Crews continue to repair erosion areas with a concrete mixture over large rocks below the Lake Oroville emergency spillway. (Ryan McKinney / California Department of Water Resources,)
Update, 1:45 p.m., Wednesday, March 23: Nearly six weeks after downstream residents were ordered to flee their homes because of trouble with Oroville Dam's spillways, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea has lifted all evacuation warnings and advisories.
Residents of Oroville were given just an hour to leave their homes on the afternoon of Feb.12. That was the day after Lake Oroville, rising rapidly after flood-control releases were reduced down the dam's main spillway, flowed over an ungated emergency weir. Severe erosion on the slope below raised concerns that the emergency structure would collapse and unleash a catastrophic flood down the Feather River.
Residents as far as 35 miles downstream were told to leave immediately, and an estimated 180,000 people in Butte, Sutter and Yuba counties were under evacuation orders. They were cleared to return home Feb. 14, but Butte County had remained under an evacuation advisory while the California Department of Water Resources worked to lower Lake Oroville, shore up the emergency spillway and clear a mountain of debris from the adjacent river channel. The blocked river channel had shut down the dam's hydroelectric power plant and further limited managers' ability to release water from the reservoir.
Wednesday, Sheriff Honea said he was satisfied with the progress of the DWR's work, which has employed an army of contractors and cost something on the order of $200 million to date.
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In a statement, Honea acknowledged that the evacuation had been chaotic. Residents complained about not being notified they needed to leave, and there was at least one case in which a disabled Oroville resident was left behind for hours after the evacuation warning because no emergency transport was available.
"These past six weeks have been a very difficult and unsettling time for many individuals and families affected by the danger posed by fast-moving erosion to the emergency spillway," Honea said. "I couldn't be more proud of this community and the countless unsung heroes who helped their neighbors and cared for those who needed it most."
Honea's mantra at virtually every media briefing and public appearance over the last month and a half has been a request for residents to sign up for the county's emergency notification system. And despite lifting the evacuation advisory, county officials are working on developing new evacuation plans in case of a future emergency.
The county has designated 11 new flood evacuation zones, complete with assembly points and emergency departure routes, along the Feather River from Oroville to the town of Gridley. Officials are holding informational meetings in each zone.
The potential for future trouble with the Oroville Dam was highlighted in a report from a board of experts appointed to review the situation at the facility and oversee the process of repairing or rebuilding the spillway.
The report, obtained earlier this week by The Associated Press, says dam managers are facing a "very significant risk" if the main spillway is not operational in time for this fall's rainy season. The panel also said it's "absolutely critical" to avoid further flows over the emergency weir and down the hillside below.
The Department of Water Resources has placed thousands of tons of rock in eroded sections of the eroded hillside, "armored" sections of the slope with concrete, and built a series of walls and check dams to slow any flow of water down to the river channel below.
The current operational status of the spillway and reservoir: Releases down the damaged concrete structure continue at about 40,000 cubic feet per second. Water is also being released through two of the five operational units in the dam's hydroelectric plants, for a total flow of about 45,000 cfs.
DWR officials said when flows were resumed down the main spillway last Friday that they intend to lower the lake's surface elevation to between 835 and 838 feet above sea level. That would represent a drop of 26 to 29 feet from last week and would put the lake level 63 to 66 feet below the now-dreaded emergency weir. The agency said it plans to shut down spillway releases at that point to allow resumption of preliminary work to repairing or replacing the structure.
One aspect of that work started this week, with crews drilling for rock and soil samples near the spillway to assess underlying conditions.
Flood-control releases down the main spillway are just one part of the equation determining how fast the lake level drops, of course. The other principal factor is the amount of water flowing into the lake from the Feather River watershed, or "inflow."
Inflow peaked during the February spillway crisis at about 190,000 cfs. After a long run of mostly dry, clear and cool weather in the first half of March, it fell and leveled off between 15,000 cfs and 20,000 cfs. Now, with a series of storms marching through Northern California, inflow has periodically risen into the 45,000 to 50,000 cfs range -- meaning the lake's level has fallen very slowly, and some hours not at all, during the last several days.
One more big storm is expected in the week ahead -- a cold system that DWR forecasters say could drop 2 to 3 inches of rain or its snow equivalent on the Feather River basin over the weekend. Back to top.
Update, 1:45 p.m. Friday, March 17: The Department of Water Resources has reopened the Oroville Dam's badly damaged main spillway to make room for an expected surge of runoff amid a return of stormy weather and the onset of the spring runoff season.
The flow of water resumed down the spillway just after 11 a.m. Friday. Bill Croyle, the agency's acting director, said during a media briefing that flows would be increased to 50,000 cubic feet per second during the day. He said managers aimed to lower Lake Oroville, the state's second-largest reservoir, from its current surface level of 864 feet above sea level to between 835 and 838 feet. That would be 63 to 66 feet below the level of the dam's emergency spillway, which overflowed Feb. 11 and triggered a mass evacuation of Oroville and other communities along the Feather River.
Croyle said the relatively high rate of flow from Lake Oroville into the Feather River will continue for five or six days, depending on the amount of runoff coming into the lake. He said DWR would "continuously evaluate the condition of the flood-control spillway to see how it's performing, and then we'll make decisions during the week on how we'll step down from 50,000 to 40,000 (cfs) and ultimately back down to zero."
Croyle said dam managers anticipate they will have to conduct as many as three releases during the spring as snow in the higher elevations of the Feather River melts and flows into the lake.
After nearly three weeks of mostly dry, sunny weather, a series of storms is expected to roll across Northern California over the next week.
The weather systems are expected to start out relatively warm, with freezing levels beginning about 7,500 feet over the Feather River watershed that feeds Lake Oroville, then falling to 4,000 to 5,500 feet as the heavier storms move in next week. The colder storms mean most precipitation will fall as snow over the watershed and slow the rush of runoff into the reservoir.
Releases down the shattered spillway chute were halted Feb. 27 so crews could bring in heavy equipment to clear a mountain of rubble, rock and sediment from the adjacent river channel. At the same time, workers have been scrambling to reinforce what remains of the main spillway -- grouting and cementing cracks and seams, bolting sections of the spillway to underlying rock, and enclosing an eroded area at the lip of the surviving structure in concrete.
DWR says the work -- which at various points has meant marshaling a contractor army of helicopters, cranes, bulldozers, loaders, trucks and barges -- has cost about $4.7 million a day. If that figure is accurate, the effort to deal with the broken spillway and severe erosion below the dam's emergency weir has cost about $180 million so far.
DWR has advised residents of downstream communities that the increased releases will trigger a rise of 13 to 15 feel along the Feather River. That has renewed fears among farmers along the stream whose land suffered severe erosion when river levels fell rapidly in late February.
Brad Foster, who farms near the Yuba County town of Marysville, told the Los Angeles Times this week:
“My concern right now is erosion,” Foster said. “We have 100-year-old oak trees lying in the river. Everything that was there, old growth that protected the banks, it was just sucked in. … This is all going to go under water and it’s all freshly slipped material. This is all going to start eroding. We don’t know if it’s going to take the banks. … The river could actually start a new channel.”
... Foster said a 300-foot buffer zone of bluffs, trees and vegetation protecting his walnut orchard was wiped out and now the orchard sits in the path of future rising waters. Debris turned the river brown.
“I’ve never seen it so dirty in my life,” he said.
Back to top. Update, 7 p.m. Friday, March 10: To bring us up to date before the weekend:
Power plant: During the course of the week, the Department of Water Resources put all five of the available turbines at the Oroville Dam's Hyatt powerhouse into operation. The result: Releases from Lake Oroville, which had been halted Feb. 27 to allow crews to clear rock, rubble and mud from the river channel below the dam's devastated main spillway, have increased from 0 to about 13,000 cubic feet per second.
Lake level: The surface elevation of Lake Oroville, California's second-largest reservoir, is hovering right around 860 feet. That's 41 feet below the emergency spillway weir and right at the level that Bill Croyle, the DWR's acting chief, said last month the agency would consider restarting flows down the main spillway in order to maintain space in the reservoir for any incoming floodwaters. But runoff into the lake has remained modest as Northern California gets a prolonged break from rain and snow, and no new releases down the main spillway have been mentioned. On the other hand, much warmer weather over the next week in the Feather River basin could begin to melt the region's abundant snowpack and renew a rise in lake levels.
Main spillway: Crews have been engaged in patching and caulking cracks and holes along the surviving section of the concrete spillway and have also applied spray-on concrete -- shotcrete -- to a section under the concrete chute that showed signs of further erosion. That work is aimed at ensuring the structure can endure further releases without further major erosion.
Emergency spillway: Contractors continue to armor eroded areas below the dam's emergency weir, the slope where serious erosion the weekend of Feb. 11-12 threatened to undermine the weir and unleash a wall of water down the Feather River. The work now involves building a series of channels and check dams to slow the flow of water down the hill, should Lake Oroville go over the top of the weir again.
Debris removal: DWR has estimated that 1.7 million cubic yards of rubble, enough to cover a football field to a depth of 80 stories, would up in the river channel below the spillway. To get the Hyatt powerhouse running again, it was necessary to at least partially clear the channel. Friday, the agency said the army of contractors working on the job have removed about half the debris out of the channel.
Costs: A frequently asked question -- how much is this whole Oroville spillway emergency project costing the taxpayers? Here's an answer, by way of the Chico Enterprise-Record: $4.7 million a day. The details:
Regarding estimated daily cost of labor, we’re focused on emergency response and recovery efforts. It would be premature to estimate costs at this time,” DWR public information officer Lauren Bisnett wrote in an email Monday.
Representatives from the California Office of Emergency Services and the state’s Finance Department previously told this newspaper DWR was accountable for keeping track of the costs for the project.
On Wednesday afternoon, Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, said he was expecting to hear about costs accrued, as the DWR met with the Federal Emergency Management Agency earlier Wednesday to discuss repair and maintenance costs related to damage of the spillways.
Curtis Grima, Gallagher’s chief of staff, later said in an email that according to conversations with DWR officials, the estimated daily average cost is $4.7 million.
It is estimated that between 75 percent-90 percent of the cost will be reimbursed by FEMA, Grima’s email said.
Update, 4:35 p.m. Monday, March 6: The Department of Water Resources reopened the Oroville Dam hydroelectric plant at about 6 p.m. Sunday -- after suspending operations for 32 hours to allow crews to deepen the river channel downstream of the plant.
As of Monday afternoon, just one of the plant's five available turbines was running, resulting in a release of about 1,750 cubic feet per second. The water agency hopes to get all five units running soon, which would increase outflow from Lake Oroville to somewhere in the range of 13,000 to 14,000 cfs (DWR has cited both figures).
The reason the esoteric water release data is important: Higher flows through the powerhouse will allow the agency to limit the reservoir's rise as work continues on assessing the devastated main spillway and clearing debris from the river channel, formally known as the Thermalito Diversion Pool, below the shattered concrete structure.
Lake Oroville's surface level at 4 p.m. Monday was 856 feet above sea level. That's 45 feet below the top of the problematic emergency spillway, where an overflow and severe erosion prompted a mass evacuation of Oroville and other communities downstream on Feb. 12. And it's 18 feet above the lake level a week ago, when flows were halted down the main spillway.
DWR estimates the pile of debris in the channel to be a shocking 1.7 million cubic yards. That's mostly rock blasted out of the terrain beneath and adjacent to the main spillway by emergency reservoir releases that reached a maximum of 100,000 cfs after the emergency spillway crisis. So far, the water agency says, a force of contractors driving cranes, bulldozers, heavy trucks and barges has removed about a quarter of the material to spoils sites on land along the river channels. Back to top.
Update, 1:30 p.m. Saturday, March 4: Friday, the Department of Water Resources declared that resuming operations through the Hyatt Power Plant at the base of Oroville Dam marked a "pivot point" in the effort to get a handle on water levels in Lake Oroville and to proceed with the immense job of recovering from the failure of the dam's main spillway.
After hearing a declaration like that, you might involuntarily say "uh oh," when what you've been told is a big step forward is interrupted without explanation.
That was the case at midday Saturday. The power plant, which gives dam operators a way to let some water out of the reservoir and allows the closure of the crippled main spillway to continue, had been releasing a relatively modest but steady 2,500 cubic feet per second late Friday and early Saturday.
The water was coming through one of the power plant's five available turbines. DWR Acting Director Bill Croyle said the agency planned to have all five running by early next week, which would allow a release of about 14,000 cfs -- enough to minimize rises in the lake during a period of relatively low inflow from the Feather River watershed.
But Saturday, flows through the power plant stopped without a prior announcement. And that led to social media "uh oh" moments like this:
Then, just after midday, DWR announced in a press release that it had shut down the powerhouse again. The reason: Crews need to remove more of the rock, rubble and sediment from the debris-choked channel downstream of the power facility to allow it to operate full bore. From the release:
“We will dig deeper so we can fully ramp the plant up,” said DWR Acting Director Bill Croyle.
Initial flow from the plant on Friday was 1,750 cubic feet per second (cfs) and increased to 2550 cfs. Once fully operational, the plant can release up to 14,000 cfs, which is important for managing reservoir inflows and outflows through the spring runoff season.
DWR engineers have determined that further deepening of the channel will help the power plant reach full capacity and that it will take approximately 1-2 days, at which time the plant will be restarted.
We've asked for but haven't yet gotten details on how much more excavation needs to be done to prepare the channel for full operation of the power plant.
Steep banks along the river started collapsing after DWR abruptly cut flows down the damaged spillway on Monday from 50,000 cfs to zero. Releases into the river have continued from smaller reservoirs near Oroville, but the Feather River is now flowing at something like a summertime rate of 2,500 cfs.
Here's the result, Alexander reports:
With high water no longer propping up the shores, the still-wet soil crashed under its own weight, sometimes dragging in trees, rural roads and farmland, they said.
“The damage is catastrophic,” said Brad Foster, who has waterfront property in Marysville (Yuba County), about 25 miles south of Lake Oroville.
The farmer not only saw 25-foot bluffs collapse, but also lost irrigation lines to his almonds. “When the bank pulled in,” he said, “it pulled the pumps in with it. It busted the steel pipes.”
Officials at the state Department of Water Resources, which runs the dam, said Friday that they’re monitoring the river for erosion. But they declined to discuss the situation.
Update, 2:25 p.m. Friday, March 3: The Department of Water Resources halted flows down the shattered main spillway at Oroville Dam earlier this week with one purpose in mind: to begin clearing the monstrous pile of concrete, rock and sediment washed into the river channel below the spillway. That work, in turn, would allow the channel's water level to drop and allow the hydroelectric plant at the base of the dam to resume operations. (How monstrous is that debris pile? We'll get to that.)
Friday, the agency said it's making progress. The water level in the channel, which serves as a tailrace for the hydro plant and is formally called the Thermalito Diversion Pool, has fallen 22 feet over the last several days. That allowed dam managers to start up one of the plant's five available turbines, and they aim to have all of those units online by early next week.
"Pretty exciting day for us," Bill Croyle, DWR's acting director, said during a midday media briefing in Oroville. "This is a pivot point in how we are managing the inflows to the river (and) the reservoir elevation."
The crucial point there: Running water through the power plant gives DWR a route other than the partially obliterated main spillway of releasing water from Lake Oroville.
Keeping water moving down the river also allows the agency to maintain the flow of water for several fish species, including juvenile chinook salmon that have started making their way down the Feather River on their way to the Delta and the Pacific Ocean. The abrupt halt to flows from the spillway earlier this week led to the stranding of both adult and juvenile fish downstream from Oroville.
With one turbine running, about 1,700 cubic feet of water is being discharged through the powerhouse. DWR says that rate will rise to 14,000 cfs when all five available units are online.
Having that water exiting the lake will help balance inflows -- which have stayed in the 14,000-20,000 cfs range most of the week since -- and slow the lake's rise while work continues to clear rubble from the river channel and assess the terrain around the badly damaged spillway.
And now, about that big pile of debris: DWR estimates it's about 1.7 million cubic yards. A cubic yard, as everyone knows, is a cube measuring 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet, or 27 cubic feet. How much material is 1.7 million of those cubes?
Our calculations, using our handy cultural reference of a football field -- 120 yards long and 53.33 yards wide: 1.7 million cubic yards would be enough to bury a football field to a depth of 797 feet. That's a little higher than San Francisco's Bank of America building (779 feet).
Update, 2:20 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27: The state Department of Water Resources has, as promised, halted flows down the damaged main spillway at Oroville Dam. Even if you've been following the progress of this incident since it began Feb. 7, and even if you understood the damage to the spillway was catastrophic, the first images of the structure are sobering.
DWR stopped the release of water down the spillway early Monday afternoon with two main goals in mind.
First, it wants contractors to begin the task of removing a staggering amount of rubble, rock and sediment that have wound up at the bottom of the river channel below the spillway. Clearing the debris, in turn, will allow dam managers to resume operations at the hydroelectric power plant at the base of the dam, a facility that was shut down as water rose behind the blockage in the channel.
Second, shutting down the flows will allow geologists and other experts to inspect the shattered spillway structure and the surrounding terrain. That will give DWR officials a better understanding of the work ahead in designing a replacement spillway and the potential for further erosion when flows down the current spillway resume.
The amount of material to be removed from the channel, parts of which are 70 to 80 feet deep, is immense.
"There are a lot of numbers being thrown around, anywhere from 150,000 cubic yards all the way up to a million," DWR Acting Director Bill Croyle said in an interview Monday.
He said with flows down to zero, laser mapping technology will be used to assess just how much debris now obstructs the channel.
"I suspect it's going to be between a half-million and a million cubic yards," Croyle said. "But again we won't know until that mapping tomorrow."
(A million cubic yards, if you're keeping score at home, would be enough material to cover five football fields, complete with end zones, to a depth of 100 feet.)
Croyle said contractors have been tasked with clearing a channel 30 feet deep, 150 wide and 1,500 feet long to help facilitate flows below the dam.
The water level in the Thermalito Diversion Pool early Monday was about 20 feet high to allow operation of the turbines in the dam's hydroelectric powerhouse. Getting the turbines back online will give water managers another way of releasing water from Lake Oroville, the state's second-largest reservoir, as the spring runoff season begins. Back to top.
Update, 4:25 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26: Having drawn down the level of Lake Oroville 60 feet in the two weeks since a spillway emergency that triggered mass evacuations, and with the prospect of mostly dry weather for at least the next week, state water officials announced Sunday they will halt flows down Oroville Dam's badly damaged main spillway to speed up recovery work there.
The California Department of Water Resources said it would reduce reservoir releases from 50,000 cubic feet per second to zero during the day Monday.
DWR says stopping the flow of water down the main spillway will allow workers to "aggressively attack" a mountain of rubble that now lies submerged in the Feather River channel immediately below the broken concrete chute.
The blockage in the channel, formally called the Thermalito Diversion Pool, has caused water to back up to the hydroelectric power plant at the base of the 770-foot-high dam. That high water, in turn, has forced officials to suspect operations at the plant.
Flows down the main spillway were as high as 100,000 cfs -- 750,000 gallons a second, enough to supply four average California households for a year -- after an emergency at the dam earlier this month.
Damage to the spillway was detected on Feb. 7, just as a series of storms triggered a huge surge of runoff into Lake Oroville, the state's second-biggest reservoir.
With flow rates into the lake peaking at about 190,000 cfs, releases down the damaged spillway were limited to a maximum of 55,000 cfs. The result: The lake rose nearly 50 feet in just four days and, for the first time since Oroville Dam went into service in 1968, flowed over an emergency weir on Feb. 11.
The water cascading over the ungated 1,730-foot-long weir rapidly eroded the adjacent slope. Less than 36 hours after the flow began over the weir, officials became concerned that the erosion was undermining the massive weir structure -- a collapse of which could unleash a devastating surge of water. That concern led to the mass evacuation of Oroville, the town of 16,000 just downstream of the dam, and about 180,000 people along the Feather River in Butte, Sutter and Yuba counties.
The emergency prompted federal dam safety authorities to order the Department of Water Resources to immediately form a panel of experts to investigate the cause of the main spillway failure and the performance of the emergency spillway. The federal order directs DWR to report to the panel throughout the process of designing and building a replacement for the main spillway and enhancements for the emergency spillway. Back to top.
Update, 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22: With runoff from our most recent spate of stormy weather dwindling, it appears that Lake Oroville's level is also falling again. According to Department of Water Resource's hourly data, the reservoir surface peaked at 852.93 feet above sea level at 5 a.m. and had fallen to 852.89 feet by 8 a.m.
OK, that's not much -- the decline amounts to a half-inch, a change imperceptible to all but the DWR's instruments. Overall, though, the lake is about 48 feet below the edge of Oroville Dam's emergency spillway and 4 feet above the low point it reached Monday amid managers' efforts to restore space in the reservoir to receive incoming floods.
A couple of notable Wednesday news pieces on the Oroville situation:
Update, 12:05 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21: Lake Oroville is on the rise again in the wake of a series of storms that soaked most of the state.
The rise, however, is very gradual. The lake remains 49 feet below the top of the emergency weir at the center of the Oroville Dam crisis that resulted in the Feb. 12 evacuation order for about 188,000 people in Butte, Sutter and Yuba counties.
The 120 hours of weather systems that culminated in the very wet Presidents Day storm dropped as much as a foot of precipitation -- rain or its snow equivalent -- in the Feather River watershed upstream of Lake Oroville. The gauge at Oroville Dam recorded 4.04 inches.
The precipitation triggered a spike in runoff into the giant reservoir. The volume of water flowing in had remained in the range of 15,000 to 45,000 cubic feet per second for most of the week. On Monday, though, it increased to as much as 90,000 cfs. That's 673,000 gallons, or 2 acre-feet per second -- enough water to supply about four average California household for a year.
Dam managers reduced the volume of water going down the facility's damaged main spillway from 100,000 cfs last week to about 60,000 cfs. The lower level allows crews to begin the work of clearing rubble, rock and sediment from the channel below the main spillway. That work, in turn, is designed to allow the hydroelectric power plant at the base of Oroville Dam to resume operations.
