Oroville spillway work commences as evacuation remains
Authorities on Monday told nearly 200,000 evacuated residents it could be up to two weeks before they secure an eroded section of Lake Oroville’s emergency spillway enough to let them return to their homes without the threat of a catastrophic flood.
Later in the afternoon, Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale appealed to President Donald Trump to declare a major emergency for the area and by evening Gov. Jerry Brown told reporters he had talked with a federal cabinet member he declined to name.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is providing 150,000 bottles of water, 20,000 blankets and 10,000 cots to support residents impacted by the evacuation.
Still, a day after the urgent Sunday evening evacuation, officials with the state agency responsible for operating the dam remained confounded by the failure of the spillway that was supposed to be the dam’s backup plan.
Oroville Dam crisis in Northern California: What we know
As the highest dam in America, the main structure is built of 85 million cubic yards of earth and remains sound, officials say. But just over a week ago, a hole appeared in the concrete spillway off to its side and quickly grew as the surging water blasted off chunks of loose concrete and hurled them downhill.
With that channel damaged and Pineapple Express floodwaters swelling the reservoir, officials insisted the emergency spillway would be prepared for service. It had never been used before, and began to erode dangerously – leading to the concerns of a failure and the order to evacuate.
At a news conference around midday Monday, state Acting Director of Water Resources Director Bill Croyle admitted his agency doesn’t have clear answers.
“I’m not sure anything went wrong,” he said. “That system has been installed since the early 1960s. It’s been monitored, but I’m not sure what caused the damage itself. It’s designed for higher flows. Lower flows can create more energy. We don’t completely understand why this erosion occurred.”
Croyle said it could be at least 15 days or longer before the agency will be able to put a plan into place to make repairs. He said a plan has been approved, but did not go into details.
Heavy trucks were moving rocks into a staging area near the dam throughout the morning, and by late afternoon helicopters were carrying bags of rocks toward the eroded section of the emergency spillway.
Crews are filling in the erosion around the spillway with boulders and gravel, said Josh Janssen, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
He did not know the volume of rocks being placed in the eroded area. At some point, DWR plans to cover the boulders and gravel with concrete, he said.
“The goal is to replace the erosion and make it stronger,” Janssen said.
The DWR continues to let more water out of the lake at a rate of 100,000 cubic feet per second in an effort to lower the lake level to 50 feet below its capacity. That would allow room for more runoff and to accommodate coming storms, and allow the DWR to stop releases so they can make repairs to the crumbling main spillway.
By Monday evening, the lake was about 6 feet from its crest.
Most residents appeared to have heeded evacuation warnings, although some remained in towns from Oroville downriver to Marysville and Yuba City. At the news conference with Croyle, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea defended the decision to order evacuations and keep it in place.
“It’s a dynamic situation,” he said. “We need to make sure that before we allow people back in those areas it is safe to do so.”
Honea said the Sheriff’s Office is devising a repopulation plan to let people go home in an orderly fashion when that time arrives.
Speaking from the headquarters of the Office of Emergency Services just outside Sacramento, Brown pledged Monday night more scrutiny will be placed on California’s massive infrastructure network.
“We’ll get a lot of eyes on the problem now that we have a problem. And the response is big,” Brown said. “Things can fail, whether its levees or dams or bridges, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Brown specifically addressed questions about a 2005 motion to the Federal Energy Regulation Commission from environmental groups that raised concerns about the safety risks posed by the dam’s emergency spillway.
“It was not part of the record before that, at least the record I saw,” Brown said, adding he’s glad the report is being discussed.
A FERC engineer responded to the concerns in 2006, saying the emergency spillway’s design complied with the commission's engineering guidelines.
USA TODAY Network reporters Alayna Shulman, Amber Sandhu, Sean Longoria, Sarah Litz, Mike Higdon and Nathan Solis contributed to this report.
EARLIER REPORTS
Update 6:06 p.m.
