CA - ‘Uncharted territory’ as Lake Oroville rises toward damaged dam

[CARIIS]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/d...-to-oroville-dam-spillway/ar-AAnErHT#image=23

I thought this was an amazing picture to see how "thick" the water going over the emergency spill way was

 

[CARIIS]

I was amazed when I saw this one, in terms of how much has been eroded in terms of height on the orange wall in the right of erosion field. That a heck of a lot of cement needed ??

It almost seems as if it might be better to remove the remaining spillway and let it roll?

 

[watergirl62]

I was amazed when I saw this one, in terms of how much has been eroded in terms of height on the orange wall in the right of erosion field. That a heck of a lot of cement needed ??

These are fantastic photos - thanks CARIIS!

Sent from my LG-H740 using Tapatalk

 

[CARIIS]

This was a good article IMO

http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article134918039.html

 

[CARIIS]

Scroll down to this video

Oroville Dam shuts down main spillway, crews begin damage assessment


wow -- the wide shot with the bulldozer shows the immensity of the problem.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article135252184.html

I wonder what they do when the "blob" in the middle is removed enough to where the water backed up to the power plant starts to go through the area that they cleared on the perimeter of the blob (my new name for it !).

In my head I see dredging making sense - the barges are on top of "still" water.

what happens to heavy equipment when it is on blob island (!) and water starts rushing by?

Or maybe they just do a small deep "channel" on the side of blob island and then when it all is "still" trying to remove more of blob island?.

It sounds like they have several weeks according to them.

It also sounds as if they they are saying that if they can get the power plant back up the 12,000 cfs that the plant discharges, will "handle" the runoff by itself.

I have jotted the numbers since yesterday when they turned it off and this far it has risen 6 feet in 24 hours.

At 843, so they have what 58 feet of "room"?

 

[JanetElaine]

Scroll down to this video

Oroville Dam shuts down main spillway, crews begin damage assessment


wow -- the wide shot with the bulldozer shows the immensity of the problem.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article135252184.html

I wonder what they do when the "blob" in the middle is removed enough to where the water backed up to the power plant starts to go through the area that they cleared on the perimeter of the blob (my new name for it !).

In my head I see dredging making sense - the barges are on top of "still" water.

what happens to heavy equipment when it is on blob island (!) and water starts rushing by?

Or maybe they just do a small deep "channel" on the side of blob island and then when it all is "still" trying to remove more of blob island?.

It sounds like they have several weeks according to them.

It also sounds as if they they are saying that if they can get the power plant back up the 12,000 cfs that the plant discharges, will "handle" the runoff by itself.

I have jotted the numbers since yesterday when they turned it off and this far it has risen 6 feet in 24 hours.

At 843, so they have what 58 feet of "room"?

My 8 yr old discovered the bulldozer.... I didn't even see it before the close-up.

Thanks for keeping us updated, CARIIS!

 

[SophieRose]

Here's something about the next possible reservoir in California. Last one New Melones in Calaveras County was finished in 1979. Construction of Sites Reservoir, located about 70 miles north of Sacramento, would begin in 2025 and be completed by 2029. San Luis Reservoir in Merced County, the largest off-stream reservoir in the USA, can hold 2 million acre-feet of water

http://napavalleyregister.com/eagle...cle_a25c2d0a-c0b5-5366-a214-4ca6925478f2.html

Sites Reservoir has been under discussion by water experts since the 1970s. It calls for creating a large man-made lake near the town of Maxwell that could hold 1.8 million acre feet of water. An acre foot equals nearly 326,000 gallons of water.

About the size of Lake Berryessa, Sites Reservoir would require the building of a dam, pipelines and canals to ferry water to and from the lake. Unlike other large reservoirs in California, such as Lake Oroville, Sites would be an off-stream water source, meaning it would not be created by daming a river.

Some of the state’s largest water players, from the California Department of Water Resources to the Metropolitan Water District in Los Angeles, are behind the development of Sites Reservoir.

 

[SophieRose]

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/u...umbers-millions-needed-as-drought-ends/79869/



Groundwater, the water we don´t see flowing down rivers and reservoirs, contributes between 40 to 60% to the state's water supply depending on how dry the year is.

California taps on this resource continuously, especially in the Central San Joaquin Valley, an area that contributes to 8% of the food produced in the US. This is perhaps the big dilemma when it comes to finding and appropriate answer to the drought question.

Yes, surface drought might be almost over in California, but the groundwater supply is far from reaching normal values despite the continuous deluge across much of the state.

 

[watergirl62]

This was a good article IMO

http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article134918039.html

The jagged tear in between has misdirected a portion of the powerful flows cascading down the spillway onto the adjoining hillsides, carving deep ruts on either side. But that erosion, while dramatic, isn’t undermining the top of the spillway or posing a threat to the main earthen dam itself, according to geologist Jeffrey Mount of the Public Policy Institute of California. The spillway and dam are separated by a large triangle of hillside sitting on bedrock.