DWR has been quick to point out in each and every press release on the situation that work continues to "armor" and reinforce the severely eroded hillside below the emergency weir. That erosion occurred when floodwaters flowed across the structure for the first time since the dam was finished in 1968. Back to top.
Update, 1:45 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19: The significant weekend news at Oroville Dam: The Department of Water Resources decreased flows down the damaged main spillway to 55,000 cubic feet per second on Saturday, then announced it would ramp them up again, to 60,000 cfs, on Sunday afternoon.
Those levels are far lower than the 100,000 cfs released down the spillway starting a week ago, amid fears that the dam's emergency spillway system was about to fail. Those very high flows, maintained for four straight days, helped lower the lake from a foot above the 1,700-foot emergency weir last Sunday afternoon to 50 feet below it.
The flow reductions over the last couple of days were intended to help crews assess how much rubble, rock and sediment has been swept into the 80-foot-deep channel beneath the main spillway and begin the process of removing it. The debris has dammed the channel and made it impossible to use the hydropower plant at the base of Oroville Dam.
Incoming weather will no doubt play a part in releases over the next several days, with a storm expected to drop 8 inches or more of water by early Wednesday on the Feather River watershed above Lake Oroville. Snow levels are forecast to remain low, however, which will help slow down runoff into the reservoir.
Below: DWR drone video showing the state of work to reinforce the badly eroded slope beneath the emergency weir, as well as the condition of the main spillway as of Saturday afternoon.
Update, 3:25 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17: To start with the numbers: Department of Water Resources data show that despite cutting back releases down Oroville Dam's shattered spillway and the return of storms to the Feather River basin, Lake Oroville continues to empty.
At 3 p.m. Friday, DWR's running statistics on the reservoir show that its surface is now a little more than 42 feet below the lip of the dam's emergency spillway. The lake is falling at a rate of roughly 3 to 4 inches an hour.
The second in a series of winter storms arrived in the region on Friday, dropping moderate amounts of rain and snow on the 3,600-square-mile Feather River watershed. Forty-eight-hour rain totals in the area ranged from 1.36 inches at Oroville Dam to 2.44 inches at the Humbug gauge in the mountains north of the reservoir.
Thursday, DWR cut releases from Lake Oroville from 100,000 cubic feet per second to 80,000 cfs. The reduction was designed to give crews a chance to begin removing the mass of concrete rubble, rock and sediment that tumbled into a channel that issues from the bottom of the dam. The agency said Friday it would cut spillway flows further -- down to 70,000 cfs -- as part of the effort to clear the channel.
As we've reported every day this week, work continues to repair erosion damage to the hillside below the dam's emergency spillway structure. That erosion, which occurred when the water rose above the weir at the top of the emergency spillway and gouged out huge sections of the slope below as it rushed downhill, prompted last Sunday evening's mass evacuation from Oroville and communities as far as 35 miles downriver from the dam.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea reiterated during a press briefing Friday that those who live downstream from the dam need to be prepared to leave if trouble recurs at the dam.
"The likelihood (of trouble) is low," Honea said. "But -- and I don't want to sound like a broken record, but that's my job. My job is to keep people prepared. So they've got to pay attention, they've got to be vigilant, they've got to be prepared, they've got to sign up for their emergency warning notification system. And if you're tired of hearing my say that, I'm sorry, but I'm going to keep saying it until this situation is well past us."
Honea also addressed again a question that has arisen in the aftermath of last weekend's evacuation: Whether Oroville or other communities in the evacuation zone had experienced looting after people left town.
The sheriff has said while there had been burglaries and thefts during the roughly 48-hour evacuation, there had been no looting. Friday, he clarified that a little.
"Now that my staff has had a better opportunity to talk with me, we find that a couple of those burglary- or theft-related crimes, we can charge ... the individuals responsible with an enhancement of looting," Honea said. He did not immediately offer specific details of those episodes. Back to top.
Update, 3:20 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16: The Feather River watershed has gotten its first dose of rain and snow from an expected series of storms, with moderate amounts of precipitation that haven't yet caused a major increase in flows into the reservoir behind Oroville Dam.
For the 12 hours ending at 9 a.m., precipitation totals ranged from about a half-inch at the dam itself to 1.50 inches near Bucks Lake, in the higher country of the Feather River watershed..
At the same time, the Department of Water Resources announced today it was reducing flows down the dam's main spillway as crews get ready to remove the large volume of debris that has fallen into the channel below.
Rubble from the main release structure, and rock and sediment eroded from the adjacent slope, have filled the 80-foot channel immediately below the spillway chute.
DWR reduced the spillway flows from 100,000 cubic feet per second to 80,000 cubic feet per second.
The 100,000 cfs rate, which commenced Sunday afternoon as fears mounted that the dam's emergency spillway system might fail and unleash an uncontrolled surge of water down the Feather River, helped lower the lake's level 34 feet over the past four days.
The DWR has said the reduced releases will be sufficient to continue lowering the lake and make room for runoff from future storms and snowmelt.
The wettest storm in the series of storms that began Thursday is expected to arrive Monday. One precipitation forecast, from NOAA's California-Nevada River Forecast Center, says that system could drop as much 6 inches of water -- either rain or snow -- on the higher elevations of the Feather River watershed. Back to top.
Update, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday: Officials raced to drain more water from Lake Oroville as new storms began rolling into Northern California on Wednesday.
The three storms were expected to stretch into next week. Forecasters said the first two storms could drop a total of 5 inches of rain in higher elevations.
However, the third storm, starting as early as Monday, could be more powerful.
"There's a potential for several inches," National Weather Service forecaster Tom Dang said. "It will be very wet."
Nonetheless, California Department of Water Resources chief Bill Croyle said water was draining at about four times the rate that it was flowing in and the repairs should hold at the nation's tallest dam.
About 100,000 cubic feet of water was flowing from the reservoir each second, enough to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool.
Croyle said work crews had made "great progress" cementing thousands of tons of rocks into holes in the spillways.
"We shouldn't see a bump in the reservoir" from the upcoming storms, he said.
The reservoir has dropped 20 feet since it reached capacity Sunday. Croyle said officials hope it falls 50 feet by this Sunday.
Still, officials warned residents who have returned to their homes that the area downstream of the dam remained under an evacuation warning and they should be prepared to leave if the risk increases.
KQED's Dan Brekke hosted a live Facebook video below the Oroville Dam spillway earlier Wednesday:
Update, 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14: The evacuation order affecting about 180,000 residents along the course of the Feather River below Oroville Dam has been reduced to a warning, allowing residents to return to their homes, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said during a press conference.
“Taking into account the current level of risk, the predicted strength of the next round of inclement weather and the capacity of the lake to accommodate increased inflow associated with those storms, we have concluded that it is safe to reduce the immediate evacuation order currently in place to an evacuation warning,” Honea said.
The Department of Water Resources indicated during the conference that the inflow of water to the reservoir continues to drop and that about 100,000 cubic feet of water per second is being released.
“We’re continuing to make significant gains in removing water from the reservoir,” acting DWR chief Bill Croyle said.
DWR officials said the goal is to get the level of the reservoir down to flood control storage, which is about 850 feet. Back to top.
Update, 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14: Large-scale releases of water continue at Oroville Dam, and the level of the giant reservoir there has dropped to about 12 feet below the emergency spillway structure that engineers believed was on the verge of failure on Sunday.
The Department of Water Resources and other agencies are continuing to assess the condition of the slope below the dam, parts of which were scoured down to rock by the force of water rushing over the emergency release structure over the weekend.
The crisis was triggered a week ago, when serious damage to the dam's main spillway was detected just as runoff began cascading into the nearly full lake after a series of wet, warm storms.
Gov. Jerry Brown has issued an emergency declaration to help speed up state agencies' response to the Oroville crisis. On Monday, he told reporters at a Sacramento-area media briefing with emergency officials that he's confident the Trump administration will respond promptly to the state's requests for aid.
Responding to questions about whether the Department of Water Resources should have done more to reinforce the emergency spillway system -- as suggested by environmental groups during a 2005 relicensing process -- Brown said:
"Every time you have one of these disasters, people perk up and start looking at analogous situations and things that you might not have paid as much attention to. But we live in a world of risk – the earthquake shook the Bay Bridge, and then we the state and all the different governors had to put up a new bridge."
Tuesday morning, 180,000 people remain evacuated along the course of the Feather River in the east-central Sacramento Valley. At a media briefing Monday, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said the evacuation order, issued hurriedly on Sunday, would be in place until agencies handling the situation at the dam say the danger of a catastrophic emergency spillway failure has passed.
A series of storms expected to begin rolling across Northern California on Wednesday night are expected to trigger a new rise in Lake Oroville -- the reason dam managers are continuing to try to lower the lake as fast as the damaged main spillway will allow. Back to top.
Update, 1:20 p.m. Monday, Feb. 13: Here are four big takeaways from the Department of Water Resources (with other local officials' noontime briefing on the situation at Oroville Dam:
First: The evacuation order that forced 180,000 people from their homes on Sunday will remain in place for now. Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea, whose jurisdiction includes the dam and the communities immediately downstream, said he is depending on the advice of "subject-matter experts" from the DWR and other agencies before people are allowed to return home.
Second: The desperate effort to lower Lake Oroville's level after an imminent failure of the dam's emergency spillway continues. With water pounding down the severely damaged main spillway at nearly 100,000 cubic feet per second -- that's about 750,000 gallons, for those of us who don't measure water in cubic feet -- the giant reservoir is falling at about 4 inches per hour and is now about 5 feet from the top of the emergency spillway.
Third: Dam and water managers are preparing for the resumption of winter storms over the Feather River watershed above Lake Oroville. The DWR's 10-day precipitation forecast, based on analysis of weather models, suggests that the next round of storms will be much colder and drop less than half the precipitation than the very warm weather systems that helped trigger the Oroville crisis.
Fourth: The DWR and other state and federal agencies are going to face very tough questioning about whether something should have been done years ago to shore up the emergency spillway structure and adjacent hillside. Those questions will be prompted by a story by KQED Science Managing Editor and San Jose Mercury News reporter Paul Rogers, who details concerns raised about the soundness of the emergency spillway system back in 2005.
Update, 5:40 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12: Officials say the emergency spillway at Oroville Dam could fail at any time and are ordering evacuations from Oroville to Gridley.
The California Department of Water Resources urged residents of Oroville to head north, toward Chico. Residents elsewhere downstream should follow the orders of their local law enforcement, the department said. Officials have set up an evacuation shelter at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico.
The emergency spillway is separate from the main dam structure. It's a massive, ungated concrete weir that stretches for one-third of a mile to the north of the dam and began overflowing Saturday morning. Below an initial concrete lip, water courses over bare earth all the way to the river channel below, scouring the slope of earth, rocks and trees.
Erosion on the hillside has increased beyond expectations. Oroville Dam contains California's second-largest reservoir, and is currently holding back more than 3.5 million acre-feet of water.
Update, 9:40 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 12: After rising to record high levels, the water level in Lake Oroville appears to be dropping.
Data from the California Department of Water Resources -- see real-time Lake Oroville levels here -- show the reservoir's surface crested at 902.59 feet above sea level at 3 a.m. Sunday.
With the volume of runoff into the lake decreasing and about 500,000 gallons of water flowing out of the lake every second down the badly damaged main spillway and the emergency outlet, reservoir levels had dropped to 902.39 feet by 9 a.m. That drop is equivalent to about 2.5 inches.
The lake is considered full at 901 feet, and it's at that level that it began pouring over an emergency spillway early Saturday. The emergency outlet is being used for the first time since the dam went into operation in 1968.
DWR managers say water should stop flowing over the emergency spillway sometime Monday. Back to top.
Update, 4:45 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11: The real news of this afternoon came from a media briefing with acting Department of Water Resources chief Bill Croyle, who gave new details about the work ahead to replace Oroville Dam's shattered spillway.
Before we get to that, though, let's take a glance once more at Lake Oroville, which has continued to rise and spill over on this sparkling midwinter Saturday. The giant reservoir, California's second-largest, is now a foot over the dam's never-before-used emergency spillway.
DWR officials say that with several days of dry weather in store and the volume of runoff dropping, they expect water to continue to flow over the emergency weir until sometime Monday. Video posted Saturday afternoon (see below) showed a muddy, debris-laden torrent pouring into the waterway below the spillway.
At his noon-hour media briefing, Croyle said the damaged main spillway will need to be completely rebuilt. He said he told Gov. Jerry Brown in a discussion on Friday the cost would come to $100 million to $200 million.
"My objective is to get a spillway back in operation before the wet season next year, which is typically Oct. 15 or so," Croyle said.
Croyle said he can only give "a very rough range" of the eventual cost because of the many unknowns involved in the project, including exactly where the replacement spillway will be built.
"We haven't gone in and looked at it, we don't know how much more damage we're going to do, decisions have to be made on a new one ... so the range is huge," Croyle said. "What we told the governor yesterday afternoon is a hundred to two hundred million. Again, with the caveats we don't know a lot about the site itself."
He added that while the agency has the resources it needs to carry out the new spillway project and associated cleanup and repairs, he's hoping for support from the federal government.
Croyle said dam managers face a long, complex juggling act to deal with the impact of the spillway failure amid a continuing very wet winter.
One of the biggest challenges engineers and work crews face is how to clear the Thermalito Diversion Pool immediately below the wrecked spillway of a large volume of concrete debris and sediment that have dammed the waterway and forced closure of the hydroelectric plant at the base of Oroville Dam.
Muddy water rose and backed up toward the powerhouse as the lower section of the main spillway disintegrated under high flows. To avoid contaminating the power facility, it was shut down early Friday. That had an unfortunate side effect: Outflows through the plant, which can handle a maximum of 12,000 cubic feet per second, were halted. That, in turn, limited the amount of water managers could release from the fast-filling reservoir.
To remove the debris blocking the waterway, Croyle said, flows down the damaged main spillway will probably need to be halted temporarily. With another series of storms forecast to arrive in the region starting Thursday, that's not something that can be done immediately.
One piece of good news about the forecast, though: The next round of storms is expected to be colder, meaning they are far less likely to unleash the torrents of runoff produced by the last group of extremely warm weather systems.
Update, 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 11: Floodwaters began flowing over Oroville Dam's emergency spillway early Saturday morning.
It's the first time since the dam went into operation in 1968 that the emergency outlet from Lake Oroville has been used. The lake filled rapidly this week after severe damage to the main spillway forced dam managers to decrease the volume of water being released at the same time a series of warm storms triggered heavy runoff into the reservoir.
California Department of Water Resources officials said water began moving over the 1,700-foot-long emergency weir just before 8 a.m.
TV helicopter video soon after showed sheets of water cascading over the concrete structure, although heavy flows did not appear to have begun downhill.
And the lake continues to rise. By 11 a.m., the reservoir's surface was 901.55 feet, 6 inches over the top of the emergency spillway.
DWR spokesman Doug Carlson said the rate of flow over the auxiliary release structure was expected to increase from an estimated 660 cubic feet per second at 9 a.m. to 6,000 to 12,000 cubic feet per second.
He said dam and water managers estimate the flow will continue for 40 to 56 hours -- a time frame that runs roughly between midnight Sunday and 4 p.m. Monday.
Update, 12:35 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 11: Anyone who's been watching the numbers associated with Oroville Dam and Lake Oroville this evening -- how much water is flowing into the lake, how much is flowing out through the partially destroyed spillway -- probably has come to a conclusion similar to this one: At some point during the next few hours, water from the state's second-largest reservoir is likely to start pouring across the dam's emergency spillway and start racing down an adjacent slope toward the waterway below.
At midnight Friday, Lake Oroville had risen to within about 18 inches of the lip of the emergency spillway. With water still coming into the lake from the Feather River watershed faster than it can be released down the damaged spillway, the level is rising at about 3 inches per hour. At that rate, simple spectator arithmetic tells you that the lake will overtop the emergency spillway as early as 6 a.m. Saturday.
Dam managers with the Department of Water Resources had calculated releasing 65,000 cubic feet of water per second down the damaged spillway would slow the lake's rise enough to keep water from reaching the emergency structure. Those hopes dimmed Friday evening when releases were cut to 55,000 CFS to lower the risk of erosion that would threaten the stability of nearby power line towers.
DWR is unable to use another release point in the dam, a hydroelectric generating station that can handle another 12,000 CFS. Debris from the shattered spillway wound up in the channel just downstream from the power plant, causing water to back up and forcing officials to shut it down.
This would mark the first time water has flowed over the emergency facility since the dam began operating in 1968. (The closest call since then: June 2011, when late-season runoff from a lush snowpack brought the lake to within 15 inches of the emergency spillway.)
Beyond the history, the event brings uncertainty about what happens next. Crews from DWR, Cal Fire and private contractors scurried over the landscape immediately below the emergency weir over the last two days, trying to prepare the way for the cataract that soon might be pouring down the slope. Preparations included clearing trees and brush and cementing boulders into place at the edge of the emergency spillway. (See KCRA-Channel 3's helicopter footage of the scene Friday afternoon.)
To corral any debris that comes tumbling down the slope as the water comes down, log booms have been placed in the channel below the spillway (a waterway known as the Thermalito Diversion Pool) with crews ready to tow large objects to a nearby cove.
Of the highest immediate concern to people residing downstream is whether the water coming over the emergency spillway will represent a flood threat. The Department of Water Resources says it will not.
Longer term, the deeper interest will be finding out whether DWR did everything it could and should have to ensure the integrity of the spillway, and what it will do to design and build a repaired structure.
And now, just after midnight early Saturday morning, we'll sign off by saying: We'll see what happens after day breaks. Back to top.
Update, 12:45 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10: State Department of Water Resources officials now say they believe the volume of water rushing into Lake Oroville is slowing enough -- and releases down a badly damaged spillway have increased enough -- that the giant reservoir will not flow over an emergency spillway as feared.
Dam managers increased the flow of water down the broken main spillway to 65,000 cubic feet per second -- 486,000 gallons -- in the early morning hours Friday. While department officials say damage to the structure is continuing, the erosion does not appear to pose a threat to the spillway gates or other critical infrastructure.
At the same time, DWR officials noted at a noon media briefing, runoff into the lake is decreasing. The inflow hit a peak of 190,000 cubic feet per second Thursday evening and had fallen to 130,000 by midnight Friday.
The difference between the inflow and outflow means the lake is still rising -- about 4 inches per hour at noon. Lake Oroville's surface is about 5 feet below the lip of the emergency spillway. But DWR officials say with rains having stopped for the time being, the volume of water coming into the lake should continue to drop and the lake's rise will stop short of overflowing.
Update, 9:20 a.m. Friday, Feb. 10: Two things have changed overnight at Oroville Dam and the giant reservoir behind it.
First: Inflow from the Feather River watershed into Lake Oroville, while still very high, has dropped from its peak levels Thursday.
Second: California Department of Water Resources managers followed through with a plan to ramp up releases down the dam's wrecked spillway (for their rationale for doing that, see our earlier updates, below).
The rate of rise in the lake -- see the DWR's real-time data for yourself --has decreased from nearly a foot an hour at times Thursday to about 4 or 5 inches an hour Friday morning. The reservoir surface at 9 a.m. was reported to be 895 feet -- up 45 feet from Tuesday when the spillway damage was discovered and just 6 feet below the dam's emergency spillway.
The net result: That rate of increase would mean water from the reservoir would begin cascading over the emergency spillway sometime early Saturday morning. The lake, which has a stated maximum capacity of 3.5 million acre-feet, is now 98 percent full.
Mostly light rain and snow are expected across the Feather River watershed today before clear weather Saturday. Colder weather and a break from heavy rain could help reduce the volume of water flowing into the lake. Back to top.
Update, 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9: The situation surrounding the damaged spillway at Oroville Dam has escalated into a crisis, with state water managers hoping they can dump enough water down the badly compromised structure to prevent the state's second-largest reservoir from pouring over an emergency release point that has never been used before.
Flow rates down the collapsing spillway were increased late Thursday morning to 35,000 cubic feet per second. The result was a spectacle of churning mud and water and further damage to the concrete structure.
But with storms continuing to pound the northern Sierra and torrents of water quickly filling Lake Oroville, the huge reservoir behind the dam, crews from the Department of Water Resources and Cal Fire are getting ready for what officials previously called "a very last-ditch measure."
Crews on Thursday began cutting down trees and bulldozing brush on the steep slope below an emergency spillway to try to minimize downstream debris flows should the lake exceed its 3.5 million acre-feet capacity.
"We have crews out there just as a precaution," said DWR spokesman Eric See during a media briefing at midday Thursday. "We're still taking every measure we can to not have to use the emergency spillway, but if we do, we're actually removing that debris right now so it doesn't get mobilized" into an adjacent waterway.
But the possibility that Lake Oroville would overflow for the first time in its half-century history grew stronger as the day progressed, despite the water being released down the damaged spillway.
Acting DWR chief Bill Croyle said at an evening press conference that it was becoming more and more likely that water would pour uncontrolled over the emergency spillway.
"To be very clear, with the hydraulic conditions we have now, and with the flow that we have coming down out of the spillway chute, unless conditions change, we anticipate there may be a release of water over the emergency spillway," Croyle said. "Maybe sometime on Saturday."
That event has become imminent because the volume of water flowing into the lake increased dramatically during the day as heavy rain fell across the Feather River watershed. Some locations in upstream mountains had received 4 to 5 inches of rain in the last 24 hours, with another inch or two expected before clear weather arrives Saturday.
Lake Oroville will overflow the emergency spillway if it reaches an elevation of 901 feet above sea level. On Tuesday, when the spillway damaged was first noted, the lake's surface was at about 850 feet. With the spillway shut down for most of the last 48 hours, the lake has risen to 887 feet as of 7 p.m. Thursday. (See DWR's real-time Lake Oroville statistics.)
