The main spillway of Oroville Dam — the tallest dam in the United States — suffered a massive erosion failure, sending boulders and concrete cascading down the hillside. When the emergency spillway was used for the first time in the dam's 50-year history, it began eroding rapidly, threatening an uncontrolled release of Lake Oroville. The California Department of Water Resources ordered the emergency evacuation of 188,000 residents downstream. The crisis lasted weeks. The failure exposed deferred maintenance on critical dam infrastructure and the consequences of aging federal and state water infrastructure. Repairs cost $1.1 billion.
The main spillway of Oroville Dam — the tallest dam in the United States — suffered a massive erosion failure, sending boulders and concrete cascading down the hillside. When the emergency spillway was used for the first time in the dam’s 50-year history, it began eroding rapidly, threatening an uncontrolled release of Lake Oroville. The California Department of Water Resources ordered the emergency evacuation of 188,000 residents downstream. The crisis lasted weeks. The failure exposed deferred maintenance on critical dam infrastructure and the consequences of aging federal and state water infrastructure. Repairs cost $1.1 billion.
// Source
📰 California DWR / USACE Read Full Story →ThreatMap USA summarizes publicly available reports for informational purposes. See our disclaimer.
// Incident Details
| Incident Date | 20170207 |
| County | Butte County CA |
| State | Alabama |
| Severity | Critical |
| Published | February 7, 2017 |
| Source | California DWR / USACE |