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Lake Oroville, CA, dam emergency


 invite response                
2017 Feb 13, 8:41am   18,127 views  61 comments

by justme   ➕follow (1)   💰tip   ignore  

The above reference photo gives the proper perspective. Note auxilliary/secondary spillway, far left, and the regular/primary spillway, the long concrete "waterslide" right next to it. The big earthen dam is not affected at all.

As usual, the reporting in the mass media is not very good, but from what I've been able to piece together:

At some point on Tuesday (today is Sunday), the main spillway had a significant hole/crater developing in the concrete pathway, and somebody made the decision to close that spillway to evaluate and/or repair. In the meantime, water in the lake rose quickly enough that the secondary (passive) spillway overflowed. This caused erosion below the auxillliary spillway, and raised concerns that the emergency spillway wall could fail . The main spillway was then activated again (10pm Sunday night it was operating at 100k cfps), and this has lowered the lake level enough that the auxilliary spillway is no longer overflowing. At the same time, 40k cfps was still arriving into the lake, but a drawdown of 50ft has been estimated to be needed to accommodate incoming storms and snowmelt next week.

The big question, I think, is going to be whether the initial closure of the main spillway was the right decision. Right now it looks like it was not the right decision, given that it has been reversed, but one might argue that the spillway needed to be inspected before re-opening. The duration of the closure time for inspection has not been revealed. There was some talk that the reasoning behind the decision was to ensure the safety of some power line towers that serve the dam's power station.

This is a new thread, trying to provide REAL information and links to good information. The earlier thread by other poster https://patrick.net/users/No%20news%20is%20good%20news was a propaganda thread with fake news. No doubt this thread will also be infected, but at least it starts with facts. I moved my posts from yesterday's thread to this new thread.

#oroville #emergency #OrovilleDam #LakeOroville #news #currentevents

Recommended ignores on this thread: Ironman

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49   justme   2017 Feb 14, 1:52pm  

Update from SacBee at 11:55

Oroville update: Evacuation order remains as officials want ‘100 percent’ safety assurance

Lake Oroville should be empty enough to handle new storm, hydrologist says

As water levels continue to drop at Lake Oroville, the state’s chief hydrologist said Tuesday the reservoir should be empty enough to withstand the next round of rainstorms expected to hit late Wednesday.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article132583524.html

COMMENT: There is still hype in the form of a video graphic that shows the estimated inundation effect of a dam break rather than a secondary spillway break. While informative, I wonder how many people understand the difference and the relative likelihoods.

50   justme   2017 Feb 14, 2:17pm  

Stop being such a dumbass, Ironmoan. I have called out some examples of fake news. Now you are trying goad me into saying that some real news is fake. As the elder and smarter Bush once said: "Not gonnna' do it!".

51   justme   2017 Feb 14, 5:39pm  

Ironmoan does not know the definition of hypocrisy. That is the polite way of saying it. And now I put him on ignore. I feel good.

PS: if y'all see a lot of comments I made that seem to replying to someone who is not there, those would be for Ironmoan (aka. Ironman).

52   justme   2017 Feb 14, 5:45pm  

Dale Kasler Verified account
‏@dakasler

BREAKING evacuation order lifted in Butte co. #orovilleDam

1:48 PM - 14 Feb 2017
0 replies 6 retweets 3 likes

53   justme   2017 Feb 14, 5:49pm  

Rew says

justme says

QUOTE: "Gaping hole in America's biggest dam keeps getting bigger."

Those assholes! Are they counting the spillway as part of the dam!? Who do they think they are!

You realize that the "hole" they talked about is a hole in the GROUND that has no water coming out of it, right? And said hole is not in the dam nor near the dam. There is a picture of the hole in post 2 of this thread, here: https://patrick.net/1302921/2017-02-13-lake-oroville-ca-dam-emergency?c=1380047#comment-1380047

So now maybe you realize how blatantly misleading the statement I called out was?

55   justme   2017 Feb 15, 7:55pm  

just_passing_through says

FOC: because you're calling a potentially dire situation fake news.

For the record, and I find it symptomatic of fakery that I need to say this, I was not calling "the situation" fake news. I am calling out the misleading and sometimes completely errant description of the situation.

Fake news: Martian invaders break dam in Oroville.
Fake news: "Gaping hole in America's biggest dam keeps getting bigger."

The most dangerous form of fake news is the kind that seems believable, but is actually wrong and/or very misleading. Hence the first example is an obvious fake, but the 2nd example is the dangerous kind.

57   OneTwo   2017 Feb 20, 7:37pm  

Yeah, the US didn't spend much on wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

58   anotheraccount   2017 Feb 20, 7:59pm  

Rashomon says

Yeah, the US didn't spend much on wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Or unfunded Bush tax cuts for the rich. That's the biggest government handout of them all.

59   Patrick   2017 Feb 20, 8:05pm  

tr6 says

Or unfunded Bush tax cuts for the rich. That's the biggest government handout of them all.

Yes, thanks for pointing that out @tr6

I added it as the top item in my platform: https://patrick.net/1303173/2017-02-19-patrick-net-platform

60   justme   2017 Feb 21, 4:38pm  

Continued erosion and damage at the main spillway near the Lake Oroville dam. TINA, There Is No Alternative, apparently. No mention as to whether the hydropower station has been restarted so as to offload the main spillway. There is a catch 22 here, because the erosion at the main spillway threatens power lines needed by the power station.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article133932379.html

61   justme   2017 Feb 28, 4:23pm  

It is being reported that the Lake Oroville Dam hydroelectric power station may be partially re-started on Thursday, thereby allowing some water to be released, and productively so, through the power station. Meanwhile, the main spillway is temporarily shut off for inspection and removal of accumulated debris that hinders the flow in the canal/river below the spillway.

At peak capacity, the power station consumes and releases 14 kcfps of water. It is a small number compared to the 100 kfcps capacity of the (now damaged) main spillway.

Many more details in the full article

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article135422349.html

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