"The downside of having water go over the emergency spillway is that it would go down the hillside and take out trees and soil and create a big mess in the diversion down below," the DWR's See said.
See said the severe erosion seen on and around the spillway structure is being closely monitored by crews on the ground, remote cameras and drones. Engineers believe the heavy flow of water will scour its way down to bedrock before long, See said, but acknowledged there are risks to allowing the erosion to continue.
"Erosion is occurring in multiple ways," See said. "You can have erosion to the side and erosion going down the hill, and then you can have 'head cutting,' which is erosion that can actually work its way back upstream. So that's the one that's of most concern."
If engineers detect that uphill erosion, See said, it would be "a trigger point" that would prompt another shutdown of releases down the spillway.
The erosion has already released massive flows of sediment into the adjacent waterway, a canal called the Thermalito Diversion Pool. The canal carries water from the dam down to and around the city of Oroville. Among the facilities to which it conveys water is the Feather River Hatchery, which raises millions of chinook salmon and steelhead trout.
Heavy sediment in the water can kill juvenile salmonids. With muddy water cascading into the hatchery facility Thursday morning, the Department of Fish and Wildlife began an emergency rescue of salmon and steelhead, trucking the young fish to a satellite hatchery on the Thermalito Afterbay, west of Oroville.
At the hatchery Thursday, workers waded waist-deep through concrete holding ponds filled with water the color of chocolate milk. They used screens to push baby fish toward tanker trucks that would transport them a few miles southwest to Thermalito.
[Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Harry] Morse said that wild steelhead and salmon are spawning in the Feather River, fueling concern that sediment could overwhelm their nests and kill eggs and juvenile fish.
Officials at the media briefing repeated further reassurances that the integrity of Oroville Dam, one of the largest in the United States, has not been affected by the spillway collapse.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said that while local emergency agencies are preparing for evacuations downstream of the dam, he didn't believe the spillway situation posed an imminent threat.
Update, 11:55 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 9: The California Department of Water Resources is fast running out of time and options for dealing with the badly damaged spillway at Oroville Dam.
With Lake Oroville rapidly approaching full, water managers increased flows down the spillway Wednesday afternoon and early Thursday to test the effect on the damaged structure. The result was both unsurprising and sobering.
The department said it expected the test, which involved releasing about 20,000 cubic feet per second down the long concrete spillway chute, would cause further damage to the structure.
But they may not have anticipated the extent of the damage that daylight revealed early Thursday. Photos from the scene showed that the massive cavity in the face of the spillway had grown several times larger and that the adjacent slow had suffered extensive new erosion. Here are a couple of views tweeted out early Thursday:
With the spillway mostly out of commission since major releases were curtailed, Lake Oroville has been rising at the rate of about half a foot an hour since midday Tuesday. Its level has increased 30 feet since then, with the reservoir's surface now 20 feet below an emergency spillway.
The emergency spillway, which would release water down a steep slope adjacent to the spillway, has never been used in the dam's half-century of operation. DWR officials and others say water flowing down the slope will likely result in a large volume of debris being dumped into the Feather River, which flows through the city of Oroville on its way to the Sacramento Valley.
That's one reason dam managers are willing to risk the destruction of the concrete spillway, calculating that would be preferable to the unknowns involved in an uncontrolled emergency spillover.
"It's going to be rocks, trees, mud -- liquid concrete -- going down that river," retired DWR engineer Jerry Antonetti told Sacramento's KCRA as he watched the spillway Wednesday night. "I'd open 'er up, sacrifice the bottom of that thing -- it's going to go in the river -- clean it out next year and build a new spillway."
Update, 8:45 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 9: State water officials say they may be forced to continue using a badly damaged spillway at Oroville Dam to prevent the lake from reaching capacity in the next few days.
Doing that would likely cause further damage to the spillway structure and continue eroding the surrounding area, Department of Water Resources spokesman Doug Carlson said Wednesday afternoon. But that could be preferable to allowing the lake to begin flowing over an emergency spillway on the dam.
Carlson called the alternate spillway -- which would send water cascading down a long tree- and brush-covered slope containing roads and power lines, a "very last-ditch measure."
"It's an outcome that DWR is committed to not allowing to happen," Carlson said. Like other DWR officials, he was quick to add that the spillway damage does not pose a threat to the dam itself, one of the largest ever built in the United States.
The department conducted an experiment during the day Wednesday in which it began sending a limited amount of water -- about 20,000 cubic feet per second -- down the damaged concrete spillway structure. The purpose of the test, Carlson said, was to see how much additional damage was done.
"We may just let the spillway do its job" despite the damage, Carlson said. Then, after the rainy season, "we could shut off the spillway, keep it dry, put construction people in there, whatever has to be done -- rocks, fill, concrete mix, whatever -- and get it back to 100 percent efficiency."
The DWR's spillway test came as Lake Oroville, the state's second-largest reservoir, is filling rapidly with runoff from recent storms.
In order to maintain enough space in the lake to accommodate in-rushing floodwaters, managers would normally release water down the dam's massive concrete spillway. That was just what was happening Tuesday when bystanders alerted dam personnel that there appeared to be damage to the structure.
Releases that were being ramped up to about 60,000 cubic feet per second were abruptly halted so that Department of Water Resources crews could assess the situation.
In the meantime, a high volume of runoff into the lake has continued, raising it more than 20 feet since early Tuesday. Late Wednesday afternoon, the reservoir was just 30 feet below an emergency spillway that has never been used in the dam's half-century of use.
"It's quite serious," Carlson said of the dam and reservoir's status. "The good news is that we think we have it under control."
Below: DWR photo gallery depicting damage to spillway and erosion to adjacent area.
Update, 12:25 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8: State water officials say engineers are still in the process of assessing damage to the spillway at Oroville Dam and figuring out what they can do to fix it.
"They're evaluating the situation intensively this morning," said Ted Thomas, the chief spokesman for the Department of Water Resources. "They're looking at what their options are for repair."
An extensive section of concrete on the spillway, which is used to manage the level of Lake Oroville, has peeled away or collapsed.
At the time the problem was spotted at midday Tuesday, water managers were in the process of ramping up the volume of water being dumped down the spillway into the Feather River. That was necessary to make room for high flows coming into the reservoir, the state's second largest, from a series of storms that have dumped very heavy rain over the Feather River watershed.
Releases were reduced from about 60,000 cubic feet per second to just 5,000 cfs -- the amount being routed through the dam's hydroelectric generating facility.
The immediate result of curtailing the releases while huge amounts of runoff stream into the reservoir has been a very rapid rise in the lake's level. In the 20 hours after releases were reduced at midday Tuesday, Lake Oroville has risen 10 feet and added 150,000 acre-feet.
If current release and flow rates persisted -- and that's not a sure thing by any means -- the reservoir would reach its 3.5 million acre-foot capacity in the next three or four days.
If that happens, Thomas said, the dam's emergency spillway -- which has not been used since the dam was finished in the late 1960s -- would channel floodwaters down a hillside into the river.
Thomas said he expected details on a proposed fix for the spillway damage later Wednesday. Back to top.
Original post, 5:35 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7: California Department of Water Resources crews are assessing a potentially serious problem with Oroville Dam, the giant structure that impounds the Feather River to create the state's second-largest reservoir.
Tuesday morning, the spillway that managers use to release water from Lake Oroville into the river appeared to suffer a partial collapse. That led to the shutdown of the spillway while engineers assess its condition.
Department officials say the dam itself, perched above the Sacramento Valley about 130 miles northeast of San Francisco, is not in danger.
The timing of the shutdown is critical: A huge amount of runoff is coming into Lake Oroville from the Feather River watershed after recent storms. To maintain room in the reservoir to contain the incoming flows, a high volume of water --- about 55,000 cubic feet per second -- was being released down the spillway.
With the spillway closed for the time being, there's no way to release water from the dam except through a hydroelectric powerhouse built into the structure. Only about 5,000 cubic feet per second can be released through the powerhouse.
The net effect is that with releases virtually halted and heavy inflows from a series of very wet winter storms continuing to pour into the reservoir, the lake is rising steadily.
As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, Lake Oroville was 82 percent full and was 150,000 acre-feet above the storage level prescribed to maintain room for incoming floodwaters.
The Department of Water Resources said in a statement that "sufficient capacity exists within the reservoir to capture projected inflows for at least days, and DWR expects to resume releases from the gated spillway at a rate deemed later today after a thorough inspection is performed."
Oroville Dam is an earth-fill dam and was dedicated in 1968. At 770 feet high, it's the highest dam in the United States.
What does the spillway look like under normal conditions? Here's a video shot Monday, when managers had ramped up releases from 25,000 cubic feet per second top 50,000 CFS (see below for some perspective on the flow numbers):
The flow perspective: One cubic foot of water is 7.48 gallons. So 55,000 cubic feet per second, roughly the volume being released down the spillway before problems were detected Tuesday, comes out to 411,400 gallons a second. That equals 1.26 acre-feet -- enough water to flood a football field to a depth of 15 inches.
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An acre-foot, in turn, is roughly the amount of water used each year by two "average" California households. So the volume of water pounding down the spillway every second is close to what three households would use in a year.
Miranda Leitsinger, Don Clyde, Kat Snow, Craig Miller and David Marks of KQED contributed to this post.
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He is also a contributing writer at \u003cem>The Atlantic \u003c/em>and the co-founder of the COVID Tracking Project. He's the creator of the podcast, \u003cem>Containers\u003c/em>, and has been a staff writer at \u003cem>Wired. \u003c/em>He was a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley's Information School, and is working on a book about Oakland and the Bay Area's revolutionary ideas.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/200d13dd6cebef55bf04327dec901b3d?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"alexismadrigal","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"news","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"forum","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Alexis Madrigal | KQED","description":"Co-Host Forum","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/200d13dd6cebef55bf04327dec901b3d?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/200d13dd6cebef55bf04327dec901b3d?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/amadrigal"},"mesquinca":{"type":"authors","id":"11802","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11802","found":true},"name":"Maria Esquinca","firstName":"Maria","lastName":"Esquinca","slug":"mesquinca","email":"mesquinca@kqed.org","display_author_email":false,"staff_mastheads":[],"title":"Producer, The Bay","bio":"María Esquinca is a producer of The Bay. Before that, she was a New York Women’s Foundation IGNITE Fellow at Latino USA. She worked at Radio Bilingue where she covered the San Joaquin Valley. Maria has interned at WLRN, News 21, The New York Times Student Journalism Institute and at Crain’s Detroit Business as a Dow Jones News Fund Business Reporting Intern. She is an MFA graduate from the University of Miami. In 2017, she graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication with a Master of Mass Communication. A fronteriza, she was born in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico and grew up in El Paso, Texas.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/77cedba18aae91da775038ba06dcd8d0?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"@m_esquinca","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"news","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Maria Esquinca | KQED","description":"Producer, The Bay","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/77cedba18aae91da775038ba06dcd8d0?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/77cedba18aae91da775038ba06dcd8d0?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/mesquinca"},"daisynguyen":{"type":"authors","id":"11829","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11829","found":true},"name":"Daisy Nguyen","firstName":"Daisy","lastName":"Nguyen","slug":"daisynguyen","email":"daisynguyen@kqed.org","display_author_email":true,"staff_mastheads":["news"],"title":"KQED Contributor","bio":"Daisy Nguyen is KQED's early childhood education reporter. She focuses on the pandemic’s effect on young children; the child care crisis and its effects on families, caregivers and the economy; and how policy decisions affect individual lives and communities. Her work has appeared on NPR, Marketplace and Here & Now. She worked at The Associated Press for 20 years, covering breaking news throughout California.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2da2127c27f7143b53ebd419800fd55f?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"@daisynguyen","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"news","roles":["author"]}],"headData":{"title":"Daisy Nguyen | KQED","description":"KQED Contributor","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2da2127c27f7143b53ebd419800fd55f?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2da2127c27f7143b53ebd419800fd55f?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/daisynguyen"},"sjohnson":{"type":"authors","id":"11840","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11840","found":true},"name":"Sydney Johnson","firstName":"Sydney","lastName":"Johnson","slug":"sjohnson","email":"sjohnson@kqed.org","display_author_email":false,"staff_mastheads":["news"],"title":"KQED Reporter","bio":"Sydney Johnson is a general assignment reporter at KQED. She previously reported on public health and city government at the San Francisco Examiner, and before that, she covered statewide education policy for EdSource. Her reporting has won multiple local, state and national awards. Sydney is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and lives in San Francisco.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/97855f2719b72ad6190b7c535fe642c8?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"sydneyfjohnson","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"news","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Sydney Johnson | KQED","description":"KQED Reporter","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/97855f2719b72ad6190b7c535fe642c8?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/97855f2719b72ad6190b7c535fe642c8?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/sjohnson"},"eprickettmorgan":{"type":"authors","id":"11898","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11898","found":true},"name":"Ellie Prickett-Morgan","firstName":"Ellie","lastName":"Prickett-Morgan","slug":"eprickettmorgan","email":"eprickettmorgan@kqed.org","display_author_email":false,"staff_mastheads":[],"title":"KQED Contributor","bio":null,"avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/fb236cba85704b1a64dc213889cd2886?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":null,"facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"news","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Ellie Prickett-Morgan | KQED","description":"KQED Contributor","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/fb236cba85704b1a64dc213889cd2886?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/fb236cba85704b1a64dc213889cd2886?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/eprickettmorgan"},"danbrekke":{"type":"authors","id":"222","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"222","found":true},"name":"Dan Brekke","firstName":"Dan","lastName":"Brekke","slug":"danbrekke","email":"dbrekke@kqed.org","display_author_email":true,"staff_mastheads":["news","science"],"title":"KQED Editor and Reporter","bio":"Dan Brekke is a reporter and editor for KQED News, responsible for coverage of topics ranging from California water issues to the Bay Area's transportation challenges. In a newsroom career that began in Chicago in 1972, Dan has worked for \u003cem>The San Francisco Examiner,\u003c/em> Wired and TechTV and has been published in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, Business 2.0, Salon and elsewhere.\r\n\r\nSince joining KQED in 2007, Dan has reported, edited and produced both radio and online features and breaking news pieces. He has shared as both editor and reporter in four Society of Professional Journalists Norcal Excellence in Journalism awards and one Edward R. Murrow regional award. He was chosen for a spring 2017 residency at the Mesa Refuge to advance his research on California salmon.\r\n\r\nEmail Dan at: \u003ca href=\"mailto:dbrekke@kqed.org\">dbrekke@kqed.org\u003c/a>\r\n\r\n\u003cstrong>Twitter:\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/danbrekke\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">twitter.com/danbrekke\u003c/a>\r\n\u003cstrong>Facebook:\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/danbrekke\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">www.facebook.com/danbrekke\u003c/a>\r\n\u003cstrong>LinkedIn:\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbrekke\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">www.linkedin.com/in/danbrekke\u003c/a>","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c8126230345efca3f7aa89b1a402be45?s=600&d=mm&r=g","twitter":"danbrekke","facebook":null,"instagram":"https://www.instagram.com/dan.brekke/","linkedin":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbrekke/","sites":[{"site":"news","roles":["administrator","create_posts"]},{"site":"stateofhealth","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"science","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"quest","roles":["contributor"]},{"site":"food","roles":["contributor"]},{"site":"forum","roles":["contributor"]},{"site":"liveblog","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Dan Brekke | KQED","description":"KQED Editor and 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FM","link":"/"}},"news_11981173":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11981173","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11981173","found":true},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"california-regulators-propose-significant-changes-to-electricity-bills","title":"California Regulators Propose Significant Changes to Electricity Bills","publishDate":1711666845,"format":"standard","headTitle":"California Regulators Propose Significant Changes to Electricity Bills | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>State utility regulators have \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/news-and-updates/all-news/cpuc-proposal-would-cut-the-price-of-residential-electricity-under-new-billing-structure-2024\">proposed reducing \u003c/a>the cost of residential electricity bills for lower-income Californians and those living in parts of the state most impacted by extreme weather — mainly heat. The changes would also incentivize electrifying personal cars and in-home appliances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A big reason for the proposal is how California’s largest power companies currently calculate rates. The more power you use, the more money you pay — not just for electricity but also for things like maintaining the grid and reducing wildfire risk. When the temperature spikes, so do electricity bills, leaving some customers with monthly payments over $500.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>What is the proposed change? \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The\u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M528/K422/528422138.PDF\"> proposal\u003c/a> applies to large investor-owned utilities like PG&E. It would divide monthly energy bills into two parts:\u003c/p>\n\u003col>\n\u003cli>A “flat rate” that covers infrastructure costs like wires and transformers. That rate would be $24.15 and less for income-qualifying customers in the\u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/er4LCG69GouAjRPoUpENhI?domain=cpuc.ca.gov\"> California Alternate Rates for Energy\u003c/a> (CARE) (the rate would be $6) or\u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/pitBCJ6PLruK0v2PiL12KH?domain=cpuc.ca.gov\"> Family Electric Rate Assistance Program\u003c/a> (FERA) programs (the rate would be $12).\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A “usage rate,” which is how much you pay for a unit of electricity. This rate would be 5–7 cents per kilowatt hour lower than the current electricity rate.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Whose bills would go down? \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The changes are designed to bring down the bills of lower-income Californians, especially those living inland where it is hotter and the need for air conditioning is higher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During peak hours, when electricity is in the most demand and the most expensive, rates for customers of the state’s big three utilities — Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric — would fall between 8% and 9.8%. That means the average customer in Fresno, where temperatures were at or above 100 F for\u003ca href=\"https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/fresno/93702/july-weather/327144?year=2023\"> 17 days last July\u003c/a>, would save about $33 during the summer months, according to the California Public Utilities Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There would also be a reduction in bills for customers who electrify their homes or vehicles, regardless of income or location.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who own electric cars and charge them at home would save about $25 per month on average, while people who have fully electrified their homes — including replacing gas-powered stoves — would save about $19 per month. Other customers whose bills are not impacted as much by the weather would likely see an increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Whose bills would go up? \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Some non-lower-income customers may see an increase in their bills, and people who have rooftop solar may also see an increase in their monthly bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mohit Chhabra, who works on electricity pricing at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the average non-low-income customer’s bills will either stay the same or go up by around $10 a month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Wealthy solar customers are the most likely to pay more. In our estimate, they’re likely to pay between $10 and $20 more a month,” Chhabra said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Why do we need this? \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Proponents of the changes say customers with low income are paying more than their fair share of the costs of maintaining the electricity grid, and this will change that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California is one of the only states that doesn’t already have a fixed charge for its largest utilities, and the state Legislature ordered regulators in 2022 to implement one by July 1 of this year. Since then, power bills have only gotten more expensive. Regulators approved an average increase of \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/pge-rates-california-wildfires-99be6963a57b1f4812a056be93cec50f\">$32 per month\u003c/a> for Pacific Gas & Electric Company customers just last year. The average price per kilowatt hour of electricity for California’s big three utilities — Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric — is about 36 cents, compared to the national average of 17 cents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes will shrink the price per unit of electricity for everyone and, therefore, encourage electrification, reducing fossil fuel emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Customers need to want to electrify,” Chhabra said from the NRDC. “Currently, when they electrify their homes, they wouldn’t necessarily reduce their household energy bill. With this change, they will start saving money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal will bring California investor-owned utilities in line with publicly-owned utilities and utilities in other states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal will be up for a vote on May 9. In the meantime, members of the public\u003ca href=\"https://apps.cpuc.ca.gov/apex/f?p=401:56::::RP,57,RIR:P5_PROCEEDING_SELECT:R2207005\"> can comment online\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Reactions for — and against\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The prospect of a new charge that could raise some people’s rates has prompted backlash from some state and federal lawmakers. In the state Legislature, a group of Democrats led by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin has introduced legislation that would cap the fixed charge at $10 for most people and $5 for people with low incomes. Irwin said the California Public Utilities Commission “is out of touch with consumers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to prioritize driving down consumer’s overall bills, not redistributing the ever-increasing (investor-owned utilities) electric rates,” Irwin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Predictable Power Coalition, which includes the big three utilities, called the fixed rate “vital” and said the proposal “is a step in the right direction.” Some of the state’s most well-known consumer advocates, including The Utility Reform Network and the California Public Advocates Office, support the proposal because they say it would make utility bills more affordable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others, including the solar industry, worry that if electricity rates are cheaper during peak hours, people won’t conserve as much energy. California has struggled at times to have enough electricity during these periods, especially during extreme heat waves, which caused some \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/business-health-environment-and-nature-california-coronavirus-pandemic-f3357dc4bf75ea982aaeebbe65622ad9\">rolling blackouts in 2020\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If approved, the new billing structure would go into effect in late 2025 or early 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story includes reporting by Adam Beam from The Associated Press.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"The California Public Utilities Commission proposes a fixed charge on a portion of power bills that would ensure lower-income consumers pay less, especially in times of extreme weather.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1711670077,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":24,"wordCount":992},"headData":{"title":"California Regulators Propose Significant Changes to Electricity Bills | KQED","description":"The California Public Utilities Commission proposes a fixed charge on a portion of power bills that would ensure lower-income consumers pay less, especially in times of extreme weather.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11981173/california-regulators-propose-significant-changes-to-electricity-bills","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>State utility regulators have \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/news-and-updates/all-news/cpuc-proposal-would-cut-the-price-of-residential-electricity-under-new-billing-structure-2024\">proposed reducing \u003c/a>the cost of residential electricity bills for lower-income Californians and those living in parts of the state most impacted by extreme weather — mainly heat. The changes would also incentivize electrifying personal cars and in-home appliances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A big reason for the proposal is how California’s largest power companies currently calculate rates. The more power you use, the more money you pay — not just for electricity but also for things like maintaining the grid and reducing wildfire risk. When the temperature spikes, so do electricity bills, leaving some customers with monthly payments over $500.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>What is the proposed change? \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The\u003ca href=\"https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M528/K422/528422138.PDF\"> proposal\u003c/a> applies to large investor-owned utilities like PG&E. It would divide monthly energy bills into two parts:\u003c/p>\n\u003col>\n\u003cli>A “flat rate” that covers infrastructure costs like wires and transformers. That rate would be $24.15 and less for income-qualifying customers in the\u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/er4LCG69GouAjRPoUpENhI?domain=cpuc.ca.gov\"> California Alternate Rates for Energy\u003c/a> (CARE) (the rate would be $6) or\u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/pitBCJ6PLruK0v2PiL12KH?domain=cpuc.ca.gov\"> Family Electric Rate Assistance Program\u003c/a> (FERA) programs (the rate would be $12).\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A “usage rate,” which is how much you pay for a unit of electricity. This rate would be 5–7 cents per kilowatt hour lower than the current electricity rate.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Whose bills would go down? \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The changes are designed to bring down the bills of lower-income Californians, especially those living inland where it is hotter and the need for air conditioning is higher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During peak hours, when electricity is in the most demand and the most expensive, rates for customers of the state’s big three utilities — Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric — would fall between 8% and 9.8%. That means the average customer in Fresno, where temperatures were at or above 100 F for\u003ca href=\"https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/fresno/93702/july-weather/327144?year=2023\"> 17 days last July\u003c/a>, would save about $33 during the summer months, according to the California Public Utilities Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There would also be a reduction in bills for customers who electrify their homes or vehicles, regardless of income or location.