Gov. Jerry Brown said Monday night more scrutiny will be placed on California’s massive infrastructure network after concerns of widespread flooding put evacuation orders on more than 180,000 people living downstream from the Oroville Dam.
“We’ll get a lot of eyes on the problem now that we have a problem. And the response is big,” Brown said in the brief remarks delivered from the California Office of Emergency Services just outside Sacramento. “Things can fail, whether its levees or dams or bridges, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Brown specifically addressed questions about a 2005 motion to the Federal Energy Regulation Commission from environmental groups that raised concerns about the safety risks posed by the dam’s emergency spillway, the same structure that failed after its first use Saturday.
“It was not part of the record before that, at least the record I saw,” Brown said, adding he’s glad the report is being discussed.
A FERC engineer responded to the concerns in 2006, saying the emergency spillway’s design complied with the commission's engineering guidelines.
In his press conference, Brown said he sent a letter to President Trump for a disaster declaration.
"The federal government has already provided quite a lot of help right now, but this will formalize our request and that will be the first toward a more permanent request for federal assistance," Brown said.
He also said he had a “congenial conversation” with a recently confirmed member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet, though he wouldn’t name the person.
“I’m glad about that but details to follow,” Brown said.
Brown said state agencies are doing “everything we can” to get the spillways repaired so people can return home.
Update 5:30 p.m.
Update 4:42 p.m.
With 79,000 cubic feet per second of water being released from Keswick Dam and another 110,000 cfs coming out of Oroville Dam, flooding is occurring in the San Joaquin Delta.
The Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services has ordered evacuations on Tyler Island and Point Pleasant in the southwest part of the county because levees in the area are "compromised," according to a recording the department posted on its website.
Update 4:28 p.m.
On Monday afternoon, Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, asked the White House to declare a major emergency for the Oroville area in a letter addressed to President Donald Trump.
"The mandatory evacuation of nearly 200,00 residents is the very definition of a disaster and with more rain expected as early as Wednesday, it is critical that we act swiftly to ensure federal aid is available to support and shelter evacuees as this crisis continues to develop," LaMalfa wrote.
He also wrote a failure with the Oroville Dam spillway would "persist for months as California’s winter and spring runoff seasons progress, and it is extremely unclear when state agencies will be able to mitigate the danger to a degree that would allow residents to return to their homes."
Update 3:55 p.m.
FEMA is providing 150,000 bottles of water, 20,000 blankets and 10,000 cots to support residents impacted by the evacuation.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency are working with the California Office of Emergency Services and the Department of Water Resources.
A coordination center in Oakland has been set up to respond to the emergency in Oroville.
Update 2:46 p.m.
Gas stations in the Oroville area are running out of fuel.
The few fill-up spots that opted remain open during the massive evacuations ordered for communities downstream from Oroville Dam faced long lines throughout the day Monday.
Motorists looking to fuel up packed the stations, causing long lines at the pumps. By the early afternoon, though, stations began to shutter as their own gas tanks ran dry.
"Everybody's running out," a man in Oroville said while leaving an abandoned Arco station.
Update 1:02 p.m.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said Monday the evacuation order affecting 188,000 residents will continue until authorities make repairs to Oroville Dam and determine that it is safe for residents to return.
“I understand there are rumors out there that it will end at 4:15 p.m. today,” he said during a noon news conference in Oroville. “That is not accurate, folks. It’s a dynamic situation. We need to make sure that before we allow people back in those areas it is safe to do so.”
He said the Sheriff’s Office is devising a repopulation plan to let people go home in an orderly fashion.
Oroville Dam crisis in Northern California: What we know
But residents anxious for a more specific timeframe will have to wait.
State Acting Director of Water Resources Director Bill Croyle said it could be at least 15 days or longer before the agency will be able to put a plan into place to make repairs. He said a plan has been approved, but did not go into details.
