Assemblymember Levine’s Legislation Will Help Prevent Another Oroville Flood Emergency

Levine’s bill will require physical inspections of essential water infrastructure and updating outdated manuals.

(Sacramento) – Assemblymember Marc Levine (D-Marin County) plans to introduce a bill that requires the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to perform annual physical inspections of all auxiliary spillways at DWR managed dams and update procedures and manuals for operating the dams. The legislation ensures that when reservoir emergencies occur Californians living downstream will be confident emergency systems will work as planned.

The Oroville Dam main spillway failed when extreme erosion caused damage to the lower half of the concrete spillway. Days later, heavy erosion caused the emergency spillway to fail and created a dangerous situation for residents. The emergency spillway failed after just 12,600 cubic feet per second of water was discharged, less than 10% of the emergency spillway’s capacity. Despite the initial damage, DWR engineers were able to increase the discharge from the main spillway which avoided a disaster.

About 200,000 Californians were evacuated during the emergency and repair costs are expected to reach $200 million.

In 2005, environmental groups warned regulators that the emergency spillway was at risk for failure. Since that warning, inspectors performed an annual visual inspection, and consistently deemed the spillway ‘stable appearing’. Additionally, the Oroville Dam has been operating under manuals that have not been updated since 1970, two years after the dam’s construction. These manuals contain important hydrologic information that guides how dam operations should be managed and when water should be released. Without updates, the dam is being operated under outdated climate models.

In January 2015, Assemblymember Levine, as then Chair of the Assembly Water Parks and Wildlife Committee, convened an oversight hearing entitled “California’s Flood Control Planning and Infrastructure.” The hearing focused on the implementation and funding of public agencies that are responsible for ensuring Californians are protected from flooding. During the hearing, panelists detailed the need for funding of drought infrastructure, such as the maintenance of dams and levees.

“Visual inspections and outdated manuals are not good enough when the potential failure put people’s lives in danger, causes the evacuation of 200,000 people and places California’s water supply at risk,” said Assemblymember Levine. “As California’s water infrastructure ages, the Department of Water Resources must take annual inspections of vital infrastructure seriously because people’s lives are at risk.

Assemblymember Marc Levine represents the 10th Assembly District which includes Marin and Sonoma Counties.