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who own electric cars and charge them at home would save about $25 per month on average, while people who have fully electrified their homes — including replacing gas-powered stoves — would save about $19 per month. Other customers whose bills are not impacted as much by the weather would likely see an increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Whose bills would go up? \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Some non-lower-income customers may see an increase in their bills, and people who have rooftop solar may also see an increase in their monthly bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mohit Chhabra, who works on electricity pricing at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the average non-low-income customer’s bills will either stay the same or go up by around $10 a month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Wealthy solar customers are the most likely to pay more. In our estimate, they’re likely to pay between $10 and $20 more a month,” Chhabra said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Why do we need this? \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Proponents of the changes say customers with low income are paying more than their fair share of the costs of maintaining the electricity grid, and this will change that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California is one of the only states that doesn’t already have a fixed charge for its largest utilities, and the state Legislature ordered regulators in 2022 to implement one by July 1 of this year. Since then, power bills have only gotten more expensive. Regulators approved an average increase of \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/pge-rates-california-wildfires-99be6963a57b1f4812a056be93cec50f\">$32 per month\u003c/a> for Pacific Gas & Electric Company customers just last year. The average price per kilowatt hour of electricity for California’s big three utilities — Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric — is about 36 cents, compared to the national average of 17 cents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes will shrink the price per unit of electricity for everyone and, therefore, encourage electrification, reducing fossil fuel emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Customers need to want to electrify,” Chhabra said from the NRDC. “Currently, when they electrify their homes, they wouldn’t necessarily reduce their household energy bill. With this change, they will start saving money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal will bring California investor-owned utilities in line with publicly-owned utilities and utilities in other states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal will be up for a vote on May 9. In the meantime, members of the public\u003ca href=\"https://apps.cpuc.ca.gov/apex/f?p=401:56::::RP,57,RIR:P5_PROCEEDING_SELECT:R2207005\"> can comment online\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Reactions for — and against\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The prospect of a new charge that could raise some people’s rates has prompted backlash from some state and federal lawmakers. In the state Legislature, a group of Democrats led by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin has introduced legislation that would cap the fixed charge at $10 for most people and $5 for people with low incomes. Irwin said the California Public Utilities Commission “is out of touch with consumers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to prioritize driving down consumer’s overall bills, not redistributing the ever-increasing (investor-owned utilities) electric rates,” Irwin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Predictable Power Coalition, which includes the big three utilities, called the fixed rate “vital” and said the proposal “is a step in the right direction.” Some of the state’s most well-known consumer advocates, including The Utility Reform Network and the California Public Advocates Office, support the proposal because they say it would make utility bills more affordable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others, including the solar industry, worry that if electricity rates are cheaper during peak hours, people won’t conserve as much energy. California has struggled at times to have enough electricity during these periods, especially during extreme heat waves, which caused some \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/business-health-environment-and-nature-california-coronavirus-pandemic-f3357dc4bf75ea982aaeebbe65622ad9\">rolling blackouts in 2020\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If approved, the new billing structure would go into effect in late 2025 or early 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story includes reporting by Adam Beam from The Associated Press.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11981173/california-regulators-propose-significant-changes-to-electricity-bills","authors":["8648"],"categories":["news_8"],"tags":["news_18538","news_1066","news_1092","news_31571","news_23900"],"featImg":"news_11981177","label":"news"},"news_11980785":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11980785","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11980785","found":true},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"these-california-companies-want-to-buy-your-backyard-and-build-a-house","title":"These California Companies Want to Buy Your Backyard — and Build a House","publishDate":1711537242,"format":"standard","headTitle":"These California Companies Want to Buy Your Backyard — and Build a House | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>Brian and Gail Tremaine moved to East San José 45 years ago for the quiet. On the outskirts of this Silicon Valley city, atop what was once an apricot orchard, the couple kept sheep, goats and horses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They planted mulberry trees along the driveway and carved terraces and patios out of the sloping hillside, but a portion of the 1.7-acre property remained untamed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just become an area where we need to do weed control and keep it clean because the county gets after us if the weeds get too high,” said Brian Tremaine, 75. “We’re getting to the age where we want less land.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The couple first considered building an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) or backyard cottage. But the cost — with estimates ranging from $500,000 to $700,000 — was formidable, Brian Tremaine said, as was the idea of taking out a second mortgage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11979558\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11979558\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-8-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-8-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-8-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-8-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-8-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-8-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-8-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brian and Gail Tremaine stand in the parcel of land that will be carved from their original parcel in San José on March 13, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’s when they learned about \u003ca href=\"https://www.buildcasa.com/\">BuildCasa \u003c/a>— a company that would purchase a portion of their backyard and assist them in splitting the lot under SB 9, a controversial law that went into effect in January 2022. It allows property owners to build up to two duplexes on most single-family properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time of its passage, supporters hailed it as the end of single-family zoning in California and an opportunity to spur more housing, while critics worried it would spark a dramatic shift in the makeup of California’s suburban neighborhoods. But in the first two years since the law was in effect, it has produced little in the way of either new lots or housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A KQED survey of 16 cities of varying sizes across the state found that between 2022 and 2023, the cities collectively approved 75 lot split applications and 112 applications for new units under the law. That’s compared to more than 8,800 ADUs the cities permitted during the same time frame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ih4uc/4/?v=3\" width=\"800\" height=\"620\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, a growing cadre of companies is hoping to jumpstart the construction of SB 9 projects by taking on the permitting and development work themselves, as well as making it easier for homeowners to take advantage of the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These types of projects are really costly and complicated for a homeowner to take on,” said Ben Bear, co-founder and CEO of BuildCasa. “They’re basically asking the homeowner to be a developer, which, from a financial and capabilities perspective, is a challenge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Southern California, \u003ca href=\"https://yardsworth.com/\">Yardsworth\u003c/a> has emerged with a model similar to BuildCasa. But unlike the latter company, which sells the lots to developers, Yardsworth plans to develop the lots themselves and either sell or rent out the new homes. Elsewhere in the state, other companies are specializing in particular aspects of SB 9.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Ben Bear, co-founder and CEO, BuildCasa.\"]‘These types of projects are really costly and complicated for a homeowner to take on. They’re basically asking the homeowner to be a developer, which, from a financial and capabilities perspective, is a challenge.’[/pullquote]Bear said his clients make, on average, just over $100,000 selling the new lot — though in high-priced areas of the state, the amounts have been as high as $400,000. Homeowners get to keep their existing home and mortgage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tradeoff, he said, is a reduction in the value of the existing property by 10% or less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So there’s a major positive benefit when you compare those two numbers,” Bear said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether these offers are enticing enough to encourage more homeowners to take advantage of SB 9 remains to be seen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Muhammad Alameldin, a policy associate at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley, is skeptical that these companies alone can kickstart the construction of new housing because few projects are financially viable under SB 9. He said that without changing the law itself, it would likely result in only a smattering of new homes each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we do not go back after implementation and reform and fix some of the requirements of [SB 9],” he said, “then what’s the point of even having this big fight in the first place?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Slow uptake\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>After the law went into effect, many cities implemented their own restrictions on SB 9 projects. Alameldin co-authored a \u003ca href=\"https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/research-and-policy/sb-9-turns-one-applications/\">2023 report\u003c/a> detailing many of them: limitations on the size of new units, open space requirements and burdensome fees, to name a few.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a story that had been told before — with ADUs, which were first \u003ca href=\"https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/accessory-dwelling-units-adus-in-california/#:~:text=In%202016%2C%20the%20state%20legislature,zoning%20ordinances%20and%20permitting%20processes.\">legalized statewide in 2016\u003c/a>. It took several years and nearly a dozen new laws to reduce regulations and spur construction. In 2016, just over\u003ca href=\"https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/accessory-dwelling-units-adus-in-california/#:~:text=As%20soon%20as%20the%20first,19%25%20of%20new%20housing%20permits.\"> 1,000 ADUs were approved\u003c/a> across the state. In 2022, there were nearly 25,000 — comprising \u003ca href=\"https://www.hcd.ca.gov/planning-and-community-development/housing-open-data-tools/housing-element-implementation-and-apr-dashboard\">nearly a fifth\u003c/a> of the state’s estimated housing supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11979557\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11979557\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-5-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-5-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-5-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-5-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-5-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-5-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-5-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The plot of land that will be carved off of Gail and Brian Tremaine’s original lot in San José on March 13, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t by accident,” Alameldin said. “It was years and years of legislation by multiple authors from the Assembly and Senate, who kept improving the law year after year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Toni Atkins, SB 9’s original author, has introduced a bill, \u003ca href=\"https://sd39.senate.ca.gov/news/20230320-senate-leader-atkins-introduces-legislation-improve-access-oversight-california-home\">SB 450\u003c/a>, that begins to address some of the issues that developers, planning staff and homeowners have faced. It would set a time limit for jurisdictions to approve or reject applications for SB 9 projects and mandate that new housing not be held to stricter design standards than other homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill passed in the Senate and Assembly last year but was then put on hold. It’s eligible for a floor vote this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Atkins acknowledged the slow rollout of SB 9 and said she was committed to “finding solutions to the housing crisis by building on past legislative efforts, like SB 9.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Implementation of new legislation like SB 9 doesn’t happen overnight; it takes time and thoughtful consideration,” Atkins wrote. “SB 9 is a modest tool that gives homeowners control of housing options that best meet their needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even with the proposed changes, some developers said SB 450 doesn’t go far enough. Several said they would like to see an anti-speculation measure removed that requires applicants to live on the property for three years after undergoing a lot split.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doing so would make the projects more enticing to developers, said Peter Taormina, the managing owner of a development company called Cypress Pacific Investors, who is hoping the provision can be changed in subsequent legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"State Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego)\"]‘Implementation of new legislation like SB 9 doesn’t happen overnight; it takes time and thoughtful consideration. SB 9 is a modest tool that gives homeowners control of housing options that best meet their needs.’[/pullquote]“You’re going to have to let the people that do this for a living, roll up their sleeves and do it,” said Taormina, who is in the process of completing an SB 9 project in Marina, California, that consists of splitting three parcels into six with a home and an in-law unit on each. “The end result will be [that] housing will be created.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Matt Lucido, co-founder and CEO of Yardsworth, identified less tangible barriers, as well. Most people simply aren’t aware of the bill, he said, and even if they are, they may be reluctant to sell a portion of their backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a really emotional thing. People are attached to their backyards, even if they don’t use them,” he said. “You’re asking them to carve off a piece of the American dream.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To help potential clients overcome this hurdle, Yardsworth introduced a \u003ca href=\"https://zerodownca.com/\">new offer\u003c/a> earlier this month: The company will fund the down payment on a new home in exchange for a portion of the homebuyer’s yet-to-sentimentalized backyard. Lucido said that can help solve two problems simultaneously — adding housing amid a shortage and helping renters become owners.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Homeowners leverage their lots\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For those willing to take on an SB 9 project, the leaders of BuildCasa and Yardsworth said their clients tended to fall into two categories: retirees looking to downsize in place — similar to the Tremaines in San José — or younger homeowners hoping to leverage the equity in their properties without taking on debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latter was the case for one of Yardsworth’s clients, former Olympian Jamele Mason, who competed in the 2012 Summer Games in the men’s 400-meter hurdles. Mason bought his South Los Angeles home in February 2020, right before the pandemic lockdowns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11968455,news_11806332,news_11770372\"]At first, he thought maintaining the large backyard, with its lemon tree and pergola, would be a fun pastime. But, he quickly realized it was more work than pleasure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, I ripped up all the grass that was in the back. I put in artificial turf to try to make it as low maintenance as possible,” he said. “Turns out there is still maintenance that needs to be done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He learned about Yardsworth while researching ways to pull equity out of his house without having to sell and contacted the company last fall to begin the process. In January, he began working for Yardsworth as a sales manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mason, 34, said he plans to use the $135,000 he got from Yardsworth to buy an investment property in Houston, where he grew up. He hopes the additional property will set him up for a more comfortable retirement, something he admitted was a constant worry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I put everything I had into purchasing this house,” Mason said. “So, when I found out that I could pull the money out, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s actually a really cool way to leverage what I have.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other cases, homeowners opt to keep their split lots vacant as an investment — either to pass down to their children or sell later. Such was the case with roughly half of Peter Riechers’ 80 or so clients, who are spread out across the state, he said. The president of civil engineering firm Riechers Engineering said he was so motivated by SB 9’s potential that he came out of a 15-year retirement when the law went into effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was so exciting — still is very exciting,” he said. “You’ve got all this land sitting there, not being used … when it could be used for this housing crisis we have in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Peter Riechers, president, Riechers Engineering\"]‘It was so exciting — still is very exciting. You’ve got all this land sitting there, not being used … when it could be used for this housing crisis we have in California.’[/pullquote]Easton McAllister, the owner of DeBolt Civil Engineering, which is based out of Danville, said his company has taken on at least 50 lot splits. In roughly a dozen cases, he said he’s also offered to complete the work for free in exchange for an option to purchase the newly split lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is unclear whether these companies’ models of shepherding property owners through the process — and then selling the newly split lots or developing them themselves — are in keeping with the spirit of SB 9’s anti-speculation protections. Atkins declined to be interviewed and didn’t respond to a request for comment via email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But both Mason and the Tremaines said their projects wouldn’t have happened without some kind of professional assistance. Brian Tremaine said he wouldn’t even have known where to start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you ever go to the county, it’s impossible. … Who do you talk to?” he said. “That would have taken months — probably years, literally — just to figure it out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles, Mason is bracing for a duplex to be built behind his single-story home, while the Tremaines said they don’t yet know what kind of home might be built in their backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that’s not what worries Gail Tremaine. The law requires at least 40% of the existing lot to be sectioned off, which, in the Tremaines’ case, made for an awkward gerrymandering of the property. It meant they not only had to carve off the unused portion of their backyard but a portion of their front yard, as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That kind of tugs at my heart a little,” she said. “You know, change is always hard. And the older you get, the harder change is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"SB 9, which went into effect in January 2022, allows property owners to split their lot into two parcels and build a duplex on each lot.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1711498816,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":true,"iframeSrcs":["https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ih4uc/4/"],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":48,"wordCount":2254},"headData":{"title":"These California Companies Want to Buy Your Backyard — and Build a House | KQED","description":"SB 9, which went into effect in January 2022, allows property owners to split their lot into two parcels and build a duplex on each lot.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"source":"TCRAM","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11980785/these-california-companies-want-to-buy-your-backyard-and-build-a-house","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Brian and Gail Tremaine moved to East San José 45 years ago for the quiet. On the outskirts of this Silicon Valley city, atop what was once an apricot orchard, the couple kept sheep, goats and horses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They planted mulberry trees along the driveway and carved terraces and patios out of the sloping hillside, but a portion of the 1.7-acre property remained untamed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just become an area where we need to do weed control and keep it clean because the county gets after us if the weeds get too high,” said Brian Tremaine, 75. “We’re getting to the age where we want less land.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The couple first considered building an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) or backyard cottage. But the cost — with estimates ranging from $500,000 to $700,000 — was formidable, Brian Tremaine said, as was the idea of taking out a second mortgage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11979558\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11979558\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-8-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-8-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-8-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-8-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-8-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-8-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-8-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brian and Gail Tremaine stand in the parcel of land that will be carved from their original parcel in San José on March 13, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That’s when they learned about \u003ca href=\"https://www.buildcasa.com/\">BuildCasa \u003c/a>— a company that would purchase a portion of their backyard and assist them in splitting the lot under SB 9, a controversial law that went into effect in January 2022. It allows property owners to build up to two duplexes on most single-family properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time of its passage, supporters hailed it as the end of single-family zoning in California and an opportunity to spur more housing, while critics worried it would spark a dramatic shift in the makeup of California’s suburban neighborhoods. But in the first two years since the law was in effect, it has produced little in the way of either new lots or housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A KQED survey of 16 cities of varying sizes across the state found that between 2022 and 2023, the cities collectively approved 75 lot split applications and 112 applications for new units under the law. That’s compared to more than 8,800 ADUs the cities permitted during the same time frame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ih4uc/4/?v=3\" width=\"800\" height=\"620\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, a growing cadre of companies is hoping to jumpstart the construction of SB 9 projects by taking on the permitting and development work themselves, as well as making it easier for homeowners to take advantage of the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These types of projects are really costly and complicated for a homeowner to take on,” said Ben Bear, co-founder and CEO of BuildCasa. “They’re basically asking the homeowner to be a developer, which, from a financial and capabilities perspective, is a challenge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Southern California, \u003ca href=\"https://yardsworth.com/\">Yardsworth\u003c/a> has emerged with a model similar to BuildCasa. But unlike the latter company, which sells the lots to developers, Yardsworth plans to develop the lots themselves and either sell or rent out the new homes. Elsewhere in the state, other companies are specializing in particular aspects of SB 9.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘These types of projects are really costly and complicated for a homeowner to take on. They’re basically asking the homeowner to be a developer, which, from a financial and capabilities perspective, is a challenge.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Ben Bear, co-founder and CEO, BuildCasa.","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Bear said his clients make, on average, just over $100,000 selling the new lot — though in high-priced areas of the state, the amounts have been as high as $400,000. Homeowners get to keep their existing home and mortgage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tradeoff, he said, is a reduction in the value of the existing property by 10% or less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So there’s a major positive benefit when you compare those two numbers,” Bear said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether these offers are enticing enough to encourage more homeowners to take advantage of SB 9 remains to be seen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Muhammad Alameldin, a policy associate at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley, is skeptical that these companies alone can kickstart the construction of new housing because few projects are financially viable under SB 9. He said that without changing the law itself, it would likely result in only a smattering of new homes each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we do not go back after implementation and reform and fix some of the requirements of [SB 9],” he said, “then what’s the point of even having this big fight in the first place?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Slow uptake\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>After the law went into effect, many cities implemented their own restrictions on SB 9 projects. Alameldin co-authored a \u003ca href=\"https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/research-and-policy/sb-9-turns-one-applications/\">2023 report\u003c/a> detailing many of them: limitations on the size of new units, open space requirements and burdensome fees, to name a few.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a story that had been told before — with ADUs, which were first \u003ca href=\"https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/accessory-dwelling-units-adus-in-california/#:~:text=In%202016%2C%20the%20state%20legislature,zoning%20ordinances%20and%20permitting%20processes.\">legalized statewide in 2016\u003c/a>. It took several years and nearly a dozen new laws to reduce regulations and spur construction. In 2016, just over\u003ca href=\"https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/accessory-dwelling-units-adus-in-california/#:~:text=As%20soon%20as%20the%20first,19%25%20of%20new%20housing%20permits.\"> 1,000 ADUs were approved\u003c/a> across the state. In 2022, there were nearly 25,000 — comprising \u003ca href=\"https://www.hcd.ca.gov/planning-and-community-development/housing-open-data-tools/housing-element-implementation-and-apr-dashboard\">nearly a fifth\u003c/a> of the state’s estimated housing supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11979557\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11979557\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-5-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-5-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-5-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-5-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-5-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-5-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SANJOSE-KSM-5-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The plot of land that will be carved off of Gail and Brian Tremaine’s original lot in San José on March 13, 2024. \u003ccite>(Kathryn Styer Martínez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It wasn’t by accident,” Alameldin said. “It was years and years of legislation by multiple authors from the Assembly and Senate, who kept improving the law year after year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Toni Atkins, SB 9’s original author, has introduced a bill, \u003ca href=\"https://sd39.senate.ca.gov/news/20230320-senate-leader-atkins-introduces-legislation-improve-access-oversight-california-home\">SB 450\u003c/a>, that begins to address some of the issues that developers, planning staff and homeowners have faced. It would set a time limit for jurisdictions to approve or reject applications for SB 9 projects and mandate that new housing not be held to stricter design standards than other homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill passed in the Senate and Assembly last year but was then put on hold. It’s eligible for a floor vote this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Atkins acknowledged the slow rollout of SB 9 and said she was committed to “finding solutions to the housing crisis by building on past legislative efforts, like SB 9.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Implementation of new legislation like SB 9 doesn’t happen overnight; it takes time and thoughtful consideration,” Atkins wrote. “SB 9 is a modest tool that gives homeowners control of housing options that best meet their needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even with the proposed changes, some developers said SB 450 doesn’t go far enough. Several said they would like to see an anti-speculation measure removed that requires applicants to live on the property for three years after undergoing a lot split.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doing so would make the projects more enticing to developers, said Peter Taormina, the managing owner of a development company called Cypress Pacific Investors, who is hoping the provision can be changed in subsequent legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘Implementation of new legislation like SB 9 doesn’t happen overnight; it takes time and thoughtful consideration. SB 9 is a modest tool that gives homeowners control of housing options that best meet their needs.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"State Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego)","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“You’re going to have to let the people that do this for a living, roll up their sleeves and do it,” said Taormina, who is in the process of completing an SB 9 project in Marina, California, that consists of splitting three parcels into six with a home and an in-law unit on each. “The end result will be [that] housing will be created.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Matt Lucido, co-founder and CEO of Yardsworth, identified less tangible barriers, as well. Most people simply aren’t aware of the bill, he said, and even if they are, they may be reluctant to sell a portion of their backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a really emotional thing. People are attached to their backyards, even if they don’t use them,” he said. “You’re asking them to carve off a piece of the American dream.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To help potential clients overcome this hurdle, Yardsworth introduced a \u003ca href=\"https://zerodownca.com/\">new offer\u003c/a> earlier this month: The company will fund the down payment on a new home in exchange for a portion of the homebuyer’s yet-to-sentimentalized backyard. Lucido said that can help solve two problems simultaneously — adding housing amid a shortage and helping renters become owners.