The dam I am most familiar with is the one I grew up around.
This is Sinclair Dam forming Lake Sinclair between Milledgeville and Eatonton, Georgia.
It was built in 1954 by Georgia Power as a hydro dam,
Mama and Daddy took me out there on weekend picnics to watch the lake fill up.
There are 24 flood gates in the old river bed that can drain the entire 15,000 acre lake.
The generation capacity is to the left of the gates,
behind a wall discharging into what we always called the "tail race"
which was a great fishing spot, by the way.
I have stood downstream and watched when 12 of the 24 gates were wide open
(every other one) and it looked liked a flood of biblical proportions.
But, my point is, the energy that was captured here could be neutralized.
I do not see any way to do that at the Oroville Dam.
"I have stood downstream and watched when 12 of the 24 gates were wide open (every other one) and it looked liked a flood of biblical proportions.
Yes, Oroville's Dam location, massive size/elevation & reservoir to flood control inlet elevations, creates a very significant energy potential. The hydro plant is not designed to handle an emergency situation to "neutralize" an accumulated reservoir head.
btw- Sinclair Dam is a perfect example -to compare to Oroville's ES specs- of a flood control gate structure designed for a total combined 240,000 cfs flow capacity (each gate is rated at/near 10,000 cfs). [Technically, the flood control gates would lower the lake/reservoir to the height of the lowest elevation of the flood control gate inlets. The hydro plant inlet is lower and its flow would further "lower the lake" below the flood gate inlets.]
Twice of what you saw flowing is 10,000 cfs short of Oroville's specified ES rating of 250,000 cfs. Imagine the hydraulic armageddon of the hillside and undermining of the Weir at the existing Oroville ES design...,
Back to Lake Sinclair...
From your description, the topology of the reservoir indicates that a significant amount of the shoreline dimensions & volume reduction capability occur from a "gate elevation" release perspective (surface area/volume reduction to the elevation of the flood control inlets). The Sinclair Dam flood control gates have the capacity to handle, in your terms, a "biblical outflow" - in matching a combined equivalent inflow. Since you observed just half of the capacity flow (assuming the starting water head elevation was at/near max) of 120,000 cfs, just imagine twice this flow if all 24 gates were opened (I believe your fishing holes -fish- may experience quite a "ride" i.e. become involuntary flying fish).