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Footage of crews using helicopters yesterday to move large bags of rocks into Oroville emergency dam spillway.

The massive evacuation of the area surrounding California's Oroville Dam would not have been necessary if state officials had heeded the warnings of experts a decade ago. But defenders of Governor Brown claim that fixing the emergency spillway now threatening to collapse and cause catastrophic flooding was never a priority and that the massive rainfall that has led to the crisis could not have been foreseen. That may be true.  But it is also a fact that the state spent billions for the $100-billion high-speed rail system, and billions more were spent on caring for illegal aliens.  A tiny fraction...

Water releases from Shasta Lake are at the highest in 20 years as the lake nears full capacity Monday. The lake stood at 96 percent of capacity and 137 percent of the historical average, as of midnight Monday, according to the California Department of Water Resources. Water officials are releasing 70,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) from Shasta Dam as the lake stands just 5 feet from the top of the reservoir, the Shasta County Sheriff's Office said. "This is higher than it should be for this point in time," the sheriff's office said. "The release is necessary for space...

To make sense of the fast-developing situation at California's Oroville Dam, Chris spoke today with Scott Cahill, an expert with 40 years of experience on large construction and development projects on hundreds of dams, many of them earthen embankment ones like the dam at Oroville. Scott has authored numerous white papers on dam management, he's a FEMA trainer for dam safety, and is the current owner of Watershed Services of Ohio which specializes in dam projects across the eastern US. Suffice it to say, he knows his "dam" stuff. Scott and Chris talk about the physics behind the failing spillways...

Fast forward to about the 8:30 mark to hear the germination of the CYA seed that is sure to grow into a mighty oak. Disgraceful.

While more than 180,000 residents remain evacuated from their homes in Butte, Sutter and Yuba counties, there is no timetable as to when people can return home as water officials and engineers assess the damage and situation at the two damaged Oroville Dam spillways, the Butte County sheriff said Monday. As tensions remain high around the area, some good news came early Monday morning when water levels at Lake Oroville dropped below capacity, stopping water from spilling over the potentially hazardous emergency spillway. However, officials are still looking to lower the lake another 50 feet to less than 850 feet...

It was sudden, potentially deadly — and nothing any of the residents of a California valley town could have imagined. Nearly 200,000 people were told to grab what they could — now — and head for higher ground or face being swept away by a breach in the Oroville Dam, the nation’s tallest. Panic set in as the mass of northern Californians were forced to confront a threat of biblical proportions: a 30-foot wall of water that threatened to come crashing down on their homes. “Everyone was running around. It was pure chaos,” Oroville, Calif., resident Maggie Cabral told local...

Race to save badly damaged California dam before MORE rainfall: Second storm is set to hit the tallest dam in America in 48 hours and could cause devastating 100ft deep flood that will leave 200,000 homeless  Authorities have said they want to lower the water level by at least 50 feet before storms arrive Wednesday There are fears the Oroville Dam could collapse and unleash flooding, leaving towns 100 foot underwaterNearly 200,000 residents evacuated in Butte, Sutter and Yuba counties in Northern California amid fearsThe average annual rainfall is about 31 inches, but since October, the area has seen 25 inches...

Relative and accomplice connected to San Bernardino attack concocted illegal 'sham marriage' The sister-in-law of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook has pleaded guilty to committing federal immigration fraud in a case that came to light in the months following the Dec. 2, 2015, terrorist attack that killed 14 people and wounded 22 others. The Russian-born Tatiana Farook, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit immigration fraud before U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal. Farook, who married Rizwan’s older brother, Syed Raheel Farook, now faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for her crime. Her husband previously...

Instead of cutting excessive spending areas, anticipate Gov. Jerry Brown will propose another emergency "one time tax increase" ballot initiative, which will turn into a permanent tax increase, followed by annual proposed tax increases. California Legislators and Gov. Jerry Brown think their job is to stay in power, and that bills to further their leftist agenda are the vehicles. The Oroville Dam spillway breakage is proof of this. While Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative Democrats have prioritized illegal aliens, refugee, inmate sex change operations, building houses for the homeless, transgender bathrooms, climate change awareness, and hiring Eric Holder to undermine...

