SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California will order an overall safety review of the nation’s tallest dam to pinpoint any needed upgrades in the half-century-old structure, water officials said Wednesday, launching the kind of overarching review called for by an independent national panel of experts in September following the collapse of two spillways at Oroville Dam.
Experts from the national Association of State Dam Safety Officials and the U.S. Society on Dams concluded state officials would have been able to catch the problems that led to the collapses if they had reviewed the 1960s’ design and construction of the dam using modern engineering standards.
Federal, state and private experts will work on the comprehensive review of the 770-foot (235-meter) dam, said Joel Ledesma, deputy director of the State Water Project at the California Department of Water Resources, which operates the structure.
Authorities ordered the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people downstream in February when both spillways suddenly began crumbling. The feared releases of water did not occur, and authorities allowed residents to return to their homes within days.