The DWR continues to let more water out of the lake at a rate of 100,000 cubic feet per second in an effort to lower the lake level to 50 feet below its capacity. That would allow room for more runoff and to accommodate coming storms, and allow the DWR to stop releases so they can make repairs to the crumbling main spillway.
Croyle said the DWR experts don’t know why the emergency spillway eroded after water was sent down it for the first time ever on Sunday.
“I’m not sure anything went wrong,” he said. “That system has been installed since the early 1960s. It’s been monitored, but I’m not sure what caused the damage itself. It’s designed for higher flows. Lower flows can create more energy. We don’t completely understand why this erosion occurred.”
He reiterated that “the dam itself is sound. It’s doing its job. A little piece of our operation has been impaired.”
Croyle said DWR wants to get the spillway repaired as quickly as possible. He said the clear water hitting the river shows that erosion has stopped, but the department wants to get the concrete structure repaired before snow melt runoffs hit this spring. Crews are working on removing large rocks from the foot of the spillway to make it easier for water to enter the river.
Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, said he has been in contact with the White House and the Speaker of the House Paul Ryan about the situation.
“The White House is aware and they’re making their decisions now,” LaMalfa said at the news conference.
He has not yet received a response from the White House. He said he also is contacting the Army Corps of Engineers, which has a 20 percent stake in the dam as part of its flood control efforts.
Sheriff Honea said all 500 inmates from the Butte County Jail were safely evacuated to the Alameda County Jail.
Update 12:10 p.m.
The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services State Operations Center is coordinating a massive effort in the region around Oroville and planning for a worst case scenario. So far, that scenario has not played out, but the coordination work here will continue in case a disaster still happens.
“The danger could persist for a day or two or even longer,” said Deputy Director Kelly Houston. “People should not have an expectation they would come back (home) in a short number of hours. We just don’t know, it’s very much an uncertain situation. We don’t know what Mother Nature is going to do.”
Houston said some people near Feather River and folks at higher elevation are still deciding whether or not to leave. The Butte County sheriff put out a mandatory evacuation and some people aren’t heading those warnings.
“We don’t recommend that,” he said. “We recommend making a plan to evacuate because it could be for more than 12 or 24 hours, we just don’t know.”
Emergency center staffers are looking at what they might need to do in the long term, even into next week.
“We’re doing planning here so we’re not caught off guard or surprised by anything,” Houston said.
When the state operations center calls any agency for help, they must respond to provide assistance. The center is coordinating with local law enforcement, fire departments, the American Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency and other local and regional emergency services.
Update 10:30 a.m.
Crews transported truckloads of rocks to a staging area near Oroville Dam's failing emergency spillway Monday morning as about 188,000 residents downstream remained under evacuation orders and emergency officials briefed local lawmakers on the situation.
Oroville Dam crisis in Northern California: What we know
State Assemblyman Brian Dahle tweeted at 10:11 a.m. he was attending a briefing with Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, and Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea. Officials are expected to update the media at noon.
Water levels in the lake continue to drop slowly, and had come down about 1.5 feet over the first half of Monday morning.
Those wishing to help evacuees can donate to the Salvation Army, which said it will direct all of that money to support local disaster relief.
Donations can be made online at gosalarmy.org, by calling (800) 725-2769 or by mail to the Salvation Army, P.O. Box 348000, Sacramento, CA 95834. All donations should be designated "Oroville Response" to properly route the money.
In-kind donations of clothing or other items for evacuees currently aren't being accepted from outside the affected area, the Salvation Army said.
Update 10 a.m.
Lake Oroville has dropped another 1.5 feet since earlier in the morning as officials continue to pump water out of Oroville Dam.
Officials have scheduled a news conference at noon in Oroville to provide more information. Releases from the dam are at nearly 100,000 cubic feet per second, or nearly 750,000 gallons of water per second.
They're also trying to repair damage to the emergency spillway by trucking in rocks to fill in spots that have collapsed.
Further downstream from Oroville Dam in Yuba City, businesses are also closed and lines have formed at gas stations in the area as people look to prepare for oncoming waters.
