. What damage will the 100,000 CFS do to the spillway? What happens starting wednesday when they start getting a bunch of rain again?

If it holds tonight and the levels drop, they aren't out of the woods yet.

There are no answer know to a question that's never been asked before. This is literally the epitome of a doubles edge sword because they have to clear as much room as possible before the big storm but to do that they need to run the spillway causing even more damage and if they don't they will likely overtop the emergency spillway again. They are lucky though because if that happened here we would be screwed due to our lack of bedrock. You ever want a nightmare scenario take a look at oahe because that bitches emergency Spillway is nothing but dirt.

 

[dust in the wind]

There are no answer know to a question that's never been asked before. This is literally the epitome of a doubles edge sword because they have to clear as much room as possible before the big storm but to do that they need to run the spillway causing even more damage and if they don't they will likely overtop the emergency spillway again. They are lucky though because if that happened here we would be screwed due to our lack of bedrock. You ever want a nightmare scenario take a look at oahe because that bitches emergency Spillway is nothing but dirt.

I should have noted, I wasn't directly asking you nor was I expecting an answer. No one knows what is going to happen with this thing.

One thing I heard on the live feeds is they are talking about hauling in rock via helicopter to fill in the trench on the emergency spillway when the level gets low enough.


This situation happening here was something I thought about when we had the flood going on in 2011. Wasn't fun to think about.

 

[dean nelson]

I still can't believe that they build dams like oahe with spillways made of dirt. Hell Harmon the newest dam in the state has a dirt spillway. You run water down a dirt spillway here and it's not a question of if it will fail but how long till it fails all to save a buck on a calculated risk.

 

[NodakBuckeye]

A little bit of water and the human proclivity to believe we can control it will forever fascinate me.

Like Old River Control?

 

[NDwalleyes]

 

[dust in the wind]

Not sure I would have been riding a bike there but someone did.
https://m.liveleak.com/view?i=08c_1486958413

 

[dean nelson]

Boy you can definitely spot the area that became the problem spot in that video. Would love to see that footage after they doubled the flow down the main spillway.

 

[savage270]

California legislative priorities:

1. Delta smelt habitat protection - check
2. Food, education and health care for millions of illegals - check
3. Infrastructure - maybe next year

 

[Allen]

savage270 is on point here with his observation. They knew about this problem a while back according to some news stories I read. So for the cost of $XX,XXX in repairs that were put off, there will now be a hell of a repair bill. Perhaps in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

And rest assured, repair this they will. Oroville is one of their largest water supply reservoirs and California would have a near immediate water supply problem if they lose this dam. SMDH...

 

[dean nelson]

Yeah it was estimated at $200,000,000 before the latest problem that will all but guarantee they will have to pave the emergency spillway or just be smart build one giant ass Spillway that serves both purposes. Its all going to come down to how this next storm plays out and if it's cold enough to fall as snow to give them more time to drop the level low enough fast enough to take on the next surge.

 

[Kurtr]

That next storm looks like it could be a doozy. if that all falls as rain it will be interesting to see the results

 

[dust in the wind]

kcra live chopper feed at the dam now.

https://www.facebook.com/KCRA3/videos/10155028139416514/

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a couple screen grabs from the live feed.





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[Kurtr]

this was in 2015 that is crazy how much water there is now

 

[dean nelson]

Can you imagine how loud that spillway is!

 

[Allen]

I seriously doubt they will pave the emergency spillway in this case, but they may shape it. It does not look like there's much of a shape to what was there already. Wide and flat is preferred. They are left grassy intentionally with the understanding that it will erode when in use and require dirt work to fix it, but this thing looks like a braided stream to begin with and that ain't good.

 

[DirtyMike]

this was in 2015 that is crazy how much water there is now

Anyone else wishing they would have been making waypoints when the water was low on sakakawea. That's what I think of when I see this picture.

 

[deleted_account]

this was in 2015 that is crazy how much water there is now

dang is that crazy!

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Pretty country too

 

[Kurtr]

I know when a guy thinks of cali you forget the northern part is really nice. If they do leave we should not let them have that part