It's rather surreal that Yuba City (where much of my family lives) is making national news. Not sure how to process it.
Oroville Dam: Feds and state officials ignored warnings 12 years ago
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Re: Oroville Dam: Feds and state officials ignored warnings 12 years ago
#12> with flows of only 6,000 to 12,000 cubic feet per second
In case anyone needs something to put that into perspective, an Olympic-size swimming pool holds around 35,000 cubic feet (1 megalitre) of water.
Re: Oroville Dam: Feds and state officials ignored warnings 12 years ago
#13Re: Oroville Dam: Feds and state officials ignored warnings 12 years ago
#14This is what California always does. We forget about what happens in a drought as soon as the rain comes, and as soon as the rain comes, we realize we forgot about what happened the last time it flooded. After the catastrophe is already upon us, recriminations fly, trillions of pixels are wasted on heavy-handed think pieces, and we forget again, only to wonder why an entirely preventable tragedy managed to find us th…
Outrage and complaining is much easier than action.
During the drought, the best thing we got for legislation to 'fix' it, was preventing people from getting water without explicitly asking at restaurants. As idiotic at this was (this accounts for approximately 0.0% of water use in California), activists rejoiced over how they were fixing the problem by having everyone 'chip in'. Meanwhile farmers continued on not even paying for the water they use (farming is >50% of water usage).
Re: Oroville Dam: Feds and state officials ignored warnings 12 years ago
#15As of midnight, the reservoir level was at 899.77 feet, and flow over the emergency spillway has stopped. If the level is above about 900 feet, the excess goes over the emergency spillway. Peak was around 902 feet. Data feed from dam sensors here: [1] Google Maps view of emergency spillway under normal conditions here: [2] Compare with drone footage from yesterday.[3] Main spillway (which has gates) is back in use. T…
The outflow hasn't changed so I'm not convinced that the flow over the lip has stopped. #armchairanalysis
The outflow seems to be the ~100000 cfs from the main spillway draining at full capacity, which they opened to 100% early in the evening to relieve the emergency spillway, in spite of the existing damage to the main spillway.
Re: Oroville Dam: Feds and state officials ignored warnings 12 years ago
#16This is what California always does. We forget about what happens in a drought as soon as the rain comes, and as soon as the rain comes, we realize we forgot about what happened the last time it flooded. After the catastrophe is already upon us, recriminations fly, trillions of pixels are wasted on heavy-handed think pieces, and we forget again, only to wonder why an entirely preventable tragedy managed to find us th…
It's a human thing. In the east-south of Spain have floods from storms almost every few years , but instead of have things prepared for those, they get the money from insurance and let everything as it was, they don't fix the drain/sewage systems they keep building in same natural water ways. So every few years happens the same and they cry every time.
Re: Oroville Dam: Feds and state officials ignored warnings 12 years ago
#17Do we know if this has the potential to flood the old ICBM complex at Sutter Buttes?
Sutter Buttes are a couple thousand feet in elevation, well out of danger even if the whole dam collapsed.
Re: Oroville Dam: Feds and state officials ignored warnings 12 years ago
#18It reads like they designed the spillway to withstand this much water, provided that the ground it rests on doesn't move. Was it a sink-hole under the spillway or the force of water broke the concrete and then created the hole?
My understanding from this accident and the Glen canyon dam accident, is that they are not very good at concrete in contact with rushing water.
In this last instance, the rushing water is eroding the dirt under the emergency spillway so it will end up forming a bridge. the emergency spillway is a mini-dam, it will just fall if it's not supported. And if it falls, the rushing water will erode the rest of the dirt, lower and lower. The worst case scenario is a complete dam accident (uncontrolled drainage of the lake) that would not even involve the actual dam.
Re: Oroville Dam: Feds and state officials ignored warnings 12 years ago
#19As of midnight, the reservoir level was at 899.77 feet, and flow over the emergency spillway has stopped. If the level is above about 900 feet, the excess goes over the emergency spillway. Peak was around 902 feet. Data feed from dam sensors here: [1] Google Maps view of emergency spillway under normal conditions here: [2] Compare with drone footage from yesterday.[3] Main spillway (which has gates) is back in use. T…
The outflow hasn't changed so I'm not convinced that the flow over the lip has stopped. #armchairanalysis
They said they want to lower the lake as much as possible to relieve pressure on the emergency spillway structure.
Re: Oroville Dam: Feds and state officials ignored warnings 12 years ago
#20This is what California always does. We forget about what happens in a drought as soon as the rain comes, and as soon as the rain comes, we realize we forgot about what happened the last time it flooded. After the catastrophe is already upon us, recriminations fly, trillions of pixels are wasted on heavy-handed think pieces, and we forget again, only to wonder why an entirely preventable tragedy managed to find us th…
While true, there has also been a tremendous amount of work done on flood control, levees and so on in the Sacramento/delta areas that flooded in 1997. Time hasn't been entirely wasted.