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

[SophieRose]

[video=youtube;FvDWry39QLk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvDWry39QLk[/video]

 

[watergirl62]

Catching up again :treadmill:

Great photos CARIIS, thanks for posting!!

SophieRose, Juan Browne is amazing. Thanks so much for the link. I have only watched up to his March 1 update, but it was an excellent tour of the structures and the entire Oroville complex. Feather River, Lake Oroville and its spillways. Thermolito Diversion Pool, Thermolito Forebay, Thermolito Afterbay, the mechanics of the radial-arm gates explained, and back to the Feather River. I am guessing the 2,500 cfs discharge from the afterbay is the designated environmental baseflow for the fish and sustenance of the Feather River ecosystem. Oh! and that fish ladder!

I love the ginormous scale of the entire system. Amazing. The dancing of the dams, indeed.

He even explained the bedrock material (metavolcanics), picked them up, showed us the fractures which make them fissile and ultimately erodible and beat it against the ground for demo purposes. I have been wondering about that bedrock but haven't had time to research it. I love this guy!! I will have to hit his patreon site. :heartbeat:

 

[CARIIS]

[video=youtube;FvDWry39QLk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvDWry39QLk[/video]

Roughly in like 6 months how much of that would have melted??

 

[CARIIS]

At about 4:10 one can see where the break is.

[video=youtube;PysPHlFFFsM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PysPHlFFFsM[/video]

One thing that just struck me and is somewhat comforting is that I have to remember in looking at the entire mess, the emergency spillway did overtop for quite a while-- adding a lot to the ongoing resultant mess.
If anyone remembers exactly how long it was overtopping that would be interesting to know TIA

 

[SophieRose]

Timeline at bottom of article. Hole was discovered Feb 7, spillway shut down Feb 27.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/02/28/oroville-dam-spillway-damage/98528880/

 

[SophieRose]

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/03/...s-before-spillway-broke-show-something-wrong/

Photo taken Jan. 27 shows some type of damage or discoloration on the main Oroville Dam spillway at the spot where the structure began to break up on Feb. 7. Water had begun to flow down the spillway Jan. 13, but the amount was cut back on Jan. 20 before being increased again on Jan. 30.

 

[SophieRose]

Spillway on Feb 2, 2017

[video=youtube;ruoQUqg-g0Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruoQUqg-g0Q[/video]

 

[CARIIS]

The massive snowpack in the mountains above Oroville Dam is beginning to melt as temperatures rise and could soon test the troubled reservoir with its biggest inflows since last month’s crisis.
Managers of the state-run dam say they’ll be forced to rely on the lake’s damaged main spillway to discharge water down the Feather River as soon as next Friday.

Repairs have so far cost $100 million, through February, or about $4.7 million a day

As lake levels begin to rise next week, state officials said, the powerhouse will release as much as 13,500 cubic feet of water per second, while the main spillway will release as much as 40,000 cubic feet of water per second.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/With-snow-melting-Oroville-Dam-managers-prepare-10993989.php

 

[CARIIS]

Scroll down under the still pics to the video -- amazing video of the operation at night. The ruckus.

I wonder if folks living near there hear the nonstop cacophony

Its a ruckus!

And then the daylight footage (with new shots) in the same clip -watching and thinking oh my this is really rather hopeless - it's just a wreck-- tons of water are gonna start bashing this thing up again next week , pause ............................

 

[SophieRose]

Last video of spillway before damage, taken Feb 4

[video=youtube;iE8y6h9Z8jw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE8y6h9Z8jw[/video]

 

[CARIIS]

Obviously, I have no idea what is going on, but yesterday (3 hrs) was the first time, and now the last 7 hours no data on anything? in out height nothing ---

I do not like this ha!!

 

[SophieRose]

A storm/storms appears to be coming in next Monday. Rain and snow predicted for Lake Tahoe for a week, temps in the 40s in the day, 20s in the night. Right now temps there are in the 50s/low 60s in the day, 30s in the night. I read they are hoping to release water down the spillway by Mar 17.

 

[pandamonium]

Scroll down under the still pics to the video -- amazing video of the operation at night. The ruckus.

I wonder if folks living near there hear the nonstop cacophony

Its a ruckus!

And then the daylight footage (with new shots) in the same clip -watching and thinking oh my this is really rather hopeless - it's just a wreck-- tons of water are gonna start bashing this thing up again next week , pause ............................

Yes, they can hear the noise. Lol
Trucks, helicopters. It's become so normal that it's almost more noticeable when the noise subsides or stops.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[Betty P]

Wow! Thanks for the updates everyone. I hope they get enough work done on it before they need to use it again.

 

[Indy Anna]

Yes, they can hear the noise. Lol
Trucks, helicopters. It's become so normal that it's almost more noticeable when the noise subsides or stops.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

Sounds like pandemonium. :wink:

 

[Indy Anna]

Wow! Thanks for the updates everyone. I hope they get enough work done on it before they need to use it again.

They sure have their work cut out for them (literally). I hope it doesn't seem as hopeless to them as it looks to me.

 

[CARIIS]

Urgent effort to control outflows from Lahontan reservoir



Anyone figure out if this is upstream from Orville mess?

Or can impact situation in Orville

• Heavy Sierra snowpack means projects are racing peak snowmelt

they’re in a race to prevent snowmelt from the glimmering Sierra Nevada from topping spillways at the rim of the desert reservoir.

major flooding from the channel could affect hundreds of homes.

working urgently to accommodate the expected deluge from the Sierra Nevada.
There’s an estimated 500,000 to 700,000 acre-feet of water in the Carson River Basin snowpack that will eventually make its way down the river.
If dam operators can safely lower the lake to about 130,000 to 170,000 acre-feet, a process that could take three weeks, “we won’t have any problem,” Solinsky said.

increased from about 4,400 acre-feet to more than 240,000 acre-feet.
​

(199.9 mi)

http://www.ktvn.com/story/34619224/water-to-be-diverted-into-fallon-desert

http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2017/03/13/nevada-dam-race-against-sierra-snowmelt/99148816/

 

[CARIIS]

Its getting close, to opening - I hope they go REAL slow , like 8 hours slow ! Let them see where the water is going, anything shifts etc etc

IMO, this is like last call at 2!!

 

[CARIIS]

Amazing town meeting

https://www.periscope.tv/MyAmerica120/1DXxyrOlQayKM?

well there goes the notion of starting slow

sounds like they are gonna do 50K cfs

Your gonna need to cut paste dont know why!

 

[Betty P]

Amazing town meeting

https://www.periscope.tv/MyAmerica120/1DXxyrOlQayKM?

well there goes the notion of starting slow

sounds like they are gonna do 50K cfs

Your gonna need to cut paste dont know why!

So they're just going to let it flow into the broken spillway? I suppose they have no choice. I realize a lot of people are complaining that the spillway wasn't properly maintained, but I hope they also realize that it costs tax dollars to do that. Every time people complain and vote for tax cuts, these are the kind of projects they're cutting. All our personal budgets are stretched thin these days, but lots of wealthy folks and giant corporations pay little or no taxes. Contrary to claims, tax cuts for big corporations don't create jobs, just budget deficits. These citizens should be protesting to demand everyone pay a fair share of taxes to support maintenance of infrastructure.