State officials said Wednesday the damaged Oroville Dam flood-control spillway is ready for the rainy season, and will be able to fully blast water down its half-mile long concrete chute for the first time in nearly two years if lake levels rise.
Work on the adjacent emergency spillway is ongoing.
Both the main and emergency spillways that allow the dam to release water to prevent overflowing were severely damaged by heavy rains in February 2017. A massive crater erupted in the main flood-control spillway, and the never-before-used emergency spillway failed. The crisis at America’s tallest dam triggered the frantic evacuation of 188,000 Sacramento Valley residents as fear mounted that the structure could burst.
The Department of Water Resources said it has largely completed the $1.1 billion reconstruction and recovery project prompted by that near-disaster.
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