Oroville Dam's 'green spot' raises new worries that the nation's tallest dam could be a breach

[WB Staff]

Oroville Dam's 'green spot' raises new worries that the nation's tallest dam could be facing a breach

California officials are concerned that a large 'green spot' on the Oroville Dam may mean that it is leaking roughly five months after it overflowed due to the spillway failing.

The Oroville Dam Advisory Group, a 15 member team at UC-Berkeley researching what caused the spillway crisis as part of the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management, have spent months researching the green spot located on the southern end of the dam.

Risk management expert Robert Bea, who has been recognized by the U.S. Senate for his review of disaster management following Hurricane Katrina and the devastating BP oil spill, co-authored a 124-page report about the spot.

He wrote that the documented images of wet spots and vegetation near the left abutment on the backside of the structure suggest that it could be facing a breach danger from a slow motion leakage failure.
The green spot has been discussed at community meetings over the last few months where officials with California's Department of Water Resources (DWR) have stated it is due to rain, vegetation, or is a natural spring, according to The Mercury News.

But Bea disagrees with DWR officials about the green spot and said those claims are problematic, as the green area has been present during the drought and not just wet periods.

Link for Photos, Videos and to Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z4oLlhX1JG

[MT]

DWR says it could be a "spring". Give me a break. These agencies will say anything and it's obvious they think the public is just stupid. They better get off their *** and and fix this.

[Otay Michael]

[mark poulson]

DWR says it could be a "spring". Give me a break. These agencies will say anything and it's obvious they think the public is just stupid. They better get off their *** and and fix this.

What he said!

[WRB]

The only spring that could be on the face of a dam is it's springing a leak!
The only way to fix this is lowering the water level below the leaking area, over 1/2 way down.
Tom

[Mitch]

The only spring that could be on the face of a dam is it's springing a leak!
The only way to fix this is lowering the water level below the leaking area, over 1/2 way down.
Tom

Well, the way the water situation is managed in this state, that'll be next year cause they'll take the lake down that much anyway !! But then, there won't be any money to spend on repairs due to the "High Speed Drain, oops, Train" !!

[mark poulson]

The only spring that could be on the face of a dam is it's springing a leak!
The only way to fix this is lowering the water level below the leaking area, over 1/2 way down.
Tom

The problem with earth fill embankment dams is that there is no way to be sure the leak on the outer face is coming directly in line with it on the inner face.
Just like an artesian spring can flow uphill in a rock formation until it finds a outlet, water in an earth fill dam can enter at an entirely different point than it exits, flowing along an inner channel until it finds a weak point to exit. The actual leak could be a long way away from, and even lower, than the visible leak on the outer face.

Here's a great article about the problem:

http://www.catholic.org/news/green/story.php?id=74879

Long story short, they need to get on this quickly, before it becomes a catastrophe.

[gabuelhaj]

Stick the twin tunnels there. Problem solved free of charge.

Good luck!

[WB Staff]

DWR released 28 page assessment ofthe vegetation area on the face of the Oroville Dam

This report documents the history and impact of vegetation occasionally visible on the face of Oroville Dam. The report
summarizes information collected during original construction and design of the dam, as well as ongoing performance
monitoring information regarding seepage collected over five decades since construction.

http://www.westernbass.com/forum/dwr-as ... 10521.html

[mark poulson]

DWR released 28 page assessment ofthe vegetation area on the face of the Oroville Dam

This report documents the history and impact of vegetation occasionally visible on the face of Oroville Dam. The report
summarizes information collected during original construction and design of the dam, as well as ongoing performance
monitoring information regarding seepage collected over five decades since construction.

http://www.westernbass.com/forum/dwr-as ... 10521.html

You will forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical. After all, these are the same folks who chose to defer maintenance on the main spillway, and just assumed that the emergency spillway was safe.