California’s Oroville Dam Failure — An Eastsound Water Perspective

Mar 7, 2017 | Information

In February, the Oroville Dam, the nation’s largest earthen dam, experienced a failure that triggered the evacuation of 200,000 people. Following the news, Eastsound Water undertook a review of the overflow capacity of the Purdue Lake Dam.

Below is a link to the report (pdf format) that was presented to the Eastsound Water Board of Directors at the Feb 28th meeting.

Oroville Dam Web Post PDF

OROVILLE, CA – FEBRUARY 11: In this handout provided by the California Department of Water Resources (pixel.water.ca.gov), The heavy flows from the 3,000-foot main Oroville dam spillway continues to push debris into the turbid Feather River as the concrete span further eroded and the jagged fracture in its midsection sends water flowing over an adjacent hillside February 11, 2017 in Oroville, California. Almost 200,000 people were ordered to evacuate the northern California town after a hole in an emergency spillway in the Oroville Dam threatened to flood the surrounding area. (Photo by Florence Low/ California Department of Water Resources via Getty Images)