The experts said the bedrock underneath the main spillway has proved more durable than the crumbly material that washed away so dramatically below the adjacent emergency spillway Feb. 12.



That's exactly what I was thinking when I saw the bedrock here in this photo. The fact that it underlies a portion of the spillway channel below the structure itself is fortuitous to say the least!

 

[watergirl62]

Here's something about the next possible reservoir in California. Last one New Melones in Calaveras County was finished in 1979. Construction of Sites Reservoir, located about 70 miles north of Sacramento, would begin in 2025 and be completed by 2029. San Luis Reservoir in Merced County, the largest off-stream reservoir in the USA, can hold 2 million acre-feet of water

http://napavalleyregister.com/eagle...cle_a25c2d0a-c0b5-5366-a214-4ca6925478f2.html

Sites Reservoir has been under discussion by water experts since the 1970s. It calls for creating a large man-made lake near the town of Maxwell that could hold 1.8 million acre feet of water. An acre foot equals nearly 326,000 gallons of water.

About the size of Lake Berryessa, Sites Reservoir would require the building of a dam, pipelines and canals to ferry water to and from the lake. Unlike other large reservoirs in California, such as Lake Oroville, Sites would be an off-stream water source, meaning it would not be created by daming a river.

Some of the state’s largest water players, from the California Department of Water Resources to the Metropolitan Water District in Los Angeles, are behind the development of Sites Reservoir.

After authorizing Holley’s office to spend $120,000 for the Sites Reservoir initiative, the council approved another $470,000 so the city could join the North Bay Water Reuse Authority.

The authority is a consortium of 10 local agencies that first came together in 2002 to expand their options for using recycled water. The group includes the Napa Sanitation District, Napa County, Sonoma County Water Agency, the Marin Municipal Water Agency and others.

Holley pointed out that Napa benefitted from joining the authority. Its sanitation district used its membership to gain state and federal funding for the pipeline that now takes recycled water to Carneros, where it is used on vineyards in place of groundwater.

By joining the authority, Holley said, American Canyon could leverage about $3 million in federal funding for new recycled infrastructure at its water reuse facility and for new pipelines to deliver recycled water to places like Community Park I and II, which currently use potable water for landscaping.



Excellent idea for reuse. Not toilet to tap, but toilet to plant. I like it!
:thewave:


Also, $65 per ac-ft is very reasonable. That's about $5 per 1000 gallons (cost to the water provider). Our average household use is about 3,600 gallons a month for a family of 3 and that costs us nearly $8 per 1000 gal. (also a surface water supply). That's about 40 gpd per capita. Still too high for me!

 

[watergirl62]

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/u...umbers-millions-needed-as-drought-ends/79869/

View attachment 111580

Groundwater, the water we don´t see flowing down rivers and reservoirs, contributes between 40 to 60% to the state's water supply depending on how dry the year is.

California taps on this resource continuously, especially in the Central San Joaquin Valley, an area that contributes to 8% of the food produced in the US. This is perhaps the big dilemma when it comes to finding and appropriate answer to the drought question.

Yes, surface drought might be almost over in California, but the groundwater supply is far from reaching normal values despite the continuous deluge across much of the state.

The aquifers get soooo stressed during drought once the surface water supplies cant meet downstream delivery allocations, plus evaporation rates from surface water and loss through the canals are a HUGE loss and exacerbate the situation tremendously.

Most groundwater systems do not recharge so quickly. Some do, like the Edwards Aquifer here is central Texas (faulted limestone karst) but most take decades. If you pump more than is recharged in a year, you are mining the aquifer. It is extremely difficult to balance all of the variables to try to maintain sustainable yields.

 

[CARIIS]

Was good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQYqHDoCugk#t=3231.462805

 

[CARIIS]

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/u...umbers-millions-needed-as-drought-ends/79869/

Groundwater, the water we don´t see flowing down rivers and reservoirs, contributes between 40 to 60% to the state's water supply depending on how dry the year is.

California taps on this resource continuously, especially in the Central San Joaquin Valley, an area that contributes to 8% of the food produced in the US. This is perhaps the big dilemma when it comes to finding and appropriate answer to the drought question.

Yes, surface drought might be almost over in California, but the groundwater supply is far from reaching normal values despite the continuous deluge across much of the state.

I have read stuff like this also, that it is really not over the (drought)it is so hard to comprehend tho!

