Posted on 02/14/2017 6:09:46 AM PST by Mariner
Quick calculations showed that 100k cfs output would drain the reservoir in 17 days with no inlet flow.
The Feather River below the Dam is supposedly designed to handle 200k cfs.
The last two rain fall events did make the reservoir jump 50 ft over just a couple of days. As the res is essentially full, outlet flow will have to necessarily have be equal to the inflow at this time.
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/plotDaily2?staid=ORO&end_date=14-Feb-2017+00:00
If for nothing else to show that climate "control" is a farce. Mother Nature has her own plans, and this time, she seems hell-bent on showing it to the enviro-wackos in California.
FYI, the largest above-ground reservoir in Santa Clara county (Anderson Reservoir) had been releasing water at a rate of 10 million gallons an hour because the reservoir is not supposed to be above 68% of capacity because of earthquake concerns. It is believed it could fail in a 7.2+ earthquake. An earlier report from a couple of days ago had the level above 91% of capacity. What's not being talked about is how long has the state known this.
Praying for a good outcome for them.
Also, the 100k cfs is net; right now there's limited inflow. However, I saw something posted that the expected inflow from the incoming storm will be in the range of 200k cfs. If the water level rises to where it's going back over the emergency spillway, this baby is completely FUBARed.
The erosion that has already occurred under the emergency spillway was from only a nominal overflow on Sunday. Since that section is already weakened, any further back cutting could compromise that section to the point of possibly losing 20' or more.
That kind of surge would wipe out everything below - which is why the evac order is still in place. The key is whether or not the primary spillway can continue to handle 100k cfs without back cutting towards the actual dam structure itself.
The reservoir volume for each foot of water level is not a constant.
The Controlled Spillway only functions down to a certain reservoir level.
There is apparently a hydro power plant that can use water to a much lower reservoir level.
The lake is 900 feet deep.
You can always read the book that outlines what can go wrong. Engineers have known about the risks of large dams like this for a very long time.
Astute observation! California has been illustrating that book with plenty of real-world examples for the past thirty years!
Many of our high travel roads are in very bad shape. Rte 37 from I80 east in Vallejo to 101 in Marin county is a prime example.
Highway 37 in Novato at Highway 101 has been closed for about three weeks this winter because of flooding.
Persistently swamped Highway 37 — historically a sore spot for motorists — is rapidly becoming one of the Bay Area’s most pressing issues as heavy storms keep rolling through this winter, forcing repeated closures of a crucial transportation link.
The peculiar highway, which looks more like a rural farm road in places, connects the North Bay to the East Bay by cutting through wetlands and hay fields along the northern shore of San Pablo Bay. Wine Country day-trippers use it, as do drivers headed to Sonoma Raceway and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo.
The increasingly popular artery, which was shut down for much of last week, has been closed for about three weeks this winter because of flooding.
Excerpt : Go to the link below for full story: http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/In-demand-but-increasingly-swamped-Highway-37-10927495.php
100 miles upstream from where the Feather River joins the Sacramento river is Shasta Dam.
It’s 96% full.
They have to start releasing a large volume of water soon.
Yep - Don Pedro is looking rough, too. The government of California has been criminally negligent in their waste of public resources. Should things go catastrophically wrong over the next week, I hope the extremely conservative citizens of northern California file a Federal lawsuit to bring the entire leadership of that wretched state to justice.
If that spillway had not broken, they would be draining close to 180,000 cfs right now, and much of Oroville will be under water anyway.
We COULD fix Oroville dam and others that are in bad shape, but at this time we NEED the money to build Jerry Brown’s “high speed” rail line that will sooner or later run from somewhere you never heard of to somewhere else you never heard of. Trust me, this not especially speedy “high speed” rail will be so amazingly fantastic that, despite its non-existent ridership, everyone will soon forget about any huge disasters that occur because a few unmaintained dams crumble when they get full.
“If that spillway had not broken, they would be draining close to 180,000 cfs right now, and much of Oroville will be under water anyway.”
Shasta is 96% of capacity and will likely have to increase releases from 49,000cfs to 150,000cfs to maintain the integrity of that structure. Perhaps even 200,000cfs.
When combined with the 100,000cfs coming out of Oroville that’s more than the Sacramento River can handle and levees from Yuba City through the Delta are at risk. Already a couple of islands in the delta have been evacuated due to levee failure. The Sacramento River through downtown Sacramento is only two feet below flood stage, and roaring.
All we hear from the State is “Current projections show no issues”. They are assuming a constant flow of 49,000cfs from Shasta.
Friggin’ laughable. Millions are believing them.
Steve Paulson, the morning weather guy onFOX Channel 2 Bay Area was the first to alert this area last week re what was happening at Lake Oroville.
It is obvious that he is being monitored controlled by the liberals who control that station.
This morning, he has been mentioning the snow pack in the mountains above Lake Oroville and how snow melt will impact the dam.
He has talked about the incoming storm dropping 6 to 12 inches of rain from late Wednesday until the storm passes.
Also, the inflow to the lake according to Steve, this morning is about double what it was last night.
Steve and the head weather guy at channel 2, Dr Bill Martin are local guys. They know this area, and Dr Bill is geologist as well as a meterologist.
I would really like to share a bottle of good red wine and some grilled steaks and other grilled goodies with these two guys and find out what they feel could happen.
Uh no.
Anyone who is aware of the potential scenarios there; knows this is a very big deal.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
