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I just hope they got everything lined up right!
Posted on 02/12/2017 4:26:47 PM PST by janetjanet998
Edited on 02/12/2017 9:33:58 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
The Oroville Dam is the highest in the nation.
July 11, 2017 3:35 PM
Why the state is in such a hurry to fix Oroville Dam
By Dale Kasler
California officials are trying to speed up repairs on Oroville Dam’s battered flood-control spillway.
The Department of Water Resources have asked federal regulators to let it demolish and replace an additional 240 feet of the spillway’s 3,000-foot concrete chute before the rains comes this fall, leaving less work for next year.
That 240-foot section originally was going to be replaced next summer as part of the two-year plan for repairing the spillway, whose massive structural problems in February sparked the emergency evacuation of 188,000 downstream residents.
Now DWR officials believe that 240-foot section, in the upper portion of the spillway, should be replaced this year to make certain the entire spillway can be rebuilt by the fall of 2018. Erin Mellon, spokeswoman for DWR’s parent agency the Natural Resources Agency, said officials want to leave little to chance next year.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article160817799.html#storylink=cpy
http://www.krcrtv.com/news/local/butte/lamalfa-requests-analysis-before-relicensing-dam/585822239
LaMalfa requests analysis before relicensing dam
Congressman sends letter to FERC
Brent Weber
Posted: Jul 11, 2017 05:41 PM PDT
Updated: Jul 11, 2017 05:48 PM PDT
WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, requesting a delay in the relicensing process for the Oroville Dam.
A longtime proponent of the relicensing effort, LaMalfa said the recent spillway crisis has raised concerns over the ongoing safety of the dam and the management of the area surrounding it. He believes a final forensic report, due to be released by an independent board later in 2017, should be examined before the deal is done.
“The citizens of Oroville, Butte County and Northern California are counting on a proper and independent review that is completed, analyzed, and made available to the public,” LaMalfa said in a press release. “We can’t let the Federal and State entities rush away from the table with a final 50 year agreement before the concerns of our constituents are met.”
In a letter to acting FERC Chairman Cheryl LaFleur, LaMalfa outlined five “milestones” he would like to see met before the Oroville Dam/FERC Project 2100 agreement is finalized.
Below is verbatim from Congressman LaMalfa’s press release outlining those milestones.
1.The independent board of consultant’s final forensic report is delivered to FERC.
2.FERC takes adequate time to fully analyze and consider the findings of the forensic report.
3.FERC issues direction to the DWR providing detailed instructions, implementation plans, and compliance requirements to address any findings of the report impacting dam operations and maintenance, safety, or structural improvements.
4.The license includes adequate annual compensation for the City of Oroville and the County of Butte for the services these local governments provide to the State Water Project by hosting a facility of this magnitude, including but not limited to law enforcement efforts to secure the dam, search and rescue responsibilities on Lake Oroville, operation and maintenance of associated recreation facilities, and other impacts.
5. A complete analysis and report determining the condition and adequacy of all recreational facilities within the parameters of the project. Required upgrades to facilities or new additional recreational opportunities must be clearly defined and supported with design and implementation plans.
“I have always been a strong supporter of Oroville Dam’s relicensing effort,” LaMalfa said. “After waiting for many years to finalize the relicensing agreement, waiting a couple more months for the independent forensic report promised for September is a reasonable request.”
In a way, the blowout failure may end up being "the" major event for CA residents in getting what is "wrong" exposed. I believe there are "more shoes to drop" that will further this exposure.
As an aside, I wouldn't cast a wide dispersion over the voters (i.e. they deserve what they get meme). A good part of areas of California are hard working "red area voters", especially N. CA (and in areas in the rest of the state).
This forum has provided information which has helped the people stay informed so they can hold the "top down" accountable. I can assure you that many have been motivated to take action.
Oroville has gathered the world's attention, including within the states. There are still serious problems that threaten this structure (gate failures, anchor tendons, 16+ foot crack in Pier 10 [gate 8], & through the dam leakage). If anything, the residents need all the advocates they can get (Trump's appointee to FERC, Congressman Doug LaMalfa, Legislator Gallagher, State Sen Nielsen, Commissioners, Oroville Strong, FOR, et al) to fight these serious issues.
Been meaning to mention that after mentioning to you that I check the reservoir stats daily, something changed on the DWR web page. Cannot find a link to the daily storage stats. In fact, the site seems redesigned and unusable.
http://www.cityoforoville.org/home/showdocument?id=14878
Pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9(d)(4), the Council will meet with the Acting City Administrator and City Attorney regarding potential initiation of litigation – one case (related to Oroville Spillway incident).
Letter to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission - MUCH more at link!
http://www.cityoforoville.org/home/showdocument?id=14878
1)The residents of Oroville and the surrounding areas deserve to know how this happened. Several public interest organizations brought up the inadequacy of the emergency spillway during the FERC relicensing process in 2005. FERC and DWR assured us that the dam was safe and could handle any foreseeable flood event. We believed this to be true. The emergency spillway was allegedly rated to 500,000 (+/-) cfs and yet it nearly failed with a flow of just 12,000 cfs. It is readily apparent that the dam safety regulators at FERC did not take the safety of the citizens of Oroville seriously. With this concern in mind, we request an oversight hearing by FERC’s Division of Dam Safety to determine how this regulatory failure occurred.
