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Curiosity discovered high levels of manganese oxide minerals in rocks investigated at a location called “Windjana” during the spring of 2014. Manganese-oxide minerals require abundant water and strongly oxidizing conditions to form. “Researchers found high levels of manganese oxides by using a laser-firing instrument on the rover. This hint of more oxygen in Mars’ early atmosphere adds to other Curiosity findings — such as evidence about ancient lakes — revealing how Earth-like our neighboring planet once was,” NASA reported. The newly announced results stem from results obtained from the rovers mast mounted ChemCam or Chemistry and Camera laser firing instrument....

The reservoir's water level has been reduced nearly 60 feet since it reached capacity at 901 feet earlier this month, the department saidCalifornia water authorities will stop the outflow from the Oroville Dam's crippled spillway to allow workers to remove debris blocking a hydroelectric plant from working, officials said Sunday. The Department of Water Resources said it will start gradually reducing outflows from the Northern California dam beginning Monday morning and completely halt them by the afternoon. The outflow from behind the 770-foot-tall dam will be stopped for several days to allow workers to clear concrete, silt and other debris...

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign a measure as early as Tuesday aimed at rescinding a major Obama administration water regulation and direct an end to the government's defense of the rule, a Trump official briefed on the plan said late Friday. Trump is expected to direct the Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, which expands the number of waterways that are federally protected under the Clean Water Act. The rule was finalized by the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in May 2015, and was blocked by a...

NBC Bay Area has obtained San Jose city records that show the Santa Clara Valley Water District miscalculated how much water could be safely released from the Anderson Reservoir, which led to the biggest floods in San Jose in 20 years. Mayor Sam Liccardo questioned the water district on Tuesday when the flooding began. E-mail exchanges between Liccardo's office and officials from the Santa Clara Valley Water District show water district officials badly over-estimated how much water they could release through Anderson Dam without flooding the neighborhoods downstream. View the e-mails here. Senior Investigative Reporter Stephen Stock provides more in...

What happened the $7.5 Billion Water Bond Money that voters approved in 2014? Some are asking that question today after Governor Jerry Brown announced he wants to spend $437 million to deal with California's aging water infrastructure that the Governor says is "maxed out." Exhibit "A' would be crumbling infrastructure at Oroville Dam. So, what about that Water Bond Measure? Back in 2014 California voters approved Proposition 1. The $7.5 billion dollar bond measure passed with 67% of the vote. So far, only about $177 million dollars of that has been spent. According to the Public Policy Institute of California...

Authorities have arrested two people accused of carjacking and running over a man preparing to flee when authorities ordered those living downstream from the Oroville Dam to evacuate. Butte County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday that 27-year-old Cody Bowles and 31-year-old Lucia Ripley were arrested Friday in the town of Biggs. The office says the man was loading his vehicle with the engine running when Bowles and Ripley armed with a shotgun jumped in

Tear down this dam? © Getty Images Oroville dam, the tallest in the nation, is currently in danger of structural failure. Thousands living downstream from its desperate cascading water releases are evacuating their homes in Hollywood disaster-film fashion. Something premodern and apocalyptic like this was not supposed to have happened in a postmodern California of Google, Hollywood, and Napa Valley wineries. California’s politicians and pundits in recent years of drought swore the state was entering a cycle of permanent drought (and thus saw no need to start construction on a single dam to store the rain and snow that supposedly...

Persistent precipitation in recent months have significantly improved California's drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Extreme to exceptional drought – the most severe levels – have been virtually lifted in the entire state since it first appeared on Jan. 24, 2014.

Lake Berryessa's Glory Hole is spilling over for the first time in 10 years. The reservoir two hours north of San Francisco reached full capacity and an elevation level of 440 feet Friday at 6 a.m., and began spilling, according to U.S. Bureau of Reclamation spokesperson Janet Sierzputowski. The unique spillway operates similarly to a bathtub drain

Michigan has thousands of aging and under-maintained dams that could pose localized risks. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality tells the Detroit Free Press that all but six of the state's 88 potential high-hazard dams are approaching 50 years old, the average engineered life span for a dam. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave Michigan a D grade on the condition of its dams in 2009, saying more than 90 percent of the state's nearly 2,600 dams would reach or exceed their design life by 2020.

A Look Into the Opaque Crystal Ball for Infrastructure Initiatives in the First 100 Days of the Trump Administration President Donald J. Trump's "America's Infrastructure First" plan is one of the Trump Administration's priorities during his first 100 days in office. Throughout the campaign, President Trump heralded his plan to build and restore highways, tunnels, airports, bridges, and water systems across America and promised a $1 trillion investment in the infrastructure sector over a 10-year period. Leaders from both parties acknowledge the nation's deteriorating infrastructure, and there have been expressions of support from both sides of the aisle for some...

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...

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...

Ten years ago, for the 40th anniversary of the Dec. 14, 1963 Baldwin Hills Dam collapse, Los Angeles Times staff writer Bob Pool reported: The Baldwin Hills Dam collapsed with the fury of a thousand cloudbursts, sending a 50-foot wall of water down Cloverdale Avenue and slamming into homes and cars on Dec. 14, 1963. Five people were killed. Sixty-five hillside houses were ripped apart, and 210 homes and apartments were damaged. The flood swept northward in a V-shaped path roughly bounded by La Brea Avenue and Jefferson and La Cienega boulevards. The earthen dam that created a 19-acre reservoir...

"Officials are anticipating a failure of the Auxiliary Spillway at Oroville Dam within the next 60 minutes (5:45 p.m.)," the California Department of Water Resources said on Facebook. The Yuba County Office of Emergency Services said on Facebook an evacuation has been for "all Yuba County on the valley floor." The city of Marysville and Yuba County have been ordered to evacuate, the Marysville Police Department tweeted.

<p>OROVILLE, Calif. - An immediate evacuation from the low levels of Oroville and areas downstream is ordered.</p> <p>A hazardous situation has developed with the Oroville Dam auxiliary spillway. Officials say that operation of the auxiliary spillway has lead to severe erosion that could lead to a failure of the structure.</p>

Officials say water has begun flowing over the emergency spillway at Lake Oroville for the first time since it opened in 1968 in Northern California's Butte County. A spokesman for California's Department of Water Resources says water began flowing over the emergency spillway around 8 a.m. Saturday. Officials had been hoping to avoid using the emergency spillway because it could cause trees to fall