re: Largest Dam in the Country at risk to fail EDIT- no immediate danger

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I didn't see this posted elsewhere, but is the failed concrete lined spillway fed from the turbines in the dam? Or is there a third discharge point that hasn't been mentioned yet?

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Not 100% sure on this but I think the normal flow process is through the actual dam turbines which are cut off right now so the only flow of water is through the spillway/emergency spillway

Good point, canyon is like V, not a U. Didn't think of that.

Guess there's a main discharge area close to the dam, since it's used for electrical generation. But out of all the pictures I've seen, I haven't seen anything close to the dam that looks like a main discharge.

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the actual dam turbines which are cut off right now so the only flow of water is through the spillway/emergency spillway

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why are the turbines not in use?

From what I've been able to follow, they have failed for some reason. Unsure of the reason why.

Two items:

1)

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Meanwhile, debris from erosion also forced the state Department of Water Resources, the dam’s operator, to shut down its power plant, which could have helped to release some additional water.

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I am guessing when the main spillway failed it must have brought some rocks onto some electrical equipment.

2)

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Dam operators can’t control the weather, but they can try to prepare for unexpected events like the sudden inundation of Lake Oroville with consistent maintenance. One question in this case is whether the Oroville Dam has been adequately maintained.

In 2005, a trio of environmental groups filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, saying the emergency spillway was unsafe, The Mercury News reports. Their worry proved prophetic: The groups said in the event of heavy rain and flooding, the hillside would wash out and produce flooding downstream. They asked that the auxiliary spillway be paved with concrete, like the primary one. But the federal government rejected the request after consulting with the state and local agencies involved in the water system, which said they did not believe the upgrades were needed.

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LINK

Obviously worst case scenario, but here is an inundation map should the dam breach

this whole thing is an epic clusterfrick

Well, not as quickly as it had been getting worse

but yeah,, the way erosion works and more rain expected
it hasn't gotten better

yep
two years ago, it was dry up to the dam itself. the "lake" was quite a ways back.

I just watched weather on TV. they predicted 5 to 8 inches of rain in the 4 days beginning wednesday for the area that drains into the lake. Since the lake rose 200 feet in a week last week, we may be looking at overtopping and possible erosion of the mountain on the side of it. They will have some tough decisions to make.

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Since the lake rose 200 feet in a week last week, we may be looking at overtopping and possible erosion of the mountain on the side of it

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This is going to be interesting to watch to say the least.