“Cannot find a link to the daily storage stats”
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This one?
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?ORO
Those "good guys" so to speak are going to either get more active (a lot of changes throughout our history including our founding have been driven by a minority of folks), leave the state, or take the consequences of massive unaccountability and mismanagement.
I think you've done a lot of good here ER help to raise awareness of the strata of not only engineering and geological problems at Oroville Dam but politically at the CA state level.
The CA government for its own sake and survival may fix this problem. But government never permanently fixes itself. It is not in its interest to do so. If at some point the people of CA don't take the ball, run with it, and force permanent change and accountability, then this all could have been a missed opportunity.
http://eastvalleytimes.com/lamalfa-requests-delay-oroville-dam-relicensing/
Full text of the letter is below:
Ms. Cheryl LaFleur, Acting Chairman
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20426
Re: Relicensing of Oroville Dam/FERC Project 2100
Dear Ms LaFleur:
Thank you to you and your staff for meeting with me to discuss the current status of the Oroville Dam and Spillway operations and reconstruction efforts. I would like to thank you for responding positively to the information I shared regarding the impact of lake levels on recreational usage of the lake, the regional economy, and California’s water supply. FERC efforts with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) ensured that lake levels remained at a level which allowed maximum recreational use and water storage, while also protecting public safety.
As you’ll recall, we also discussed FERC’s ongoing consideration of a new license for the operation of Oroville Dam. As you are aware, my office worked closely with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to ensure the last outstanding item, the biological opinion, was delivered before the end of 2016. NOAA delivered it to FERC on December 5, 2016.
Unfortunately, as we all know too well, the February failure of Oroville Dam’s primary spill and near-failure of the auxiliary spillway resulted in the evacuation of nearly 200,000 downstream residents and raised fundamental questions regarding operations and maintenance of the dam. While the initial incident was disruptive and endangered many of my constituents in the short term, it is impossible to quantify the long term economic and environmental damage to the region.
Immediately following the incident, FERC wisely directed DWR to convene an independent board of consultants to determine the causes of the spillway failure and prepare a forensic report expected to be complete this fall. This report may recommend fundamental alterations of the existing operations and maintenance of Oroville Dam.
It is with these concerns in mind that I write to you to request you delay the relicensing of the Oroville Dam/FERC Project 2100 until the following milestones are met:
The independent board of consultant’s final forensic report is delivered to FERC.
FERC takes adequate time to fully analyze and consider the findings of the forensic report.
FERC issues direction to the DWR providing detailed instructions, implementation plans, and compliance requirements to address any findings of the report impacting dam operations and maintenance, safety, or structural improvements.
The license includes adequate annual compensation for the City of Oroville and the County of Butte for the services these local governments provide to the State Water Project by hosting a facility of this magnitude, including but not limited to law enforcement efforts to secure the dam, search and rescue responsibilities on Lake Oroville, operation and maintenance of associated recreation facilities, and other impacts.
A complete analysis and report determining the condition and adequacy of all recreational facilities within the parameters of the project. Required upgrades to facilities or new additional recreational opportunities must be clearly defined and supported with design and implementation plans.
It is not my intent to impede progress with this request, but it is my duty to ensure the safety of the citizens in my district. I am certain you will agree that it would not be prudent to issue a new license until the causes of the incident are known and action is taken to ensure that such situations never occur again.
Thank you for your consideration on this important issue. Please contact my Chief of Staff, Mark Spannagel, at 202-225-3076 with any questions and send the response to my Oroville District Office located at 2862 Olive Highway, Suite D, Oroville, CA 95966.
Congressman Doug LaMalfa is a lifelong farmer representing California’s First Congressional District, including Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama Counties.
article with embedded drone video of MS and secant wall.
“Roller-compacted concrete is only going into the middle chute areas where there are extremely large holes because it is the quickest and most affordable method”
That video is from June 27th.
From time 2:45 - 3:00 ... why don’t the two ends of the “cut-off-wall” line up?
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Here is the July 11th drone video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfzseIrY0D4
The article is from July 7, five days ago. I didn’t realize the video was more than a month old.
The cut off wall lines up, it just lens distortion.
Just two weeks ago,
but those guys are busting their tails and get a lot done in two weeks!
“just lens distortion”
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OK, but I still don’t understand why they would start it
at both ends and try to meet up in the middle...
From 0:55 - 1:07 is visible a tremendous area of incompetent rock.
Good point. I guess that’s how surveyors get their kicks.
Yes, and a little later in the video is an excavator
at the end of the still intact portion of the spillway
that seems to be meaninglessly kicking dirt back and forth...
At some point, I have to assume the professionals
know what the hell they are doing and I just don’t get it!!!
The words "one case (related to Oroville Spillway incident)." seems to indicate a specific situation. Looking up CA law for the designated codes doesn't reveal any further insights (specific circumstance) other than either a decision to litigate or deciding to initiate litigation.
California Law: = = = = = = =
California Code, Government Code - GOV § 54956.9
(d) For purposes of this section, litigation shall be considered pending when any of the following circumstances exist:
(4) Based on existing facts and circumstances, the legislative body of the local agency has decided to initiate or is deciding whether to initiate litigation.
= = = = = = =
http://codes.findlaw.com/ca/government-code/gov-sect-54956-9.html
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