Pete Philpott, of Yuba, said he's not leaving the area yet but is packed and ready to go just in case. He recalled the time when the levees broke in 1997, at that time the evacuations were mandatory, so he and his family left.
Update 9 a.m.
Among those who've remained in Oroville despite the evacuation order is 47-year-old James Campbell.
He doesn't have a car but Campbell said he would have stayed in town anyway.
“My faith supercedes everything else and I just feel like I’ll be safe," Campbell said. "We will be fine.”
George Ayers, who's 82 and uses a wheelchair, is also sticking around town.
"I'm crippled up real bad, but, you know, it's silly," Ayers said of the evacuation order. "I've been in this town over 50 years, and I don't let too much scare me."
Most of Oroville is a ghost town after Sunday's evacuation order. A lone downtown bookstore played "The Way We Were" to an empty street.
Meanwhile, local public safety crews are also lending a hand to their Butte County brethren.
Shasta County Tom Bosenko said Butte County asked to house jail inmates from their evacuated facility.
“We were requested, of course we don’t have any room in jail. I helped Butte coordinate, calling other North State sheriffs and coordinating movement," Bosenko said.
Original story
Lake Oroville has dropped about 3.5 feet overnight after officials doubled the flows down the Feather River on Sunday.
Still, communities along river facing the threat of uncontrolled flooding remain evacuated from their homes with no word on when they'll be allowed to return.
As of 5 a.m., evacuations in Butte County remain in place and Highways 70 and 99 are closed starting about 7 miles south of Chico. Evacuations in Sutter and Yuba counties also remain in place.
The streets of Oroville were empty Monday morning, with only a few cars passing through.
The Salvation Army Chico Corps will begin providing food Monday to those who went to the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico.
Another evacuation shelter opened late Sunday at the Yolo County Fairgrounds, 1250 East Gum Ave. in Woodland.
A California Department of Water Resources spokesman said another update on conditions would be available later in the morning.
Some 180,000 people living downstream of Oroville Dam were ordered to evacuate late Sunday afternoon as officials said an emergency spillway was dangerously eroding and a failure could cause uncontrolled floodwaters to pour out of the lake.
A pair of storms are expected to hit California this week and they will be strong enough to bring anywhere from 2 to 6 inches of rain to Oroville. Forecasters anticipate a moderate storm Wednesday, followed by a “really big and strong” storm Friday, said Brandt Maxwell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Another 8 inches of rain could fall on area mountains before draining into Lake Oroville and increasing the flow of water at the dam where officials are trying to resolve the emergency situation.
“If they haven’t found something really good to do by Friday, things are going to go downhill further,” Maxwell said. “That could be a really strong storm. Not just lots of rain, but lots of wind, too.”
The storms – particularly, the one on Friday – have been on forecasters’ radar for several days and could be large enough to cause flash flooding anywhere in the Golden State.
Maxwell said the storms will hit Northern California before making their way south.
The order that came at 4:20 p.m. Sunday triggered a chaotic exodus, filling highways as evacuees headed north and west toward higher ground. An emergency shelter at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico, 24 miles north, had to open a new facility. Several other shelters were established. The estimate of evacuees is based on a USA TODAY Network analysis of populations in affected communities.
The emergency spillway had never been activated, but was pressed into service because the dam’s main concrete spillway has been crumbling since a hole developed in it last Tuesday. Both spillways sit off to the side of the main dam structure. Officials said the main structure remains sound.
In an effort to contain the potential disaster, operators with the California Department of Water Resources on Sunday doubled the flows into the main spillway, despite its bottom being largely washed out. At 100,000 cubic feet exiting per second, the lake level dropped quickly. That relieved some pressure on the emergency chute.
Read more: Threat remains at Oroville Dam as lake level drops slightly
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Reno Gazette-Journal reporters Sarah Litz and Mike Higdon contributed to this report.
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