It's Far From Over! Oroville Dam 7 Horrific Days of Rain Coming With a Quake Alert. Prepare! (Important Videos)

February 15 2017

‘It’s just another problem they don’t need to have’: Incoming storms bring powerful wind and rain. And to top things off, California is on earthquake alert. WTH!

Oroville Dam is expecting 7 days of rain so pray the Dam will hold. Keep in mind how the traffic was with the last evacuation. PLAN AHEAD! You do not want to be stuck in gridlock when the dam breaks and releases a freaking tidal wave!

In some ways, the efforts to make repairs to the damaged emergency spillway at the Oroville Dam are a race against time.

Forecasters say Monday and Tuesday should be dry. But on Wednesday, more rain is possible. And the wet weather is expected to continue into the weekend.

The rain is likely to increase water levels at Lake Oroville. Sunday night, officials were able to send water out of the damaged main spillway, taking pressure off the emergency spillway. Workers plan to make repairs to the emergency spillway beginning Monday.

From BP Earthwatch

OROVILLE DAM/HEAVY DAMAGE/FLOOD TIME LINE

From Suspicious Observers

Coronal Hole, Climate, Cali Fault Risk

The main spillway was damaged — officials say the cost could reach $200 million or more — after a series of record rain and snow storms swelled the reservoir.

After five years of drought, Northern California has experienced one of the wettest winters on record.

Even after Lake Oroville’s water level is reduced by a targeted 50 feet, water managers intend to further drain the reservoir so that it can absorb major rain storms and spring snowmelt, according to state planning documents.

The most recent 10-day forecast calls for water levels to be dropped 60 feet below the lake’s maximum of 901 feet, which would give it the ability to hold nearly 1 million acre-feet of water before overtopping a damaged emergency spillway that is still undergoing temporary repairs.

A joint plan created by the Department of Water Resources, Cal Fire and the Butte County Sheriff’s Office calls for the reduction of water releases down the reservoir’s main spillway later in the week. Water has been coursing down the damaged spillway at a rate of 100,000 cubic feet per second but will taper off to a third of that by late Friday, according to the plan.

A new series of storms forecast to arrive late Wednesday is expected to last through the weekend. Likewise, a cooling trend will drop more snowfall in the Sierra.

Officials hope to reduce the lake level to below 840 feet by next Wednesday. That level falls below what engineering documents show is normally required for flood control in wet weather. The biggest surge in water reaching the lake from the Feather Basin is forecast to arrive Tuesday, according to the planning documents.

With the mandatory evacuation order for the Feather River lifted, life in Oroville is returning to normal. As a result, the Gold Country Casino and Hotel — which has served as housing for emergency work crews — is now asking contract workers to leave by Friday so the hotel can honor prior reservations.

The workers can return Monday. The state also is operating a less luxurious emergency base camp nearby with meals provided by inmates on state firefighting crews.

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