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Homeowners leverage their lots\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For those willing to take on an SB 9 project, the leaders of BuildCasa and Yardsworth said their clients tended to fall into two categories: retirees looking to downsize in place — similar to the Tremaines in San José — or younger homeowners hoping to leverage the equity in their properties without taking on debt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latter was the case for one of Yardsworth’s clients, former Olympian Jamele Mason, who competed in the 2012 Summer Games in the men’s 400-meter hurdles. Mason bought his South Los Angeles home in February 2020, right before the pandemic lockdowns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"Related Stories ","postid":"news_11968455,news_11806332,news_11770372"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At first, he thought maintaining the large backyard, with its lemon tree and pergola, would be a fun pastime. But, he quickly realized it was more work than pleasure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, I ripped up all the grass that was in the back. I put in artificial turf to try to make it as low maintenance as possible,” he said. “Turns out there is still maintenance that needs to be done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He learned about Yardsworth while researching ways to pull equity out of his house without having to sell and contacted the company last fall to begin the process. In January, he began working for Yardsworth as a sales manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mason, 34, said he plans to use the $135,000 he got from Yardsworth to buy an investment property in Houston, where he grew up. He hopes the additional property will set him up for a more comfortable retirement, something he admitted was a constant worry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I put everything I had into purchasing this house,” Mason said. “So, when I found out that I could pull the money out, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s actually a really cool way to leverage what I have.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other cases, homeowners opt to keep their split lots vacant as an investment — either to pass down to their children or sell later. Such was the case with roughly half of Peter Riechers’ 80 or so clients, who are spread out across the state, he said. The president of civil engineering firm Riechers Engineering said he was so motivated by SB 9’s potential that he came out of a 15-year retirement when the law went into effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was so exciting — still is very exciting,” he said. “You’ve got all this land sitting there, not being used … when it could be used for this housing crisis we have in California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘It was so exciting — still is very exciting. You’ve got all this land sitting there, not being used … when it could be used for this housing crisis we have in California.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Peter Riechers, president, Riechers Engineering","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Easton McAllister, the owner of DeBolt Civil Engineering, which is based out of Danville, said his company has taken on at least 50 lot splits. In roughly a dozen cases, he said he’s also offered to complete the work for free in exchange for an option to purchase the newly split lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is unclear whether these companies’ models of shepherding property owners through the process — and then selling the newly split lots or developing them themselves — are in keeping with the spirit of SB 9’s anti-speculation protections. Atkins declined to be interviewed and didn’t respond to a request for comment via email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But both Mason and the Tremaines said their projects wouldn’t have happened without some kind of professional assistance. Brian Tremaine said he wouldn’t even have known where to start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you ever go to the county, it’s impossible. … Who do you talk to?” he said. “That would have taken months — probably years, literally — just to figure it out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles, Mason is bracing for a duplex to be built behind his single-story home, while the Tremaines said they don’t yet know what kind of home might be built in their backyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that’s not what worries Gail Tremaine. The law requires at least 40% of the existing lot to be sectioned off, which, in the Tremaines’ case, made for an awkward gerrymandering of the property. It meant they not only had to carve off the unused portion of their backyard but a portion of their front yard, as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That kind of tugs at my heart a little,” she said. “You know, change is always hard. And the older you get, the harder change is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11980785/these-california-companies-want-to-buy-your-backyard-and-build-a-house","authors":["11652"],"programs":["news_72"],"categories":["news_31795","news_6266","news_8"],"tags":["news_3921","news_18538","news_27626","news_31235","news_1775","news_27208","news_21358","news_33930","news_33929","news_29952","news_33928","news_5986"],"featImg":"news_11980876","label":"source_news_11980785"},"news_11980960":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11980960","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11980960","found":true},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"another-dublin-womens-prison-officer-sentenced-for-sexual-abuse","title":"Another Dublin Women's Prison Officer Sentenced for Sexual Abuse","publishDate":1711571422,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Another Dublin Women’s Prison Officer Sentenced for Sexual Abuse | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced former women’s prison correctional officer Nakie Nunley to six years in prison for sexually abusing people incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nunley is one of eight officers to be criminally charged for sexual abuse since 2021 at the low-security federal women’s prison that has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11979936/judge-certifies-class-action-lawsuit-for-women-incarcerated-at-fci-dublin\">embroiled in sexual misconduct allegations for years\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You left a wake of destruction behind you. I don’t know how else to describe it,” said U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers on Wednesday to Nunley, just before announcing his sentence. “You were cruel, you were perverse, you were predatory, and you exploited them. A sentence has to reflect the reality of what you did. There are women you abused who have longer sentences than I will give you. One wonders if that is appropriate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Allegations of sexual abuse at FCI Dublin go back decades, and the most recent scandals began unraveling in 2021 after an investigation by The Associated Press revealed a culture of abuse and cover-up at the facility. The former warden, chaplain and multiple other officers have been charged and sentenced, but allegations of abuse have continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FCI Dublin is currently facing 63 individual lawsuits over sexual misconduct and retaliation by officers, including 12 filed this year. A separate class-action lawsuit was filed by eight women incarcerated at FCI Dublin, alleging women at the prison were subject to rampant and ongoing sexual abuse, including rape and sexual assault, drugging, groping and being forced to take explicit photos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also claims women incarcerated at the facility were subject to abuse during medical exams and that immigrants were threatened with deportation if they did not comply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nunley, who is from Fairfield, served in the U.S. Air Force before working for the Bureau of Prisons. In July 2023, he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing five women who were serving prison sentences while he was a supervisor for inmates working at a call center called UNICOR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers\"]‘You left a wake of destruction behind you. … A sentence has to reflect the reality of what you did. There are women you abused who have longer sentences than I will give you. One wonders if that is appropriate.’[/pullquote]The call center was a desirable place to work because it paid more than other jobs at the facility and women could gain transferable work skills, Molly Priedeman, assistant United States attorney who is prosecuting the case, said in court on Wednesday. She said the guard took advantage of his position and threatened women with firing and other punishment if they didn’t comply with sex acts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He held his victims’ jobs, their livelihood within the prison walls within his hands, and he used that power to harass, degrade his numerous victims,” Priedeman said. “This is not just a case where there are implicit power dynamics at play. … A number of his victims have described nightmares, suicidal thoughts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23875698-nakie-nunley-plea-agreement\">plea deal\u003c/a>, Nunley admitted that he lied to federal investigators about sexually abusing his victims and about sending one of his victims sexually explicit notes. When confronted about his behavior, Nunley threatened to transfer one woman who was incarcerated at the prison to another facility and that she could lose her job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Wednesday’s court hearing in Oakland, women currently incarcerated at FCI Dublin testified about their experiences with Nunley. One inmate said that Nunley promoted her in the call center “because he told me he liked the way I looked” and that he repeatedly sexually assaulted her in his office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11979936,news_11972346,news_11971786\"]“I felt uncomfortable and embarrassed,” the woman testified on Wednesday over a phone call. “Mr. Nunley became more and more aggressive with me after this incident. I felt scared. I didn’t know what he would do next.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another woman who was formerly incarcerated at the prison shared that Nunley left her a dozen sexually explicit notes and raped her after a shift at the call center. When she reported the notes and behavior, she said an officer laughed to the point of tears. After Nunley admitted to the acts, she received compassionate release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several family members testified in support of Nunley in the courtroom on Wednesday. “I understand and accept the allegations made against my husband,” said Samantha Nunley, the defendant’s wife. “I do not think that these actions define him as a person.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nunley himself addressed the judge and women who had testified in person on Wednesday, sharing that he has been active in therapy and a treatment program for sexual offenders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I stand here today in a place I never thought I would be, but I know that it is my own actions that brought me to this place. I want to first and foremost apologize to the women that I violated at FCI Dublin,” he said. “I’m really sorry I didn’t fulfill that promise I wanted to fulfill for them. I’m so sorry to all of those who were affected by my actions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite several convictions already, the situation at FCI Dublin has continued to spiral, and more reports of retaliation have come forward throughout criminal proceedings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is so dire at the facility that Judge Gonzalez Rogers earlier this month approved a request to appoint a special master to oversee mandatory changes to address sexual abuse and retaliation at FCI Dublin, a first in Bureau of Prisons history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorneys for plaintiffs and defendants have since submitted their proposals for the special master, which the judge will select in the coming weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judge’s decision about the special master came less than a week after an FBI raid at the facility. The prison’s warden — the third to step in since an earlier warden was charged with sexual abuse at the prison — and three other top officials were abruptly replaced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The situation can no longer be tolerated. The facility is in dire need of immediate change,” she wrote in her order. “The court finds the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) has proceeded sluggishly with intentional disregard of the inmates’ constitutional rights despite being fully apprised of the situation for years. The repeated installation of BOP leadership who fail to grasp and address the situation strains credulity. The court is compelled to intercede.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Nakie Nunley was sentenced to six years on Wednesday, the eighth officer since 2021 to be charged with sexual abuse at the low-security federal women’s prison.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1711579936,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":23,"wordCount":1121},"headData":{"title":"Another Dublin Women's Prison Officer Sentenced for Sexual Abuse | KQED","description":"Nakie Nunley was sentenced to six years on Wednesday, the eighth officer since 2021 to be charged with sexual abuse at the low-security federal women’s prison.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11980960/another-dublin-womens-prison-officer-sentenced-for-sexual-abuse","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced former women’s prison correctional officer Nakie Nunley to six years in prison for sexually abusing people incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nunley is one of eight officers to be criminally charged for sexual abuse since 2021 at the low-security federal women’s prison that has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11979936/judge-certifies-class-action-lawsuit-for-women-incarcerated-at-fci-dublin\">embroiled in sexual misconduct allegations for years\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You left a wake of destruction behind you. I don’t know how else to describe it,” said U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers on Wednesday to Nunley, just before announcing his sentence. “You were cruel, you were perverse, you were predatory, and you exploited them. A sentence has to reflect the reality of what you did. There are women you abused who have longer sentences than I will give you. One wonders if that is appropriate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Allegations of sexual abuse at FCI Dublin go back decades, and the most recent scandals began unraveling in 2021 after an investigation by The Associated Press revealed a culture of abuse and cover-up at the facility. The former warden, chaplain and multiple other officers have been charged and sentenced, but allegations of abuse have continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FCI Dublin is currently facing 63 individual lawsuits over sexual misconduct and retaliation by officers, including 12 filed this year. A separate class-action lawsuit was filed by eight women incarcerated at FCI Dublin, alleging women at the prison were subject to rampant and ongoing sexual abuse, including rape and sexual assault, drugging, groping and being forced to take explicit photos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It also claims women incarcerated at the facility were subject to abuse during medical exams and that immigrants were threatened with deportation if they did not comply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nunley, who is from Fairfield, served in the U.S. Air Force before working for the Bureau of Prisons. In July 2023, he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing five women who were serving prison sentences while he was a supervisor for inmates working at a call center called UNICOR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘You left a wake of destruction behind you. … A sentence has to reflect the reality of what you did. There are women you abused who have longer sentences than I will give you. One wonders if that is appropriate.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The call center was a desirable place to work because it paid more than other jobs at the facility and women could gain transferable work skills, Molly Priedeman, assistant United States attorney who is prosecuting the case, said in court on Wednesday. She said the guard took advantage of his position and threatened women with firing and other punishment if they didn’t comply with sex acts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He held his victims’ jobs, their livelihood within the prison walls within his hands, and he used that power to harass, degrade his numerous victims,” Priedeman said. “This is not just a case where there are implicit power dynamics at play. … A number of his victims have described nightmares, suicidal thoughts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23875698-nakie-nunley-plea-agreement\">plea deal\u003c/a>, Nunley admitted that he lied to federal investigators about sexually abusing his victims and about sending one of his victims sexually explicit notes. When confronted about his behavior, Nunley threatened to transfer one woman who was incarcerated at the prison to another facility and that she could lose her job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Wednesday’s court hearing in Oakland, women currently incarcerated at FCI Dublin testified about their experiences with Nunley. One inmate said that Nunley promoted her in the call center “because he told me he liked the way I looked” and that he repeatedly sexually assaulted her in his office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"Related Stories ","postid":"news_11979936,news_11972346,news_11971786"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I felt uncomfortable and embarrassed,” the woman testified on Wednesday over a phone call. “Mr. Nunley became more and more aggressive with me after this incident. I felt scared. I didn’t know what he would do next.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another woman who was formerly incarcerated at the prison shared that Nunley left her a dozen sexually explicit notes and raped her after a shift at the call center. When she reported the notes and behavior, she said an officer laughed to the point of tears. After Nunley admitted to the acts, she received compassionate release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several family members testified in support of Nunley in the courtroom on Wednesday. “I understand and accept the allegations made against my husband,” said Samantha Nunley, the defendant’s wife. “I do not think that these actions define him as a person.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nunley himself addressed the judge and women who had testified in person on Wednesday, sharing that he has been active in therapy and a treatment program for sexual offenders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I stand here today in a place I never thought I would be, but I know that it is my own actions that brought me to this place. I want to first and foremost apologize to the women that I violated at FCI Dublin,” he said. “I’m really sorry I didn’t fulfill that promise I wanted to fulfill for them. I’m so sorry to all of those who were affected by my actions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite several convictions already, the situation at FCI Dublin has continued to spiral, and more reports of retaliation have come forward throughout criminal proceedings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is so dire at the facility that Judge Gonzalez Rogers earlier this month approved a request to appoint a special master to oversee mandatory changes to address sexual abuse and retaliation at FCI Dublin, a first in Bureau of Prisons history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorneys for plaintiffs and defendants have since submitted their proposals for the special master, which the judge will select in the coming weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judge’s decision about the special master came less than a week after an FBI raid at the facility. The prison’s warden — the third to step in since an earlier warden was charged with sexual abuse at the prison — and three other top officials were abruptly replaced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The situation can no longer be tolerated. The facility is in dire need of immediate change,” she wrote in her order. “The court finds the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) has proceeded sluggishly with intentional disregard of the inmates’ constitutional rights despite being fully apprised of the situation for years. The repeated installation of BOP leadership who fail to grasp and address the situation strains credulity. The court is compelled to intercede.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11980960/another-dublin-womens-prison-officer-sentenced-for-sexual-abuse","authors":["11840"],"categories":["news_6188","news_8"],"tags":["news_33723","news_3930","news_2700"],"featImg":"news_11980965","label":"news"},"news_11980776":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11980776","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11980776","found":true},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"when-is-tax-deadline-2024-myths-refund","title":"The 2024 Tax Deadline Approaches. From Free Filing to Refunds, Here's What to Know","publishDate":1711549838,"format":"standard","headTitle":"The 2024 Tax Deadline Approaches. From Free Filing to Refunds, Here’s What to Know | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>There are only a few weeks left before the April 15 deadline to file your 2023 taxes if you haven’t already done so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if you’re feeling stressed about how much you may have to pay after talking to friends — or if you’re left confused by \u003ca href=\"https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dangerous-and-illegal-tax-advice-on-tiktok-targets-millennials-and-gen-z-with-w-2s-161113972.html\">a surge of social media videos giving out incorrect tax advice\u003c/a> — this one’s for you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We talked to Bay Area tax experts to understand exactly what the IRS has changed for this year’s filing and what has stayed the same — and to debunk some of those tax rumors, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#taxdeadline2024\">What’s the deadline to file my taxes this year? Can I get an extension?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#freetaxfilingirs\">How could I file my taxes directly with the IRS for free?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#childtaxcredit2024\">What’s new with the Child Tax Credit in 2024?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#taxexpertnearme\">Can I get a bigger tax refund if I use a private tax preparer?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>If you’re reading this a few days before April 15 and you’re worried that you won’t find a tax expert near you to help you file before the deadline, there’s a new IRS tool available to California filers that can help you file from home for free (\u003ca href=\"#freetaxfilingirs\">scroll down for more on that\u003c/a> ). Or if you’re looking for free, in-person tax help, there are dozens of nonprofit organizations across the Bay Area offering free tax filing services. \u003ca href=\"https://uwba.org/freetaxhelp/\">Find the closest free or low-cost tax resources with the United Way Bay Area’s map.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading to learn what’s true — or false — about filing your 2023 taxes by April 15, 2024. And remember, everyone’s tax situation is different, so if you have questions or concerns about your individual tax filing, it’s \u003cem>always\u003c/em> best to speak with a tax expert.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"taxdeadline2024\">\u003c/a>Is the deadline this year \u003ci>really\u003c/i> April 15?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>That’s right. Unless you live or work in San Diego County (more on that below), the deadline for filing your state and federal taxes in California this year is Monday, April 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past few years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11946379/tax-deadline-2023-california-bay-area-extension\">the IRS granted automatic extensions to millions of taxpayers\u003c/a> around the United States due to the pandemic and natural disasters. Last year, for example, the agency allowed millions of Californians to file and pay their taxes by Nov. 16. But this year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-time-guide-2024-what-to-know-before-completing-a-tax-return\">the IRS has stuck to their regular April 15 deadline\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The IRS, however, has granted an extension this year to a specific group of Californians: People who live or own a business in San Diego County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#tellus\">Tell us: What else do you need information about right now?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Severe storms and floods hit San Diego County in January, and following a disaster declaration from FEMA, \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-announces-tax-relief-for-taxpayers-impacted-by-severe-storms-and-flooding-in-san-diego-california\">the IRS announced that residents now have until June 17 to file their 2023 federal taxes\u003c/a>. The State of California Tax Franchise Board has also confirmed that the same extension \u003ca href=\"https://www.ftb.ca.gov/about-ftb/newsroom/tax-news/index.html#article0\">applies to state taxes for San Diego County filers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Do you need more time to file? The IRS does have \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/extension-of-time-to-file-your-tax-return\">an option to request an extension and get more time to submit all your information\u003c/a> — but this isn’t a free pass. You will still need to estimate how much you owe Uncle Sam \u003ci>and \u003c/i>pay that amount when you request the extension.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11946480\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11946480 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1400799758-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A woman sits at her kitchen table and sifts through documents, looking concerned. Next to her is her opened laptop.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1708\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1400799758-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1400799758-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1400799758-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1400799758-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1400799758-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1400799758-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1400799758-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This year, only people living and working in San Diego County have received an automatic filing extension on their state and federal taxes. \u003ccite>(MoMo Productions/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"freetaxfilingirs\">\u003c/a>I heard that I can now file my taxes directly to the IRS for free. How does that work?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This year, the IRS launched \u003ca href=\"https://directfile.irs.gov/\">a pilot version of a Direct File Tool\u003c/a>. This means that residents in 12 states, including California, can now file their taxes directly with the IRS through a virtual platform that walks you step-by-step through the process. Once you’re done, the IRS will have your information without you needing to leave the house or pay for an online tax service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://directfile.irs.gov/\">\u003cb>Learn more about filing for free with the IRS Direct File Tool here.\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>It’s been \u003ca href=\"https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free\">a long, fraught road to bring free direct tax filing to the United States\u003c/a>. Several groups across the country pushed the IRS for years to make this tool available so that more working- and middle-class families would have access to free tax filing services and reduce their dependency on private tax filers. “We believe that the tax filing should be free, simple, easy, automatic,” says Teri Olle, with the \u003ca href=\"https://economicsecurityproject.org/\">Economic Security Project\u003c/a>, one of the organizations that successfully advocated for the Direct File Tool. “This pilot really just puts money into people’s hands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are a few things to remember about the new IRS Direct File tool:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Not everyone can use Direct File\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyone who received a W-2 for their 2023 income \u003ca href=\"https://directfile.irs.gov/\">can use the Direct File tool\u003c/a>, regardless of income, as well as people who received Social Security income or unemployment benefits. Folks who do not have a Social Security number but do have an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number can also use the IRS Direct File Tool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, if you only worked gig industry jobs (like driving for Lyft or delivering for DoorDash) and you only received a 1099 but not a W-2, unfortunately, you cannot use the Direct File tool — at least not this time around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You can only file federal taxes with Direct File\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To get started with \u003ca href=\"https://directfile.irs.gov/\">the IRS Direct File Tool\u003c/a>, you’ll need your W-2, additional documentation, as well as your government ID. But once you’re done, it’s crucial that you \u003ca href=\"https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/ways-to-file/online/calfile/index.asp\">head over to CalFile to then complete your \u003ci>state\u003c/i> taxes\u003c/a> — since the IRS Direct File Tool only takes care of your federal taxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>I saw on social media that I could avoid paying taxes if I selected “Exempt” on my W-4. Is that true?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This is not true. In fact, tax experts say that doing this could actually put you in a \u003ci>much more\u003c/i> difficult position with the IRS in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To explain why, let’s review \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-4\">what a W-4 is\u003c/a>: A form that your employer should provide you with — usually when you begin working for them — that lets your employer know how much of your income they should deduct (or “withhold”) from your pay in order to pay your income taxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you get a pay stub each month, you may see that federal and state taxes have taken a percentage of your paycheck. This happens because you are marked “Non-exempt” on your W-4. When they file, many folks see that they have already paid all or most of what they owe to the IRS for the year because they’ve been paying off their tax liability bit by bit with each paycheck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, what happens when you choose to go “Exempt” on your W-4 instead? Usually, what happens is that you’ll get a bigger paycheck each month because taxes aren’t being withheld. But this doesn’t stop Uncle Sam from eventually wanting his money. When the time comes to file, you may now owe a much bigger amount because you have to pay your whole tax bill at once — versus paying it month by month if you had chosen “Non-exempt” on your W-4.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you are a gig worker (you drive for Uber, for example), \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/manage-taxes-for-your-gig-work#:~:text=Do%20you%20work%20as%20an,give%20it%20to%20your%20employer.\">you can set up quarterly payments to the IRS\u003c/a> and, that way, avoid getting hit with a huge tax bill when filing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Gig workers are] self-employed and they have to pay taxes,” says Lindsay Rojas, tax specialist and program manager with United Way Bay Area. “They’re not withholding unless they know that they need to make those estimated payments because they’re their own employer.” \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/manage-taxes-for-your-gig-work#:~:text=Do%20you%20work%20as%20an,give%20it%20to%20your%20employer.\">Learn more about how gig workers can set up direct payments to the IRS throughout the year.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11943501\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11943501 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/pexels-emma-bauso-2253879.jpg\" alt=\"A family of four -- two adult parents or caregivers, and two children -- are photographed skipping along a wet street, holding hands.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1282\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/pexels-emma-bauso-2253879.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/pexels-emma-bauso-2253879-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/pexels-emma-bauso-2253879-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/pexels-emma-bauso-2253879-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/pexels-emma-bauso-2253879-1536x1026.