Rebuilt Oroville Spillway Could Get its First Test This Weekend

The quickly repaired Oroville Dam spillway is hoping for better performance this year, after a year of intense repair work.

1 minute read

April 6, 2018, 1:00 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Oroville Dam Crisis

William Croyle, California Department of Water Resources / Wikimedia Commons

According to a press release from the California Department of Water Resources, "storms expected in the Feather River basin this weekend may require using Lake Oroville’s flood control outlet spillway (also known as the main spillway) this week or next."

The Hyatt Powerplant will maintain flows in accordance with the 2017/18 Lake Oroville Winter Operations Plan [pdf], according to the press release. The plan was drafted in response to last year's emergency, when evacuations and the emergency spillway caused several days of nervousness in Northern California, followed by months of hard work, frank evaluation of the state's water infrastructure, and ongoing questions about how the repairs will be funded.

Hat tip to Maven's Norebook for sharing the news.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018 in California Department of Water Resources

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