These "accidents" could be said to set the "mood" for a potential face off over footing the bill in repair costs from the spillway failure & the emergency spillway failure/emergency armoring. (i.e. I suspect they're already unhappy from DWR's prior "accidents").
(note: this article is on earthquake safety assessment. Quote below is 14 paragraphs down).
= = SacBee Article clip:
"Any repairs or problems at Oroville Dam are paid for by the 29 urban and agricultural water contractors that buy water from the State Water Project, which include the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Kern County Water Agency, Santa Clara Valley Water District and others. These contractors, in turn, pass along their costs to ratepayers, including homeowners, business owners or farmers."
"Those costs have been mounting at Oroville Dam after two expensive and high-profile accidents."
"In 2009, five workers were injured when a steel bulkhead inside the dam blew out when two large river outlet valves were opened during a test. The valves have been inoperable ever since, and millions of dollars in repair costs are still looming. A subsequent investigation found that poor safety practices at the DWR contributed to the accident."
"In 2012, a major fire occurred at the Thermalito Pumping-Generating Station, which is part of the hydroelectric system at the dam. The fire significantly reduced electric generating capacity at the dam and complete repair costs are still unknown. The DWR recently opened bids for a major cleanup project, the lowest of which was $11.9million. Additional work is needed to get the station operating again."
"Negotiations are underway now between the DWR and its contractors to draft new terms for long-term water supply contracts. Among the key disagreements is how much the contractors will pay into a contingency fund so the department can respond more rapidly to emergencies."
The parties also are wrangling over other contract terms to finance two massive water diversion tunnels in the Delta. The $25billion project, supported by Gov. Jerry Brown, will be the most expensive water project ever undertaken in the state.
Leah Wills, a water consultant to Plumas County involved in the negotiations, said the contractors are reluctant to take on more expenses. Plumas County is a state water contractor, though often a contrarian in such negotiations because it is the only state contractor north of the Delta.
“There is no doubt in my mind this is all a big dance over how these new costs are going to be apportioned,” Wills said. “The contractors are kind of legitimately panicked. Somewhere there’s going to be this huge blank check that lands in their laps.”
= = = end clip More at link:
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article2584322.html#storylink=cpy