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">If you’ve been claiming the child tax credit, there are updates to know for 2024. \u003ccite>(Emma Bauso/Pexels)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"childtaxcredit2024\">\u003c/a>I have children but I got a smaller tax refund than my friends who also have kids. Did my tax filer do something wrong?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Something that United Way’s Rojas says she always stresses to clients: Everyone’s tax situation is different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It depends on the client,” she says, and “it’s never a cookie-cutter situation where you can say what happens with one person will happen with everybody else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rojas emphasizes, however, that families may see smaller refunds this year due to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11943464/irs-child-tax-credits-how-much-changes\">changes in the Child Tax Credit that started last year\u003c/a>. During the pandemic, the Child Tax Credit went up to $3,600 for children under 6 and to $3,000 for kids between ages 6 and 18. During that time, parents and caregivers were seeing refunds that were much bigger than what they had received before the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But starting last year, the Child Tax Credit went back down to $2,000 credit for every child 16 or younger — and kids who are 17 no longer qualify for the credit. There’s also an additional requirement to receive these rebates: Parents need to have made at least $2,500 in income last year to qualify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of this means that with these changes, many parents and caregivers may see much smaller refunds in 2024. And in some cases, families may actually \u003ci>owe\u003c/i> money to the IRS when they file, depending on their situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you made less than $2,500 last year and have kids, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/personal/credits/young-child-tax-credit.html#:~:text=Overview,income%20of%20%2430%2C931%20or%20less.\">you may still qualify for California’s Young Child Tax Credit\u003c/a>. This is a rebate for families who made $30,931 or less last year and have at least one child who is younger than 6. “[Parents] don’t have to have income to claim that credit, but they do need to be the ones who are providing the support for the child — and that [support] can come in different ways,” Rojas says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep in mind that there are also many other credits you may qualify for, depending on your situation. And if you’re filing in person, regardless of whether that’s at a free community tax clinic or with a private filer, make sure that you share exactly what has changed about your life this past year, whether that is marriage, a divorce, a kid in college or \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8936\">even if you bought an electric car\u003c/a>. And if you don’t know what you should be telling your filer, just ask them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You need to fully understand your return,” Rojas says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"taxexpertnearme\">\u003c/a>Is it true that I can get a bigger refund if I use a private tax service?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sometimes we may believe that if something’s free, it might be lower quality. Olle from the Economic Security Project says she’s noticed that this way of thinking often motivates how and where some people file their taxes — and can push them toward paying a professional tax filer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s been this conventional wisdom that the paid options ‘do better’,” she says. “But that has not been shown to be true.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a 2014 study, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent federal agency, sent undercover officials to visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-14-467t\">19 randomly selected private tax preparers\u003c/a> and found that out of those, 17 preparers made some errors when filing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAO emphasized that the sample used in the study “cannot be generalized,” but after releasing its findings, this office \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-14-467t.pdf\">recommended Congress give the IRS more power to regulate private tax preparers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you go to a free tax clinic that’s administered by the federal Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, many of the staff there have filed tax returns for years and have gone through rigorous training designed by IRS staff themselves. \u003ca href=\"https://uwba.org/freetaxhelp/\">You can find the nearest VITA site near you on United Way Bay Area’s website.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jaqueline Marcelos, who helps families file their taxes for free at San Francisco’s Mission Economic Development Agency, told KQED in 2023 that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11943464/irs-child-tax-credits-how-much-changes\">over the years, clients come to her thinking that working with a private filer instead could get them bigger returns.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So many clients say, ‘I am going to report that I donated $50, $60, or I want to put down this expense, and I am going to request an extra form in my taxes,” Marcelos says — but while a private filing company can write off what a client asks for, “that [still] might not increase the amount of money that you’re getting back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"tellus\">\u003c/a>Tell us: What else do you need information about?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At KQED News, we know that it can sometimes be hard to track down the answers to navigate life in the Bay Area in 2024. We’ve published \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/coronavirus-resources-and-explainers\">clear, practical explainers and guides about COVID-19\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11936674/how-to-prepare-for-this-weeks-atmospheric-river-storm-sandbags-emergency-kits-and-more\">how to cope with intense winter weather,\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11821950/how-to-safely-attend-a-protest-in-the-bay-area\">how to exercise your right to protest safely\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So tell us: What do you need to know more about? Tell us, and you could see your question answered online or on social media. What you submit will make our reporting stronger and help us decide what to cover here on our site and on KQED Public Radio, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[hearken id=\"10483\" src=\"https://modules.wearehearken.com/kqed/embed/10483.js\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"With just a few weekends left to file your 2023 taxes, make sure you know what to look for this year — and which online rumors about taxes are false.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1711569561,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":true,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":45,"wordCount":2307},"headData":{"title":"The 2024 Tax Deadline Approaches. From Free Filing to Refunds, Here's What to Know | KQED","description":"With just a few weekends left to file your 2023 taxes, make sure you know what to look for this year — and which online rumors about taxes are false.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11980776/when-is-tax-deadline-2024-myths-refund","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>There are only a few weeks left before the April 15 deadline to file your 2023 taxes if you haven’t already done so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if you’re feeling stressed about how much you may have to pay after talking to friends — or if you’re left confused by \u003ca href=\"https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dangerous-and-illegal-tax-advice-on-tiktok-targets-millennials-and-gen-z-with-w-2s-161113972.html\">a surge of social media videos giving out incorrect tax advice\u003c/a> — this one’s for you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We talked to Bay Area tax experts to understand exactly what the IRS has changed for this year’s filing and what has stayed the same — and to debunk some of those tax rumors, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#taxdeadline2024\">What’s the deadline to file my taxes this year? Can I get an extension?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#freetaxfilingirs\">How could I file my taxes directly with the IRS for free?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#childtaxcredit2024\">What’s new with the Child Tax Credit in 2024?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#taxexpertnearme\">Can I get a bigger tax refund if I use a private tax preparer?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>If you’re reading this a few days before April 15 and you’re worried that you won’t find a tax expert near you to help you file before the deadline, there’s a new IRS tool available to California filers that can help you file from home for free (\u003ca href=\"#freetaxfilingirs\">scroll down for more on that\u003c/a> ). Or if you’re looking for free, in-person tax help, there are dozens of nonprofit organizations across the Bay Area offering free tax filing services. \u003ca href=\"https://uwba.org/freetaxhelp/\">Find the closest free or low-cost tax resources with the United Way Bay Area’s map.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading to learn what’s true — or false — about filing your 2023 taxes by April 15, 2024. And remember, everyone’s tax situation is different, so if you have questions or concerns about your individual tax filing, it’s \u003cem>always\u003c/em> best to speak with a tax expert.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"taxdeadline2024\">\u003c/a>Is the deadline this year \u003ci>really\u003c/i> April 15?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>That’s right. Unless you live or work in San Diego County (more on that below), the deadline for filing your state and federal taxes in California this year is Monday, April 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past few years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11946379/tax-deadline-2023-california-bay-area-extension\">the IRS granted automatic extensions to millions of taxpayers\u003c/a> around the United States due to the pandemic and natural disasters. Last year, for example, the agency allowed millions of Californians to file and pay their taxes by Nov. 16. But this year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-time-guide-2024-what-to-know-before-completing-a-tax-return\">the IRS has stuck to their regular April 15 deadline\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The IRS, however, has granted an extension this year to a specific group of Californians: People who live or own a business in San Diego County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#tellus\">Tell us: What else do you need information about right now?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Severe storms and floods hit San Diego County in January, and following a disaster declaration from FEMA, \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-announces-tax-relief-for-taxpayers-impacted-by-severe-storms-and-flooding-in-san-diego-california\">the IRS announced that residents now have until June 17 to file their 2023 federal taxes\u003c/a>. The State of California Tax Franchise Board has also confirmed that the same extension \u003ca href=\"https://www.ftb.ca.gov/about-ftb/newsroom/tax-news/index.html#article0\">applies to state taxes for San Diego County filers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Do you need more time to file? The IRS does have \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/extension-of-time-to-file-your-tax-return\">an option to request an extension and get more time to submit all your information\u003c/a> — but this isn’t a free pass. You will still need to estimate how much you owe Uncle Sam \u003ci>and \u003c/i>pay that amount when you request the extension.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11946480\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11946480 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1400799758-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A woman sits at her kitchen table and sifts through documents, looking concerned. Next to her is her opened laptop.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1708\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1400799758-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1400799758-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1400799758-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1400799758-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1400799758-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1400799758-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/04/GettyImages-1400799758-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This year, only people living and working in San Diego County have received an automatic filing extension on their state and federal taxes. \u003ccite>(MoMo Productions/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"freetaxfilingirs\">\u003c/a>I heard that I can now file my taxes directly to the IRS for free. How does that work?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This year, the IRS launched \u003ca href=\"https://directfile.irs.gov/\">a pilot version of a Direct File Tool\u003c/a>. This means that residents in 12 states, including California, can now file their taxes directly with the IRS through a virtual platform that walks you step-by-step through the process. Once you’re done, the IRS will have your information without you needing to leave the house or pay for an online tax service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://directfile.irs.gov/\">\u003cb>Learn more about filing for free with the IRS Direct File Tool here.\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>It’s been \u003ca href=\"https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free\">a long, fraught road to bring free direct tax filing to the United States\u003c/a>. Several groups across the country pushed the IRS for years to make this tool available so that more working- and middle-class families would have access to free tax filing services and reduce their dependency on private tax filers. “We believe that the tax filing should be free, simple, easy, automatic,” says Teri Olle, with the \u003ca href=\"https://economicsecurityproject.org/\">Economic Security Project\u003c/a>, one of the organizations that successfully advocated for the Direct File Tool. “This pilot really just puts money into people’s hands.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are a few things to remember about the new IRS Direct File tool:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Not everyone can use Direct File\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyone who received a W-2 for their 2023 income \u003ca href=\"https://directfile.irs.gov/\">can use the Direct File tool\u003c/a>, regardless of income, as well as people who received Social Security income or unemployment benefits. Folks who do not have a Social Security number but do have an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number can also use the IRS Direct File Tool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, if you only worked gig industry jobs (like driving for Lyft or delivering for DoorDash) and you only received a 1099 but not a W-2, unfortunately, you cannot use the Direct File tool — at least not this time around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You can only file federal taxes with Direct File\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To get started with \u003ca href=\"https://directfile.irs.gov/\">the IRS Direct File Tool\u003c/a>, you’ll need your W-2, additional documentation, as well as your government ID. But once you’re done, it’s crucial that you \u003ca href=\"https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/ways-to-file/online/calfile/index.asp\">head over to CalFile to then complete your \u003ci>state\u003c/i> taxes\u003c/a> — since the IRS Direct File Tool only takes care of your federal taxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>I saw on social media that I could avoid paying taxes if I selected “Exempt” on my W-4. Is that true?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>This is not true. In fact, tax experts say that doing this could actually put you in a \u003ci>much more\u003c/i> difficult position with the IRS in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To explain why, let’s review \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-4\">what a W-4 is\u003c/a>: A form that your employer should provide you with — usually when you begin working for them — that lets your employer know how much of your income they should deduct (or “withhold”) from your pay in order to pay your income taxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you get a pay stub each month, you may see that federal and state taxes have taken a percentage of your paycheck. This happens because you are marked “Non-exempt” on your W-4. When they file, many folks see that they have already paid all or most of what they owe to the IRS for the year because they’ve been paying off their tax liability bit by bit with each paycheck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, what happens when you choose to go “Exempt” on your W-4 instead? Usually, what happens is that you’ll get a bigger paycheck each month because taxes aren’t being withheld. But this doesn’t stop Uncle Sam from eventually wanting his money. When the time comes to file, you may now owe a much bigger amount because you have to pay your whole tax bill at once — versus paying it month by month if you had chosen “Non-exempt” on your W-4.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you are a gig worker (you drive for Uber, for example), \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/manage-taxes-for-your-gig-work#:~:text=Do%20you%20work%20as%20an,give%20it%20to%20your%20employer.\">you can set up quarterly payments to the IRS\u003c/a> and, that way, avoid getting hit with a huge tax bill when filing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Gig workers are] self-employed and they have to pay taxes,” says Lindsay Rojas, tax specialist and program manager with United Way Bay Area. “They’re not withholding unless they know that they need to make those estimated payments because they’re their own employer.” \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/manage-taxes-for-your-gig-work#:~:text=Do%20you%20work%20as%20an,give%20it%20to%20your%20employer.\">Learn more about how gig workers can set up direct payments to the IRS throughout the year.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11943501\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11943501 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/pexels-emma-bauso-2253879.jpg\" alt=\"A family of four -- two adult parents or caregivers, and two children -- are photographed skipping along a wet street, holding hands.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1282\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/pexels-emma-bauso-2253879.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/pexels-emma-bauso-2253879-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/pexels-emma-bauso-2253879-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/pexels-emma-bauso-2253879-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/03/pexels-emma-bauso-2253879-1536x1026.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">If you’ve been claiming the child tax credit, there are updates to know for 2024. \u003ccite>(Emma Bauso/Pexels)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"childtaxcredit2024\">\u003c/a>I have children but I got a smaller tax refund than my friends who also have kids. Did my tax filer do something wrong?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Something that United Way’s Rojas says she always stresses to clients: Everyone’s tax situation is different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It depends on the client,” she says, and “it’s never a cookie-cutter situation where you can say what happens with one person will happen with everybody else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rojas emphasizes, however, that families may see smaller refunds this year due to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11943464/irs-child-tax-credits-how-much-changes\">changes in the Child Tax Credit that started last year\u003c/a>. During the pandemic, the Child Tax Credit went up to $3,600 for children under 6 and to $3,000 for kids between ages 6 and 18. During that time, parents and caregivers were seeing refunds that were much bigger than what they had received before the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But starting last year, the Child Tax Credit went back down to $2,000 credit for every child 16 or younger — and kids who are 17 no longer qualify for the credit. There’s also an additional requirement to receive these rebates: Parents need to have made at least $2,500 in income last year to qualify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of this means that with these changes, many parents and caregivers may see much smaller refunds in 2024. And in some cases, families may actually \u003ci>owe\u003c/i> money to the IRS when they file, depending on their situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you made less than $2,500 last year and have kids, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/personal/credits/young-child-tax-credit.html#:~:text=Overview,income%20of%20%2430%2C931%20or%20less.\">you may still qualify for California’s Young Child Tax Credit\u003c/a>. This is a rebate for families who made $30,931 or less last year and have at least one child who is younger than 6. “[Parents] don’t have to have income to claim that credit, but they do need to be the ones who are providing the support for the child — and that [support] can come in different ways,” Rojas says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep in mind that there are also many other credits you may qualify for, depending on your situation. And if you’re filing in person, regardless of whether that’s at a free community tax clinic or with a private filer, make sure that you share exactly what has changed about your life this past year, whether that is marriage, a divorce, a kid in college or \u003ca href=\"https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8936\">even if you bought an electric car\u003c/a>. And if you don’t know what you should be telling your filer, just ask them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You need to fully understand your return,” Rojas says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"taxexpertnearme\">\u003c/a>Is it true that I can get a bigger refund if I use a private tax service?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sometimes we may believe that if something’s free, it might be lower quality. Olle from the Economic Security Project says she’s noticed that this way of thinking often motivates how and where some people file their taxes — and can push them toward paying a professional tax filer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s been this conventional wisdom that the paid options ‘do better’,” she says. “But that has not been shown to be true.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a 2014 study, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent federal agency, sent undercover officials to visit \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-14-467t\">19 randomly selected private tax preparers\u003c/a> and found that out of those, 17 preparers made some errors when filing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GAO emphasized that the sample used in the study “cannot be generalized,” but after releasing its findings, this office \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-14-467t.pdf\">recommended Congress give the IRS more power to regulate private tax preparers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you go to a free tax clinic that’s administered by the federal Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, many of the staff there have filed tax returns for years and have gone through rigorous training designed by IRS staff themselves. \u003ca href=\"https://uwba.org/freetaxhelp/\">You can find the nearest VITA site near you on United Way Bay Area’s website.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jaqueline Marcelos, who helps families file their taxes for free at San Francisco’s Mission Economic Development Agency, told KQED in 2023 that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11943464/irs-child-tax-credits-how-much-changes\">over the years, clients come to her thinking that working with a private filer instead could get them bigger returns.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So many clients say, ‘I am going to report that I donated $50, $60, or I want to put down this expense, and I am going to request an extra form in my taxes,” Marcelos says — but while a private filing company can write off what a client asks for, “that [still] might not increase the amount of money that you’re getting back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"tellus\">\u003c/a>Tell us: What else do you need information about?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At KQED News, we know that it can sometimes be hard to track down the answers to navigate life in the Bay Area in 2024. We’ve published \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/coronavirus-resources-and-explainers\">clear, practical explainers and guides about COVID-19\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11936674/how-to-prepare-for-this-weeks-atmospheric-river-storm-sandbags-emergency-kits-and-more\">how to cope with intense winter weather,\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11821950/how-to-safely-attend-a-protest-in-the-bay-area\">how to exercise your right to protest safely\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So tell us: What do you need to know more about? Tell us, and you could see your question answered online or on social media. What you submit will make our reporting stronger and help us decide what to cover here on our site and on KQED Public Radio, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"hearken","attributes":{"named":{"id":"10483","src":"https://modules.wearehearken.com/kqed/embed/10483.js","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11980776/when-is-tax-deadline-2024-myths-refund","authors":["11708"],"categories":["news_8"],"tags":["news_32707","news_29235","news_27626","news_19333"],"featImg":"news_11980812","label":"news"},"news_11980953":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11980953","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11980953","found":true},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"california-regulators-investigate-sutter-health-over-unreported-assault-on-psychiatry-worker","title":"California Regulators Investigate Sutter Health Over Unreported Assault on Psychiatry Worker","publishDate":1711562257,"format":"standard","headTitle":"California Regulators Investigate Sutter Health Over Unreported Assault on Psychiatry Worker | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>California regulators are reviewing Sutter Health’s handling of a violent assault on a psychiatry resident after she \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1991739/bay-area-medical-psychiatry-pushes-for-hospital-safety-after-violent-attack\">shared her story with KQED\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dani Golomb was brutally beaten and knocked unconscious by a patient on Sept. 5, 2020, while working in the inpatient unit at California Pacific Medical Center. The patient jumped her from behind, shoving Golomb to the floor.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Dani Golomb, psychiatry resident, California Pacific Medical Center\"]‘I had one of these folding metal clipboards. [The patient] grabbed it out of my hand and smashed it repeatedly on my head.’[/pullquote]“I was punched in the head, neck and shoulders,” she told KQED in an interview. “I had one of these folding metal clipboards. [The patient] grabbed it out of my hand and smashed it repeatedly on my head.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golomb suffered a concussion and a traumatic brain injury. She missed more than a year of work as she recovered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sutter Health was legally required to file a violent incident report to state regulators within 72 hours, but the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, has no record of the incident, the agency confirmed in an email to KQED. Cal/OSHA said it was “looking into the matter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an emailed statement, Sutter Health acknowledged that the hospital did not initially report Golomb’s assault or injury but said it did record the assault in an injury log filed with Cal/OSHA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think, whether intentionally unreported or not, what upsets me the most is the possibility that more safety measures could have been implemented if Cal/OSHA had been aware of the violence,” Golomb said in an interview this week with KQED. “I think it’s a relief to hear that state regulators are looking into my case. I feel angry that it wasn’t properly reported in the first place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980970\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980970\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240209-HOSPITALVIOLENCE-20-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240209-HOSPITALVIOLENCE-20-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240209-HOSPITALVIOLENCE-20-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240209-HOSPITALVIOLENCE-20-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240209-HOSPITALVIOLENCE-20-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240209-HOSPITALVIOLENCE-20-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240209-HOSPITALVIOLENCE-20-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dani Golomb, psychiatry resident at CPMC Sutter Davies Campus, poses for a portrait at her home in San Francisco on Feb. 9, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 2014, California lawmakers passed what was touted as the nation’s strongest state workplace violence regulations for health care facilities. The law, SB 1299, was sponsored by the California Nurses Association. It requires hospitals to develop comprehensive workplace violence prevention plans, and it mandates strict reporting requirements for acute care settings, like the inpatient psychiatry unit where Golomb was beaten.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Carmen Comsti, lead regulatory specialist, California Nurses Association\"]‘Enforcement on a basic level has been lax. My sense is that no one at Cal/OSHA is really looking to see whether or not hospitals are reporting or not.’[/pullquote]“I authored legislation to help ensure safer working environments for the nurses and doctors who provide critical care for our communities, but it’s clear that more needs to be done to build on our efforts,” Sen. Alex Padilla, who wrote SB 1299 when he was a state lawmaker, said in a statement. “Physicians on the frontlines of our mental health crisis deserve a safe workplace.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2017, California hospitals have reported roughly 10,000 violent incidents annually to the state. Carmen Comsti, the California Nurses Association’s lead regulatory specialist, said that many hospitals are underreporting violent incidents, and regulators have not been holding facilities accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Enforcement on a basic level has been lax,” she said. “My sense is that no one at Cal/OSHA is really looking to see whether or not hospitals are reporting or not.”[aside label='More on Workplace Safety' tag='workplace-safety']“The violent incident reports are key to the success of implementation of workplace violence prevention plans,” Comsti continued. “[They allow] workers to know what is happening and can engage with their employer to say these things we need to improve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golomb and her colleagues have pressed Sutter Health to increase its safety measures. Earlier this month, they delivered a petition to hospital management signed by more than 100 psychiatry residents, fellows and nurses who demanded a round-the-clock security presence in the inpatient psych unit and an intensive care unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our ability to continue to provide the highest standard of care is increasingly threatened by a growing concern for our own safety in our workplace,” the petition said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sutter claims it has spent nearly $40 million to improve security for the unit where Golomb was attacked, purchasing cameras, panic buttons, duress alarms and securing doors. A security officer is now stationed there during the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On March 8, the day after KQED’s story on Golomb was published, Warner Thomas, Sutter Health’s president and CEO, sent an email to hospital employees titled, “Keeping you safe from harm at work.”