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http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article133932379.html

FEBRUARY 20, 2017 4:36 PM

Continued erosion of Oroville Dam’s main spillway part of ‘normal process,’ state officials say

When the storms pass, Croyle said the department would turn off the water releases and work to reopen the dam’s power plant. Contractors also continue to place rock and concrete at the base of the dam’s emergency spillway.

http://www.kcra.com/article/part-of-hwy-50-in-sierra-has-buckled-collapsed/8959415

Part of Hwy. 50 in Sierra has buckled, collapsed

No. 1 WB lanes remains open near Bridal Veil Falls in El Dorado County

Updated: 6:46 AM PST Feb 21, 2017

http://www.kcra.com/article/evacuations-ordered-due-to-levee-breach-south-of-manteca/8958411

Hundreds evacuate after levee breached near Manteca

Officials halt breach, keep evacuations in place

Updated: 12:14 AM PST Feb 21, 2017

> Continued erosion of Oroville Dam’s main spillway part of ‘normal process,’ state officials say

Laughable. Idiotic. It is not normal for a spillway to be destroyed. The destruction of the spillway caused operators to reduce flow which is what led to the emergency spillway being overtopped. The overtopping quickly led to severe erosion, which led to the evacuation order.

Thanks for all the work you and others have put into this thread. It’s a great resource.

It looks like we dodged a bullet on this particular storm, but the crisis is not yet over. The main spillway is presently the only way to get water out of the dam, and it is heavily damaged.

The best way to release water is through the dam itself, but water released that way must go through the generators or it cannot be done. It will be a major job to get the generators back on stream, particularly if the early reports about the generator room being flooded turn out to be true. (Clearly reliable information about this has been nearly impossible to get.)

There may be more major storms this spring. But even if there are not the spring melt is certain to pour huge amounts of water into the reservoir. The upshot is that the main spillway MUST be used for quite a while longer.

Continued erosion on the lower half of the spillway until the spring melt is over seems certain. The information we have been given indicates this is not likely to be a threat to the dam itself.

A rarely mentioned element in all this is the nine upstream dams that feed into Lake Oroville. All of them are full. They have been used to reduce the flow into the lake, but that is not possible now that they are full. So, at least until they can be drawn down a bit, what goes into them must also come out at the same time. This lowers the margin of safety for the dam if there is another big storm.

http://www.orovillemr.com/general-news/20170222/lake-oroville-water-level-on-the-decline-brown-makes-unannounced-visit

The dam also got an unannounced visit by Gov. Jerry Brown Wednesday, even though he had earlier said he didn’t see a reason to, “hover in and mug for the media.”

His press office said he visited the command center and thanked the people working there. Photos of the visit were posted on social media, including one of him standing above the main spillway with acting Department of Water Resources Director Bill Croyle.

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris is scheduled to visit the dam Thursday, but again the media is being excluded “for logistical reasons.”

Gov. Brown Press OfcVerified account ‏@GovPressOffice Follow More W/weather & #OrovilleSpillway situation stabilizing, @JerryBrownGov thanks command ctr team, surveys ongoing work + CA flood control system