That “percolation” seam, the wet crack across the spillway, should have been a hint that there was something wrong in that spot. A hint large enough to maybe dig that area up, asses and then redo it. And maybe it was to some on the job, but the warning sign never made it up the ladder for some reason or another.
In a sclerotic administrative system that is the Cali DWR, who wants to be the whistleblower? You’d be labeled a sh!t stirrer, a busybody, someone who can’t ‘fit the mold.’