[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Dani Golomb, psychiatry resident, California Pacific Medical Center\"]‘My goal since the beginning of all this was to work towards creating a safer environment for my peers, patients, nurses and the rest of our staff.’[/pullquote]The email noted Sutter’s plan to spend an additional $45 million to simplify workplace violence reporting, develop new signage, increase training and expand security officer patrols.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many of you have also voiced your concerns about safety at our Sutter Health worksites,” Thomas wrote. “I want to thank you for speaking up and talking about your experiences with me and other leaders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golomb said there have been “notable improvements” at work, with a more consistent security presence. Residents were also given panic buttons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My goal since the beginning of all this was to work towards creating a safer environment for my peers, patients, nurses and the rest of our staff,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"California regulators are probing Sutter Health's handling of a violent assault on a psychiatry resident at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. Sutter Health was legally required to report the incident to Cal/OSHA within 72 hours, but the agency says it has no record.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1711644494,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":18,"wordCount":989},"headData":{"title":"California Regulators Investigate Sutter Health Over Unreported Assault on Psychiatry Worker | KQED","description":"California regulators are probing Sutter Health's handling of a violent assault on a psychiatry resident at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. Sutter Health was legally required to report the incident to Cal/OSHA within 72 hours, but the agency says it has no record.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"audioUrl":"https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-4[…]f-aaef00f5a073/5c80cb40-b062-4ca0-beaa-b1410108bd4a/audio.mp3","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11980953/california-regulators-investigate-sutter-health-over-unreported-assault-on-psychiatry-worker","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California regulators are reviewing Sutter Health’s handling of a violent assault on a psychiatry resident after she \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1991739/bay-area-medical-psychiatry-pushes-for-hospital-safety-after-violent-attack\">shared her story with KQED\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dani Golomb was brutally beaten and knocked unconscious by a patient on Sept. 5, 2020, while working in the inpatient unit at California Pacific Medical Center. The patient jumped her from behind, shoving Golomb to the floor.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘I had one of these folding metal clipboards. [The patient] grabbed it out of my hand and smashed it repeatedly on my head.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Dani Golomb, psychiatry resident, California Pacific Medical Center","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I was punched in the head, neck and shoulders,” she told KQED in an interview. “I had one of these folding metal clipboards. [The patient] grabbed it out of my hand and smashed it repeatedly on my head.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golomb suffered a concussion and a traumatic brain injury. She missed more than a year of work as she recovered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sutter Health was legally required to file a violent incident report to state regulators within 72 hours, but the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, has no record of the incident, the agency confirmed in an email to KQED. Cal/OSHA said it was “looking into the matter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an emailed statement, Sutter Health acknowledged that the hospital did not initially report Golomb’s assault or injury but said it did record the assault in an injury log filed with Cal/OSHA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think, whether intentionally unreported or not, what upsets me the most is the possibility that more safety measures could have been implemented if Cal/OSHA had been aware of the violence,” Golomb said in an interview this week with KQED. “I think it’s a relief to hear that state regulators are looking into my case. I feel angry that it wasn’t properly reported in the first place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980970\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980970\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240209-HOSPITALVIOLENCE-20-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240209-HOSPITALVIOLENCE-20-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240209-HOSPITALVIOLENCE-20-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240209-HOSPITALVIOLENCE-20-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240209-HOSPITALVIOLENCE-20-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240209-HOSPITALVIOLENCE-20-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240209-HOSPITALVIOLENCE-20-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dani Golomb, psychiatry resident at CPMC Sutter Davies Campus, poses for a portrait at her home in San Francisco on Feb. 9, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 2014, California lawmakers passed what was touted as the nation’s strongest state workplace violence regulations for health care facilities. The law, SB 1299, was sponsored by the California Nurses Association. It requires hospitals to develop comprehensive workplace violence prevention plans, and it mandates strict reporting requirements for acute care settings, like the inpatient psychiatry unit where Golomb was beaten.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘Enforcement on a basic level has been lax. My sense is that no one at Cal/OSHA is really looking to see whether or not hospitals are reporting or not.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Carmen Comsti, lead regulatory specialist, California Nurses Association","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I authored legislation to help ensure safer working environments for the nurses and doctors who provide critical care for our communities, but it’s clear that more needs to be done to build on our efforts,” Sen. Alex Padilla, who wrote SB 1299 when he was a state lawmaker, said in a statement. “Physicians on the frontlines of our mental health crisis deserve a safe workplace.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2017, California hospitals have reported roughly 10,000 violent incidents annually to the state. Carmen Comsti, the California Nurses Association’s lead regulatory specialist, said that many hospitals are underreporting violent incidents, and regulators have not been holding facilities accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Enforcement on a basic level has been lax,” she said. “My sense is that no one at Cal/OSHA is really looking to see whether or not hospitals are reporting or not.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"label":"More on Workplace Safety ","tag":"workplace-safety"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The violent incident reports are key to the success of implementation of workplace violence prevention plans,” Comsti continued. “[They allow] workers to know what is happening and can engage with their employer to say these things we need to improve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golomb and her colleagues have pressed Sutter Health to increase its safety measures. Earlier this month, they delivered a petition to hospital management signed by more than 100 psychiatry residents, fellows and nurses who demanded a round-the-clock security presence in the inpatient psych unit and an intensive care unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our ability to continue to provide the highest standard of care is increasingly threatened by a growing concern for our own safety in our workplace,” the petition said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sutter claims it has spent nearly $40 million to improve security for the unit where Golomb was attacked, purchasing cameras, panic buttons, duress alarms and securing doors. A security officer is now stationed there during the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On March 8, the day after KQED’s story on Golomb was published, Warner Thomas, Sutter Health’s president and CEO, sent an email to hospital employees titled, “Keeping you safe from harm at work.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘My goal since the beginning of all this was to work towards creating a safer environment for my peers, patients, nurses and the rest of our staff.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Dani Golomb, psychiatry resident, California Pacific Medical Center","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The email noted Sutter’s plan to spend an additional $45 million to simplify workplace violence reporting, develop new signage, increase training and expand security officer patrols.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many of you have also voiced your concerns about safety at our Sutter Health worksites,” Thomas wrote. “I want to thank you for speaking up and talking about your experiences with me and other leaders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Golomb said there have been “notable improvements” at work, with a more consistent security presence. Residents were also given panic buttons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My goal since the beginning of all this was to work towards creating a safer environment for my peers, patients, nurses and the rest of our staff,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11980953/california-regulators-investigate-sutter-health-over-unreported-assault-on-psychiatry-worker","authors":["11608"],"categories":["news_8"],"tags":["news_24939","news_6617","news_18093","news_23063","news_33132"],"featImg":"news_11980957","label":"news"},"forum_2010101905184":{"type":"posts","id":"forum_2010101905184","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"forum","id":"2010101905184","found":true},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"how-to-climb-mt-everest-sustainably-and-ethically","title":"How to Climb Mt. Everest Sustainably and Ethically","publishDate":1711574275,"format":"audio","headTitle":"How to Climb Mt. Everest Sustainably and Ethically | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"forum"},"content":"\u003cp>Adrian Ballinger, a mountain guide based in California, has reached Mt. Everest’s peak 8 times – including once without supplemental oxygen. Now that China has reopened the less-traversed north side route to foreigners, he’s headed back next month for the first time in four years. We talk to him about what draws hundreds of climbers to attempt to summit Mt. Everest every year, how to climb ethically and sustainably as ever more visitors descend on the mountain and what it feels like to be on top of the tallest peak in the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":null,"status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1711655081,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":3,"wordCount":100},"headData":{"title":"How to Climb Mt. Everest Sustainably and Ethically | KQED","description":"Adrian Ballinger, a mountain guide based in California, has reached Mt. Everest’s peak 8 times - including once without supplemental oxygen. Now that China has reopened the less-traversed north side route to foreigners, he’s headed back next month for the first time in four years. We talk to him about what draws hundreds of climbers to attempt to summit Mt. Everest every year, how to climb ethically and sustainably as ever more visitors descend on the mountain and what it feels like to be on top of the tallest peak in the world.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"audioUrl":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/chrt.fm/track/G6C7C3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC8467217630.mp3?updated=1711655296","airdate":1711645200,"forumGuests":[{"name":"Adrian Ballinger","bio":"mountain guide; founder, Alpenglow Expeditions"},{"name":"Graham Cooper","bio":"member of Mt. Everest expedition team"}],"sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/forum/2010101905184/how-to-climb-mt-everest-sustainably-and-ethically","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Adrian Ballinger, a mountain guide based in California, has reached Mt. Everest’s peak 8 times – including once without supplemental oxygen. Now that China has reopened the less-traversed north side route to foreigners, he’s headed back next month for the first time in four years. We talk to him about what draws hundreds of climbers to attempt to summit Mt. Everest every year, how to climb ethically and sustainably as ever more visitors descend on the mountain and what it feels like to be on top of the tallest peak in the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/forum/2010101905184/how-to-climb-mt-everest-sustainably-and-ethically","authors":["251"],"categories":["forum_165"],"featImg":"forum_2010101905191","label":"forum"},"news_11980854":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11980854","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11980854","found":true},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"babies-and-toddlers-are-entitled-to-developmental-therapies-many-arent-getting-them","title":"Babies and Toddlers With Developmental Delays Are Entitled to Care. Many Aren't Getting It","publishDate":1711533606,"format":"audio","headTitle":"Babies and Toddlers With Developmental Delays Are Entitled to Care. Many Aren’t Getting It | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every child in California under 3 is entitled to early intervention services like physical, speech, and occupational therapy if they show signs that they need developmental support. Experts say getting these services early and in-person is critical for babies’ development, and that it can actually reduce the need for special education services later in life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But many families aren’t receiving the care they need. KQED’s Daisy Nguyen explains why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Links: \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980312/a-caregivers-guide-to-navigating-early-intervention-services\">‘Early Start’ 101: Here’s How Families Can Access Early Intervention Services for Younger Kids\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC5200793499\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra and welcome to the Bay. Local news to keep you rooted. Baby brains have lots to absorb early on. They’re learning how to walk and talk, and their brains are most adaptable in the first three years of life. That makes it a crucial period, because if the child shows signs of delays in their development, those first three years are the time to intervene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Receiving early intervention services could really change the developmental path of a child. It could make a big difference, but it has to be given during this period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>In California, babies are entitled to help from the state. They show signs of developmental delay, and it happens through a program known as Early Start. But many of the neediest families aren’t getting that help today. I talked with KQED early childhood education reporter Daisy Nguyen about the barriers to getting babies crucial, life altering services on time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Reyna Balladares, is a foster parent who lives in the tenderloin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Then she became a foster parent, during the pandemic. She told me that at the time when the, you know, the world was shutting down, she wanted to open up her home to help foster children. She first took care of a baby boy for about six months. And, I think that was a really good experience for her, even though ultimately, you know, that the child was placed in a different home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>And then she met this little girl, this newborn baby in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>She told me that she just remembered the the baby’s smile and just how sweet her face was. How she lit up when she saw her second city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>You know, it broke her heart that the situation, that in which this girl came to her. But the little glimmer of hope when she saw that the girl was making some progress in her development, really reinforced her desire to want to advocate for this, for this little girl.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>When did Reyna start to notice this little girl struggling a little bit in her development?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>She said this child was just slow to begin walking and talking. And I think because Reyna had raised two daughters, she had some personal experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>She just felt something wasn’t right. And she she said she mentioned this to doctors who initially told her this is normal. That was slightly dismissive. But she was certain that there was something going on. And ultimately, after seeing specialists, it was confirmed to her that this little girl needed a lot of early intervention services, essentially to help her reach her potential. It was recommended that this little girl receives a physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and feeding therapy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>We’re talking about really important services that kids need very early on. And I mean, I have to imagine time is of the essence. Why was it so hard for Rina to get the services that she needed for this baby girl? Why did she have to push so hard?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>When I learned was just that the regional center has been overwhelmed, especially since the pandemic, with just a high caseload of children seeking services and probably some staffing shortages, not only at the regional center, but also with a shortage of early intervention providers. Families have to really push to get the services that they need in a timely manner and in the way that they want it to receive it, meaning if they want it to happen in the natural environment of the child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Reyna said that what she stumbled upon was just a lot of resistance by the therapist to come to the tenderloin, where she lives. She told me that the regional center coordinators told her that the therapists were just afraid to come to the tenderloin because they felt unsafe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>What does Reyna say about what it was like to not have therapists willing to meet with her foster daughter in person?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>She just felt it was unjust that it was because of where she lives. The therapists weren’t coming there to provide the services that her foster daughter crucially needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>What happened instead was that she was given an alternative, but it wasn’t what she wanted. So the Golden Gate Regional Center was telling her that she could take her foster child to the different clinics across San Francisco to make all these different appointments, which kind of stacked up during the week for her. She had to take a lot of time out of her working days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>But the other alternative was to have these services done through zoom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>It wasn’t ideal. She said her foster child would not respond to the therapist or just not want to sit in front of a screen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I want to step back a little bit, Daisy, and talk a little bit more about what early intervention services are, what kind of services are we talking about? Exactly? And I know these services are also things that families are entitled to. Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Children with developmental delays are entitled to receive a host of early intervention services to enhance their ability to sit or walk or talk. The services could include physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy. It could even include equipment that helps young children maintain or improve certain skills, or parents could also receive some counseling and training to support their child’s developmental needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Getting the services as early as possible is crucial for children. Experts say that’s because this is a period when children’s brain are rapidly developing, and so they’re more adaptable. So receiving early intervention services could really change the developmental path of a child. It could make a big difference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>But it has to be given during this period. This is a federal program that’s administered in California by a network of nonprofit regional centers. So in the Bay area, the Golden Gate Regional Center is responsible for coordinating these services for families in San Francisco, Marin, and San Mateo County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>What are the bigger systemic problems with the state system for these early intervention services?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>This program has always been plagued by understaffing and underinvestment by the government. The therapist who would provide these services. They are not paid a competitive rate. The rates in which the providers get paid have never been as competitive as what the private market is able to pay for these services, and so they’re just less incentivized to to provide services through this program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>And so they’re in demand, which means that the number of families who who need the service, who requested these services and are eligible for these services have to kind of wait sometimes just to get it. The other issue is that they don’t get paid to travel to a family’s home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>So as an alternative, what they’re able to offer to families is appointments in their offices or through telehealth, meaning appointments through zoom. And but for these some of these families, this is not what they considered an ideal way for their children to receive these services. They consider it substandard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Coming up, how underfunding has hurt those who need the most help and how do we fix this? Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I want to talk more Daisy through, I guess, some of the consequences of this inadequate funding, as you were kind of just starting to talk about. What did you find?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Doctor Jennifer Albon is a pediatrician at UCSF.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Jennifer Albon: \u003c/strong>Most of my young patients are needing early intervention services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>So she just is seeing, you know, growing geographic and socioeconomic disparities when it comes to who gets early intervention services in their home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Jennifer Albon: \u003c/strong>I have many families who, like, live in certain neighborhoods of San Francisco, and the regional center has flat out told them and told us that there’s not providers who will go to your neighborhood, even within San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>What does Doctor Albon say about the importance of providing this treatment in these children’s homes, but specifically no matter where they live?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>She says it’s just more ideal because children learn best when they’re in familiar surroundings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Jennifer Albon: \u003c/strong>You know, they get scared of coming into like, offices and other things like that. So it’s harder for them to participate when it’s not like their natural environments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>The parents are also receiving some of the training themselves, so that for the rest of that week, when there’s no therapy, they’re able to practice what they’ve been trained to, you know, by the therapists to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Jennifer Albon: \u003c/strong>The goal for it to be kind of in their natural environment is that they have all of their regular things. And the and the therapists are showing the family what to do with what they have at home or in these natural environments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>And I should add that it is it’s a lot. It’s a law where it says that services should ideally be provided in the natural environment. The growth in online therapies have made it accessible for many people. But I think in the case with young children, it’s it’s created more inequities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Will these issues that we’re talking about are systemic, as you described earlier, and they’re also not all new, but what can we do to fix this problem?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>I spoke with leaders of the regional centers, and they say that’s really like the you know, they recognize that this is a distressing situation that they’ve been trying to address for a long time, and they can’t compel therapists to see children in person if they’re just not getting, you know, they’re not being paid enough to do it. And so they’re really calling for greater investment by the state and federal government in the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>The state has been gradually been increasing the reimbursement rates for early intervention services. But this budget year, Governor Gavin Newsom wants to delay full implementation of the increases, and the regional center leaders are saying like they they really don’t think delay is a good idea, because increasing the rate is encouraging the therapists to do the work to go and see children in the natural environment. And also it’s encouraging them to to hire more people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Ultra regional center services Sacramento and about 9 or 10 surrounding counties, and they receive some federal pandemic aid money to implement a pilot project, where they offered an incentive to therapists to go to underserved zip codes and also hard to reach areas in their region. And they noticed that these incentives, which is I think it was something like $200 per visit, that they saw an increase in the number of children seen in these underserved areas. So clearly, you know, money talks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Coming back to Reyna Balladares, what is she going to do next?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Her foster child just turned three, which means she is, quote unquote, aged out of, early intervention services. And Raina believes that she could have made much more progress if she had received consistent services. Her daughter now will need more, special education services through the San Francisco Unified School District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That is kind of heartbreaking, because it sounds like she wasn’t able to get the critical services she needed on time. But at the same time, Raina seems like this very active parent who knows a lot and who really pushed to make sure her kid got the services she needed. But I also imagine there’s probably lots of families who struggle to navigate these services, or maybe just don’t even have the time to and I mean, just maybe give up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>I think that’s what compelled, Reyna to speak with me, because she would she wanted to speak out on behalf of those parents who you can imagine. I think having a child who, if you’re. Especially if you’re a first time parent, just absorbing the news that your child has a developmental delay. These families are often in crisis, and they don’t have the time to make constant calls to the regional center and push for these types of services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Ultimately, Reyna wants to adopt the the baby girl, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>She fell in love with this child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>She is much closer to getting the adoption approved bundle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>And when I met with them, I mean, you can just see this clear bond. And, she she just wants to do what’s best for this little girl.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Well, Daisy, thank you so much for breaking this down for us. I really appreciate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Yeah. No problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That was Daisy Nguyen, an early childhood education reporter for KQED. This 38 minute conversation with Daisy was cut down and edited by our intern, Ellie Prickett-Morgan and our senior editor, Alan Montecillo. Maria Esquinca is our producer. She scored this episode and added all the tape music courtesy of the Audio Network. Special thanks as well to Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>By the way, did you know that the Bay is listener supported? Meaning our funders are people just like you? So if you appreciate the value that the Bay brings to your life, consider becoming a KQED member. Just go to KQED.org/Donate. The Bay is a production of listener supported KQED in San Francisco. I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Thanks for listening. Talk to you next time.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Experts say getting these services early and in-person is critical for babies’ development.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1711565224,"stats":{"hasAudio":true,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":75,"wordCount":2625},"headData":{"title":"Babies and Toddlers With Developmental Delays Are Entitled to Care. Many Aren't Getting It | KQED","description":"Experts say getting these services early and in-person is critical for babies’ development.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"source":"The Bay","sourceUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/thebay/","audioUrl":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/chrt.fm/track/G6C7C3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC5200793499.mp3?updated=1711491360","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11980854/babies-and-toddlers-are-entitled-to-developmental-therapies-many-arent-getting-them","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every child in California under 3 is entitled to early intervention services like physical, speech, and occupational therapy if they show signs that they need developmental support. Experts say getting these services early and in-person is critical for babies’ development, and that it can actually reduce the need for special education services later in life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But many families aren’t receiving the care they need. KQED’s Daisy Nguyen explains why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Links: \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980312/a-caregivers-guide-to-navigating-early-intervention-services\">‘Early Start’ 101: Here’s How Families Can Access Early Intervention Services for Younger Kids\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC5200793499\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra and welcome to the Bay. Local news to keep you rooted. Baby brains have lots to absorb early on. They’re learning how to walk and talk, and their brains are most adaptable in the first three years of life. That makes it a crucial period, because if the child shows signs of delays in their development, those first three years are the time to intervene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Receiving early intervention services could really change the developmental path of a child. It could make a big difference, but it has to be given during this period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>In California, babies are entitled to help from the state. They show signs of developmental delay, and it happens through a program known as Early Start. But many of the neediest families aren’t getting that help today. I talked with KQED early childhood education reporter Daisy Nguyen about the barriers to getting babies crucial, life altering services on time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Reyna Balladares, is a foster parent who lives in the tenderloin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Then she became a foster parent, during the pandemic. She told me that at the time when the, you know, the world was shutting down, she wanted to open up her home to help foster children. She first took care of a baby boy for about six months. And, I think that was a really good experience for her, even though ultimately, you know, that the child was placed in a different home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>And then she met this little girl, this newborn baby in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>She told me that she just remembered the the baby’s smile and just how sweet her face was. How she lit up when she saw her second city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>You know, it broke her heart that the situation, that in which this girl came to her. But the little glimmer of hope when she saw that the girl was making some progress in her development, really reinforced her desire to want to advocate for this, for this little girl.