California Drought

[aczlan]

I haven't seen one post predicting the dam failing. There are many concerns that the lake could indeed drain from a failure of the emergency spillway, and cut a new channel right there.

Might want to check your posting history on that one...

Looks like the Orville dam has failed. Anyone watching this.... Water has migrated around dam completely and is draining the lake 3/4 of the way below the emergency spillway. Just time now. If main spillway can't drain lake quickly enough and there's not much chance of that now, there's going to be a catastrophe.

Hey look, another one right after this post:

No matter what happens now this dam has failed. No electricity, no drinking water, no flood control, hundreds of millions in repairs, it's already a unmitigated failure.

Aaron Z

 

[houstonscott]

No matter what happens now this dam has failed. No electricity, no drinking water, no flood control, hundreds of millions in repairs, it's already a unmitigated failure.

 

[bigdeano]

No matter what happens now this dam has failed. No electricity, no drinking water, no flood control, hundreds of millions in repairs, it's already a unmitigated failure.

When the runoff decreases they just have to fix the spillway and it's better than new. There's nothing wrong with the dam as far as I know. The emergency spillway may never be used again.

 

[jerrybob]

No matter what happens now this dam has failed. No electricity, no drinking water, no flood control, hundreds of millions in repairs, it's already a unmitigated failure.

Couldn't DC just build a wall around it? :laughing:

 

[houstonscott]

Couldn't DC just build a wall around it? :laughing:

Remove it, let the steelhead and salmon have it back.

 

[ForestGrump]

My point about the geology of the spillways also applies to the geology of the dam itself. It was the same geologist. So the same mistakes were most likely made. The integrity of the dam has to be questioned starting with a thorough study of its geological base. Then the materials used need to be reviewed. Then the whole thing should undergo a massive retrofit.

 

[aczlan]

No matter what happens now this dam has failed. No electricity, no drinking water, no flood control, hundreds of millions in repairs, it's already a unmitigated failure.

They should have power back in the next few days once they clean out the junk in the river (that is one reason why they have reduced the flow in the main spillway to around 80,000cfs).
The powerhouse is not flooded, the water is not leaking past either spillway, the main spillway is not eroding uphill appreciably and they have enough room in the resivour to handle the forecasted weather with room to spare...

Aaron Z

 

[jerrybob]

Remove it, let the steelhead and salmon have it back.

Or start an infrastructure project and build a 770 ft. fish ladder........

 

[ultrarunner]

The Dam is a flood control project and as a child I remember the horrific flooding that happened prior to the Dam...

Since the Dam, many people have moved into the region that were not there before so the need for flood control is more acute now than ever.

 

[jerrybob]

Don't tell HS.....he's working on another solution.:laughing:

 

[ForestGrump]

Or start an infrastructure project and build a 770 ft. fish ladder........

That would be wonderful!

 

[dickfoster]

The Dam is a flood control project and as a child I remember the horrific flooding that happened prior to the Dam...

Since the Dam, many people have moved into the region that were not there before so the need for flood control is more acute now than ever.

It is also used to store water to send south via the California aqueduct so all of those earth conscious movie stars and rock stars can have full swimming pools and so they can grow cotton in what would normally be a desert.

 

[mapper]

Or start an infrastructure project and build a 770 ft. fish ladder........

That's not very likely, tall dams require really long fish ladders. If they had built one on Grand Coulee dam it would have been over twenty miles long and required more concrete than the dam itself. The Oroville dam is taller than Grand Coulee....

 

[dickfoster]

Funny thing, since this failed Oroville dam issue got under way there has been little talk of the sanctuary state or the California secession movement. I guess Moonbeam put in a call to Mexico and found there was little interest in helping out. :laughing:

 

[turnkey4099]

When the runoff decreases they just have to fix the spillway and it's better than new. There's nothing wrong with the dam as far as I know. The emergency spillway may never be used again.

Yep. I haven't seen one report in the news about power failures, lack of water, etc. I did see on where they were having to clear debris away from the turbine intakes though, not unusual for the amount of water coming into the lake.

 

[jerrybob]

That's not very likely, tall dams require really long fish ladders. If they had built one on Grand Coulee dam it would have been over twenty miles long and required more concrete than the dam itself. The Oroville dam is taller than Grand Coulee....

You do realize the fish ladder comment was a joke.....right?

 

[California]

... they were having to clear debris away from the turbine intakes...

Actually, clearing the outlet pool downstream, not upstream. All that erosion filled the outlet channel and raised the level at the turbine outlet so high that they had to shut down the turbines. When they get that downstream channel cleared they can run the turbines to help lower the reservoir level, as well as generating electricity again. I think the numbers are 13k cfs through the turbines. For comparison 100k cfs was going down the spillway for a few days (now reduced to 80k), and the uncontrolled overtopping of the emergency spillway was some 12~13k cfs.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Backside of the spillway today.

 

[Raspy]

View attachment 499165
Backside of the spillway today.

That is a good picture. Hasn't anyone at the dam come up with some original drawings that show how that wall is built and secured to the base rock? It can't just be sitting there on dirt.

 

[bcp]

That is a good picture. Hasn't anyone at the dam come up with some original drawings that show how that wall is built and secured to the base rock? It can't just be sitting there on dirt.

Maybe in here somewhere:

Oroville Dam photos

Bruce