It all happened so quickly. Water poured down the rapidly eroding hillside of Oroville Dam on Sunday evening. Engineers with the state had to make a series of quick decisions to avert a catastrophic flood. When they weren’t sure it would work, the Butte County Sheriff’s Department made the gutsy call to evacuate tens of thousands of residents in a matter of hours. By Monday, state and local officials were working alongside the Federal Emergency Management Agency to determine the next steps in a still dangerous situation. This is what should happen when people’s lives are in danger, this beautiful...

LiveCopter 3 shows extremely low water levels in 2008Before Lake Oroville became so full that it overflowed the emergency spillway, the lake was a barren body of water that suffered heavily during the drought. This video was taken by LiveCopter 3 in 2008 when water levels were extremely low.

Just 18 months after many California lakes were nearly dried up, the state now has too much of a good thing. California has now seen more moisture in the last 8 weeks than it typically does in an entire year. Parts of the Sierra Mountain range have received more than 400” of snow already this season with some coastal and foothills locations pulling in over 2 feet of rain… and their typical wet season has nearly 2 months to go. San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and several other cities have recorded one of their wettest Januarys on record and an...

Releases from Shasta Dam at 20-year highWater releases from Shasta Lake are at the highest they've been in 20 years as the lake nears full capacity Monday. The lake stood at 96 percent of capacity and 137 percent of the historical average, as of midnight Monday, according to the California Department of Water Resources. Water officials are releasing 70,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) from Shasta Dam as the lake stands just 5 feet from the top of the reservoir, the Shasta County Sheriff's Office said. "This is higher than it should be for this point in time," the sheriff's...

UPDATE: Drone video over spillway added.Collapse of emergency spillway expected, evacuation orderedDepartment of Water Resources officials say they expect the emergency spillway at Oroville Dam to fail, and say residents should evacuate northward.The emergency spillway suffered erosion and could fail, according to DWR. If that happens, the water behind that barrier will comedown the hill and down the river.Flow through the broken main spillway was increased to 100,000 cubic feet per second in an effort to lower the water level in the lake more rapidly.The Butte County Sheriff’s Office reports helicopters will be depositing rock-filled containers to strengthen the potential...

No, humans cannot make it rain, stop the rain, or produce real rainbows in the sky. But we can do things that protect ourselves from the rain and get it to work for our agriculture and overall economy. And it's clearer than ever that Californians have simply failed to do those things as the Oroville Dam crisis continues to force massive evacuations and raises fears of a potential disaster. When we talk about America's need for an improved and repaired infrastructure, we usually focus on roads, airports, and innovative new projects like the Hyperloop. But we often forget the crucial...

California Gov. Jerry Brown, appealing to the Trump administration for direct federal assistance on the Oroville Dam’s emergency spillway, said Monday that he remains encouraged that the state and federal government can work constructively.

OROVILLE, Calif. (KCRA) — Crews are beginning to make repairs to the spillways at Lake Oroville, the California Department of Water Resources said. “Efforts are underway to make repairs to both the primary and auxiliary spillways at Lake Oroville,” officials tweeted. Military-grade helicopters are picking up 1-ton containers of rocks from a parking lot near Lake Oroville, flying them to the erosion scar at the emergency spillway and dropping the containers into the hole.

Federal and state officials have a lot to answer for in the wake of the Oroville Dam fiasco. They decided in 2005 to ignore warnings that the massive earthen spillway adjacent to the dam itself could erode during heavy winter rains — which it has done — and cause a calamity, which it very nearly did this week and could yet do by the end of this winter. No less to blame are the water agencies, including the powerful Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which argued that paying for the upgrades a decade ago was unnecessary. The 180,000 people...

Amature video shot today close to the dam.