 

[CARIIS]

[FONT=&quot]The state Department of Water Resources reports that contractors continue to remove sediment and debris below the Lake Oroville spillway. Lake levels have risen 3 feet to elevation 843 feet since the spillway gates were closed. Flows to meet fishery requirements are being met by releases through the Thermalito Diversion Dam and Thermalito Afterbay River Outlet, according to the DWR. The total flow to the Feather River remains at 2500 cfs. The operation will continue 24 hours per day. [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]California Department of Water Resources

Really good video under this headline

I turned the volume off !!:

[h=2]Oroville Dam spillway devastation, ruined hillside, clogged river revealed after water flow is stopped

It almost looks like a little video game with everything scurrying about!


Read more here: [url]http://www.sacbee.com/news/article135848418.html#storylink=cpy
[/URL]http://www.sacbee.com/news/article135848418.html#2

It won't cut and paste- dumbest headline I have seen in a bit:

"California at Risk of Flooding"[/h]

Really good
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/article135848418.html#storylink=cpy
[/FONT]

 

[CARIIS]

Mind boggling, totally. SeanD took us on a ride today ! Where the water was and is now is stunningly different-just unreal what is looked like 10 days ago.

There is a marker thing - it was at 80 feet and now it slike 60 feet.

There were TREES (not bushes !) that were gone and are now there!!

I never saw it before so to see it now compared to then is utterly mind warping.

 

[CARIIS]

Overall update

so ... the outflow is 0!! (measurable!)

I am not doing all 5 digits but here is what it is in terms of inflow hourly 15 17 20 21 17 16 19 .

Don't know enough about it to know if that is normal is the start of snowmelt?

They have one more day of sunshine , then snow the next 4 days

There is a small leak in the gates, they are going to send divers down to see if they can seal em up.

The operation is 24 hours nonstop.(trucks etc)

IN the county thus far have spent $ 14 million trying to get the roads back, with millions more needed .


Don Pedro remains at %99

Snow Melt :

Snow water equivalent = the amount of water (shown in inches) contained in the snow.

[FONT=&amp]Electronic readings from 98 “snow pillows” scattered throughout the 400-mile-long mountain range show that the March 1 snowpack held 45.5 inches of “surface water equivalent,”

[/FONT]potential for flooding due to spring snowmelt in California
evada River Forecast Center`s domain is elevated due to much
above normal snowpack.

In California, this elevated risk is for
many locations in the mountainous areas of the Cascades and the
Sierra Nevada. Some of the lower elevation regulated systems, like the San Joaquin River and its tributaries, will likely be under
additional stress throughout the spring due to higher than normal releases from the large reservoirs as they manage inflows from the above normal snowmelt volumes.


the Sierra Nevada is experiencing a historic winter

the snowpack is getting too deep for devices scientists use to measure it.

.....problem that cropped up Wednesday when researchers sought to confirm snow depth at a data site on Slide Mountain at Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe near Reno.

“We’re not even close,” hydrologist Jeff Anderson said after jamming an aluminum tube more than 16 feet into the snowpack hoping to reach the ground below.

snowpack is 212 inches deep at the Slide Mountain SNOTEL site. Water content at the site was 74.6 inches, meaning there’s more than six feet of water in the 17-foot snowpack

Snow is so deep at the equipment shed at the Slide Mountain SNOTEL site that hydrologist Jeff Anderson had to dig a pit to get to the door.

a total of about 54 feet since the beginning of ski season.

California snowpack is at an estimated 185 percent of normal for the date.

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/03/01/california-drought-snowpack-is-almost-double-normal-level/



http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2017/...rought-busting-sierra-nevada-winter/98610440/


https://weather.com/news/sacramento...behind-millions-in-damage-in-el-dorado-county

https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwac...CA.STOESFSTO.adca3a86fb256b48188fd22477ce2703

 

[CARIIS]

Here is the latest super dooper weather model !

http://cw3e.ucsd.edu/images/ssmi/download/images/Global/GlobalAnim.gif

 

[CARIIS]

California Billionaire Kieu Hoang Donates $5 Million to San Jose Flood Victims


http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/loca...lion-to-San-Jose-Flood-Victims-415145113.html

Don Pedro dam do t nounderstand says 99%

Spillway now closed, but re-use remains likely in coming months

PUBLIC ADVISORY: DON PEDRO LAKE RECREATIONAL BOATING REOPENING TODAY

http://www.donpedrolake.com/sites/default/files/PUBLICADVISORY 3.pdf

 

[SophieRose]

Here are the snow levels at the various ski resorts throughout California.

https://www.google.com/search?q=california+snow+levels&ie=&oe=

 

[CARIIS]

New Video interesting shows what is actually happening down there .

Its actually one heck of project!

I wonder where they are putting it all?

Is concrete recyclable !!

http://www.knowyourleak.com/Lake-Oroville-Spillway-March-2-2017-California-DWR-New-Video-678322.html