Sadly, Scott explains how this crisis was easily avoidable. The points of failure in Oroville’s infrastructure were identified many years ago, and the cost of making the needed repairs was quite small — around $6 million. But for short-sighted reasons, the repairs were not funded; and now the bill to fix the resultant damage will likely be on the order of magnitude of over $200 million. Which does not factor in the environmental carnage being caused by flooding downstream ecosystems with high-sediment water or the costs involved with relocating the 200,000 residents living nearby the dam.
Oh, and of course, these projected costs will skyrocket higher should a catastrophic failure occur; which can’t be lightly dismissed at this point.
Scott explains to Chris how this crisis is indicative of the neglect of the entire US national dam system. Oroville is one of the best-managed and maintained dams in the country. If it still suffered from too much deferred maintenance, imagine how vulnerable the country’s thousands and thousands of smaller dams are. Trillions of dollars are needed to bring our national dams up to satisfactory status. How much else is needed for the country’s roads, railsystems, waterworks, power grids, etc?
The corruption seems to be infinite.
Oroville is one of the best-managed and maintained dams in the country.
The evidence is contrary to what is stated. There are lots of dams in California alone, that have not failed as Oroville has failed.
The fact that Oroville is failing is evidence that it is *not* one of the best managed and maintained dams in the country.
No, it isn't. The evidence is on the news lately. It is in the top 100% however.