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>When did Reyna start to notice this little girl struggling a little bit in her development?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>She said this child was just slow to begin walking and talking. And I think because Reyna had raised two daughters, she had some personal experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>She just felt something wasn’t right. And she she said she mentioned this to doctors who initially told her this is normal. That was slightly dismissive. But she was certain that there was something going on. And ultimately, after seeing specialists, it was confirmed to her that this little girl needed a lot of early intervention services, essentially to help her reach her potential. It was recommended that this little girl receives a physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and feeding therapy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>We’re talking about really important services that kids need very early on. And I mean, I have to imagine time is of the essence. Why was it so hard for Rina to get the services that she needed for this baby girl? Why did she have to push so hard?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>When I learned was just that the regional center has been overwhelmed, especially since the pandemic, with just a high caseload of children seeking services and probably some staffing shortages, not only at the regional center, but also with a shortage of early intervention providers. Families have to really push to get the services that they need in a timely manner and in the way that they want it to receive it, meaning if they want it to happen in the natural environment of the child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Reyna said that what she stumbled upon was just a lot of resistance by the therapist to come to the tenderloin, where she lives. She told me that the regional center coordinators told her that the therapists were just afraid to come to the tenderloin because they felt unsafe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>What does Reyna say about what it was like to not have therapists willing to meet with her foster daughter in person?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>She just felt it was unjust that it was because of where she lives. The therapists weren’t coming there to provide the services that her foster daughter crucially needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>What happened instead was that she was given an alternative, but it wasn’t what she wanted. So the Golden Gate Regional Center was telling her that she could take her foster child to the different clinics across San Francisco to make all these different appointments, which kind of stacked up during the week for her. She had to take a lot of time out of her working days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>But the other alternative was to have these services done through zoom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>It wasn’t ideal. She said her foster child would not respond to the therapist or just not want to sit in front of a screen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I want to step back a little bit, Daisy, and talk a little bit more about what early intervention services are, what kind of services are we talking about? Exactly? And I know these services are also things that families are entitled to. Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Children with developmental delays are entitled to receive a host of early intervention services to enhance their ability to sit or walk or talk. The services could include physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy. It could even include equipment that helps young children maintain or improve certain skills, or parents could also receive some counseling and training to support their child’s developmental needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Getting the services as early as possible is crucial for children. Experts say that’s because this is a period when children’s brain are rapidly developing, and so they’re more adaptable. So receiving early intervention services could really change the developmental path of a child. It could make a big difference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>But it has to be given during this period. This is a federal program that’s administered in California by a network of nonprofit regional centers. So in the Bay area, the Golden Gate Regional Center is responsible for coordinating these services for families in San Francisco, Marin, and San Mateo County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>What are the bigger systemic problems with the state system for these early intervention services?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>This program has always been plagued by understaffing and underinvestment by the government. The therapist who would provide these services. They are not paid a competitive rate. The rates in which the providers get paid have never been as competitive as what the private market is able to pay for these services, and so they’re just less incentivized to to provide services through this program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>And so they’re in demand, which means that the number of families who who need the service, who requested these services and are eligible for these services have to kind of wait sometimes just to get it. The other issue is that they don’t get paid to travel to a family’s home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>So as an alternative, what they’re able to offer to families is appointments in their offices or through telehealth, meaning appointments through zoom. And but for these some of these families, this is not what they considered an ideal way for their children to receive these services. They consider it substandard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Coming up, how underfunding has hurt those who need the most help and how do we fix this? Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I want to talk more Daisy through, I guess, some of the consequences of this inadequate funding, as you were kind of just starting to talk about. What did you find?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Doctor Jennifer Albon is a pediatrician at UCSF.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Jennifer Albon: \u003c/strong>Most of my young patients are needing early intervention services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>So she just is seeing, you know, growing geographic and socioeconomic disparities when it comes to who gets early intervention services in their home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Jennifer Albon: \u003c/strong>I have many families who, like, live in certain neighborhoods of San Francisco, and the regional center has flat out told them and told us that there’s not providers who will go to your neighborhood, even within San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>What does Doctor Albon say about the importance of providing this treatment in these children’s homes, but specifically no matter where they live?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>She says it’s just more ideal because children learn best when they’re in familiar surroundings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Jennifer Albon: \u003c/strong>You know, they get scared of coming into like, offices and other things like that. So it’s harder for them to participate when it’s not like their natural environments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>The parents are also receiving some of the training themselves, so that for the rest of that week, when there’s no therapy, they’re able to practice what they’ve been trained to, you know, by the therapists to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dr. Jennifer Albon: \u003c/strong>The goal for it to be kind of in their natural environment is that they have all of their regular things. And the and the therapists are showing the family what to do with what they have at home or in these natural environments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>And I should add that it is it’s a lot. It’s a law where it says that services should ideally be provided in the natural environment. The growth in online therapies have made it accessible for many people. But I think in the case with young children, it’s it’s created more inequities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Will these issues that we’re talking about are systemic, as you described earlier, and they’re also not all new, but what can we do to fix this problem?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>I spoke with leaders of the regional centers, and they say that’s really like the you know, they recognize that this is a distressing situation that they’ve been trying to address for a long time, and they can’t compel therapists to see children in person if they’re just not getting, you know, they’re not being paid enough to do it. And so they’re really calling for greater investment by the state and federal government in the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>The state has been gradually been increasing the reimbursement rates for early intervention services. But this budget year, Governor Gavin Newsom wants to delay full implementation of the increases, and the regional center leaders are saying like they they really don’t think delay is a good idea, because increasing the rate is encouraging the therapists to do the work to go and see children in the natural environment. And also it’s encouraging them to to hire more people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Ultra regional center services Sacramento and about 9 or 10 surrounding counties, and they receive some federal pandemic aid money to implement a pilot project, where they offered an incentive to therapists to go to underserved zip codes and also hard to reach areas in their region. And they noticed that these incentives, which is I think it was something like $200 per visit, that they saw an increase in the number of children seen in these underserved areas. So clearly, you know, money talks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Coming back to Reyna Balladares, what is she going to do next?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Her foster child just turned three, which means she is, quote unquote, aged out of, early intervention services. And Raina believes that she could have made much more progress if she had received consistent services. Her daughter now will need more, special education services through the San Francisco Unified School District.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That is kind of heartbreaking, because it sounds like she wasn’t able to get the critical services she needed on time. But at the same time, Raina seems like this very active parent who knows a lot and who really pushed to make sure her kid got the services she needed. But I also imagine there’s probably lots of families who struggle to navigate these services, or maybe just don’t even have the time to and I mean, just maybe give up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>I think that’s what compelled, Reyna to speak with me, because she would she wanted to speak out on behalf of those parents who you can imagine. I think having a child who, if you’re. Especially if you’re a first time parent, just absorbing the news that your child has a developmental delay. These families are often in crisis, and they don’t have the time to make constant calls to the regional center and push for these types of services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Ultimately, Reyna wants to adopt the the baby girl, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>She fell in love with this child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>She is much closer to getting the adoption approved bundle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reyna Balladares: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[speaking spanish]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>And when I met with them, I mean, you can just see this clear bond. And, she she just wants to do what’s best for this little girl.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Well, Daisy, thank you so much for breaking this down for us. I really appreciate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Daisy Nguyen: \u003c/strong>Yeah. No problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That was Daisy Nguyen, an early childhood education reporter for KQED. This 38 minute conversation with Daisy was cut down and edited by our intern, Ellie Prickett-Morgan and our senior editor, Alan Montecillo. Maria Esquinca is our producer. She scored this episode and added all the tape music courtesy of the Audio Network. Special thanks as well to Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>By the way, did you know that the Bay is listener supported? Meaning our funders are people just like you? So if you appreciate the value that the Bay brings to your life, consider becoming a KQED member. Just go to KQED.org/Donate. The Bay is a production of listener supported KQED in San Francisco. I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Thanks for listening. Talk to you next time.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11980854/babies-and-toddlers-are-entitled-to-developmental-therapies-many-arent-getting-them","authors":["8654","11829","11802","11649","11898"],"programs":["news_28779"],"categories":["news_8"],"tags":["news_32102","news_33933","news_18543","news_33812","news_17762","news_22598"],"featImg":"news_11979221","label":"source_news_11980854"},"forum_2010101905200":{"type":"posts","id":"forum_2010101905200","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"forum","id":"2010101905200","found":true},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"whats-your-favorite-flavor","title":"What’s Your Favorite Flavor?","publishDate":1711660249,"format":"audio","headTitle":"What’s Your Favorite Flavor? | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"forum"},"content":"\u003cp>Culinary scientist Arielle Johnson describes flavor as “the thing that drives us to drop serious money on heirloom tomatoes. The reason we don’t just subsist on Soylent. The town where Guy Fieri lives.” Flavor is also molecules, according to Johnson, whose new book “Flavorama” explores how the chemistry of flavor informs how we perceive foods as salty or herbal, sour or sweet. Johnson, who also co-founded the fermentation lab at the critically acclaimed restaurant Noma, joins us to talk about the science of flavor, the complex interactions between our senses of taste and smell and how to create intense and unexpected flavors in our everyday cooking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":null,"status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1711660249,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":3,"wordCount":115},"headData":{"title":"What’s Your Favorite Flavor? | KQED","description":"Culinary scientist Arielle Johnson describes flavor as “the thing that drives us to drop serious money on heirloom tomatoes. The reason we don’t just subsist on Soylent. The town where Guy Fieri lives.” Flavor is also molecules, according to Johnson, whose new book “Flavorama” explores how the chemistry of flavor informs how we perceive foods as salty or herbal, sour or sweet. Johnson, who also co-founded the fermentation lab at the critically acclaimed restaurant Noma, joins us to talk about the science of flavor, the complex interactions between our senses of taste and smell and how to create intense and","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"airdate":1711731600,"forumGuests":[{"name":"Arielle Johnson","bio":"food scientist; author, \"Flavorama: A Guide to Unlocking the Art and Science of Flavor\"; co-founder and fermentation lab and science director, Noma in Copenhagen - a three-Michelin-star restaurant considered the best in the world."}],"sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/forum/2010101905200/whats-your-favorite-flavor","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Culinary scientist Arielle Johnson describes flavor as “the thing that drives us to drop serious money on heirloom tomatoes. The reason we don’t just subsist on Soylent. The town where Guy Fieri lives.” Flavor is also molecules, according to Johnson, whose new book “Flavorama” explores how the chemistry of flavor informs how we perceive foods as salty or herbal, sour or sweet. Johnson, who also co-founded the fermentation lab at the critically acclaimed restaurant Noma, joins us to talk about the science of flavor, the complex interactions between our senses of taste and smell and how to create intense and unexpected flavors in our everyday cooking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/forum/2010101905200/whats-your-favorite-flavor","authors":["251"],"categories":["forum_165"],"featImg":"forum_2010101905204","label":"forum"},"forum_2010101905182":{"type":"posts","id":"forum_2010101905182","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"forum","id":"2010101905182","found":true},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"doj-targets-apple-in-latest-anti-monopoly-action-against-big-tech","title":"DOJ Targets Apple in Latest Anti-Monopoly Action against Big Tech","publishDate":1711573831,"format":"audio","headTitle":"DOJ Targets Apple in Latest Anti-Monopoly Action against Big Tech | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"forum"},"content":"\u003cp>The Department of Justice, along with 16 states including California, filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Apple last week. The government alleges that the trillion-dollar company’s practices around its iPhone have quashed competition by limiting access to its app store, constraining the ability to send messages across different platforms and blocking alternative wallet payment systems. The suit is part of a suite of antitrust legal actions aimed at breaking alleged monopolies by tech behemoths including Google, Meta, and Amazon. We’ll talk about what these suits mean for Apple’s devoted user base and the tech industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":null,"status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1711664174,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":3,"wordCount":104},"headData":{"title":"DOJ Targets Apple in Latest Anti-Monopoly Action against Big Tech | KQED","description":"The Department of Justice, along with 16 states including California, filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Apple last week. The government alleges that the trillion-dollar company's practices around its iPhone have quashed competition by limiting access to its app store, constraining the ability to send messages across different platforms and blocking alternative wallet payment systems. The suit is part of a suite of antitrust legal actions aimed at breaking alleged monopolies by tech behemoths including Google, Meta, and Amazon. We'll talk about what these suits mean for Apple’s devoted user base and the tech industry.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"audioUrl":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/chrt.fm/track/G6C7C3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC1255858605.mp3?updated=1711654924","airdate":1711641600,"forumGuests":[{"name":"Aaron Tilley","bio":"reporter, Wall Street Journal"},{"name":"Tim Wu","bio":"professor of law, science and technology, Columbia Law School. His latest book is \"The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age\""},{"name":"Margaret O'Mara","bio":"Scott and Dorothy Bullitt Professor of American History, University of Washington; author, \"The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America\""}],"sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/forum/2010101905182/doj-targets-apple-in-latest-anti-monopoly-action-against-big-tech","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Department of Justice, along with 16 states including California, filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Apple last week. The government alleges that the trillion-dollar company’s practices around its iPhone have quashed competition by limiting access to its app store, constraining the ability to send messages across different platforms and blocking alternative wallet payment systems. The suit is part of a suite of antitrust legal actions aimed at breaking alleged monopolies by tech behemoths including Google, Meta, and Amazon. We’ll talk about what these suits mean for Apple’s devoted user base and the tech industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/forum/2010101905182/doj-targets-apple-in-latest-anti-monopoly-action-against-big-tech","authors":["11757"],"categories":["forum_165"],"tags":["forum_546"],"featImg":"forum_2010101854103","label":"forum"},"news_11980715":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11980715","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11980715","found":true},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"why-dont-more-bay-area-kids-ride-school-buses","title":"Why Doesn't California Have More School Buses?","publishDate":1711620004,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Why Doesn’t California Have More School Buses? | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weekday mornings are unquestionably hectic for many of us. We’re up early and out the door, headed towards some kind of commute to work. However, adding the responsibility of getting children through that morning routine and to school on time can feel like the day’s biggest accomplishment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Jules Winters first moved to the San Francisco Bay Area from the East Coast, she worried that in that morning rush, she’d get stuck behind a school bus stopping every couple of blocks to pick up kids. She knew from experience that it could make her late to work. But, soon, that concern turned to puzzlement because it never happened. Instead, she noticed a lot of traffic jams around schools at drop-off and pick-up times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now, I’m not going anywhere near [a] school because of all the parents dropping off their kids,” she says. “Why aren’t there buses taking students to and from school?” she wondered. “Why is that now the obligation of the family? And how do different families accommodate that? Is that equitable?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>It goes back to Proposition 13\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Winters isn’t wrong. California has fewer school buses than in other parts of the country. A survey conducted by the Federal Highway Administration found that nationally, almost 40% of school-aged kids ride a school bus. In California, that number is only 8%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like so many questions related to school funding and services, the answer to Winters’ question has roots in the passage of Proposition 13, a constitutional amendment that limited how much a homeowner’s property taxes could increase each year. Property taxes were the primary way school districts funded themselves back then.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The restriction of those sources of revenue in 1978 caused more or less a budget crisis,” says Sam Speroni, a doctoral researcher at the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies and a researcher at San Jose State’s Mineta Transportation Institute. “So in 1982, the state froze its home-to-school transportation budget with only cost of living adjustments, and that stayed in place until 2022.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980731\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980731\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/kids-ride-school-bus.jpg\" alt=\"A line of kids boards a yellow school bus.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/kids-ride-school-bus.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/kids-ride-school-bus-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/kids-ride-school-bus-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/kids-ride-school-bus-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/kids-ride-school-bus-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Across the country, about 40% of school-aged kids ride a school bus. In California, that number is closer to 8%. \u003ccite>( Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the intervening years, California’s population has grown, including school-aged children, but the transportation budget has largely stayed the same. That has forced districts to shoulder more of the costs associated with providing school buses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That leads local districts into really difficult decisions about, ‘do we continue providing buses or do we eliminate in-school-house services that are also super important?’” Speroni says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Districts are federally mandated to provide buses to certain groups of students, like those who have transportation, as part of their Individualized Education Program (IEP). However, California does not require school districts to offer school transportation to general education students. As the demands on the school budgets have grown, many districts have chosen not to prioritize school bus funding, which is costly.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Buses to serve equity goals\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Low-income families and families of color often travel the furthest to get to school and have the least resources at their disposal. In recognition of that, some Bay Area districts fund a small number of buses to help meet their equity goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley Unified School District assigns elementary students to zones and then places them in schools with an eye toward socioeconomic diversity. The district uses census data on family income and parental education to help it do this. If the student lives further than 1 1/2 miles from their assigned school, the district offers school buses to help them get there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over 1,600 students ride the bus in Berkeley, about 18% of the school community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC4087301904&light=true\" width=\"100%\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley’s commitment to school buses stems from a legacy of bussing for integration that goes back to 1968. Berkeley was the first sizable city with a large minority population to voluntarily start a two-way bussing program to both bring white students down from the hills and to take Black students up to the hill schools as a way to racially integrate the population of all its schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco also offers some school buses to general education students. It runs 35 buses for K–8 students each day, with routes that largely start on the southeast side of the city and bring kids to schools further north and west. The district says these routes help provide crucial access to language programs and offer more choices to families living in the southeast. The routes serve 46 schools and about 2,000 kids. Families sign up for the school bus when they enroll their children in elementary school. The routes and applications for spots on the bus are assigned at the educational placement center.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Partnering with public transit agencies\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While many school districts in the San Francisco Bay Area do not provide dedicated school buses for general education students, they often partner with public transportation systems to help families get kids to school. In San Francisco, school-aged kids ride for free on Muni. SamTrans, serving schools in San Mateo County, offers free rides to low-income students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some school districts and public transportation agencies even work together to align schedules. For example, AC Transit, in the East Bay, offers Supplementary Service to School routes designed to align with school bell schedules and to cover the attendance boundaries of certain schools. AC Transit also discounts fares based on income requirements, as does Clipper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite these efforts, according to the Federal Highway Administration survey, only about 2% of California students take public buses to school. In contrast, 68% get a ride in a private vehicle.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Calls for school transportation reform\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Recently, there have been calls to reform California’s school transportation system. A 2014 Legislative Analyst’s Office report highlighted how underfunded the program had become and suggested several ways to reform it. In 2022, Newsom pledged state money to fund 60% of the cost of funding school transportation, the largest increase in years. The governor also allocated $1.5 billion in one-time funds to help districts transition to electric school buses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Nancy Skinner proposed a bill in 2022 that would provide universal access to school transportation for TK–12 public school students in the state. She argued that reliable transportation to school could reduce chronic absenteeism and improve school performance, especially for low-income students whose families more often don’t have cars. An analysis of the Skinner bill found it would cost the state $1.4 billion, which may be why, despite support in the Senate, it didn’t advance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The high cost of providing school buses, paired with the many demands on a school district’s budget, make changes to school transportation policy a tricky proposition going forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Whenever Bay Curious listener Jules Winters thinks about her childhood growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, she thinks of her school bus driver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jules Winters: \u003c/b>My bus driver was Ted for like, most of my life. This one time, there was a snowstorm that just hit, like out of nowhere, and it was like full-on blizzard. And I remember, like, we had been at school maybe only into like 9:00, and they were like, we got to get you out of here, like, now. And so they called all the buses. And we got on the bus with Ted, and we got stuck in a huge snowdrift on the way home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Jules doesn’t remember being scared in that moment, even though it was probably really stressful for Ted. She felt safe. She knew Ted would get her home, he always did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jules Winters: \u003c/b>I have really good memories of taking the bus. Like, I met my best friend on the bus. She had moved into town over the summer and was just starting in a new school, and it’s kind of like I was the first person that she met.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>So when she moved to California as an adult, Jules quickly noticed there weren’t many school buses moving kids around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jules Winters: \u003c/b>I think it’s ironic that initially, I was concerned about traffic, with like being stuck behind a bus, because that was what I was used to on the East Coast. Now, it’s like, I’m not going anywhere near that school because of all the parents dropping off their kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>I live a half block from a school, and trust me, some of the worst traffic jams happen around school start and end times. Since Jules has such positive memories of riding the bus as a student, it got her wondering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jules Winters: \u003c/b>Why aren’t there buses taking students to and from school?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>And that led to a whole bunch more questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jules Winters: \u003c/b>Why is that now the obligation of the family and how do different families accommodate that? Is that equitable?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Today on Bay Curious, we’re taking a closer look at how kids get to school, why it matters, and if it’s true that there aren’t as many school buses in California as there are in other places. I’m Olivia Alan Price. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Sponsor message]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Today, we’re digging into why you don’t see as many school buses around the Bay area as you might in other parts of the country. And to help answer some of Jules’ questions, we have Bay curious producer and longtime education reporter Katrina Schwartz. Welcome, Katrina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Hi, Olivia. I was actually quite excited that we got an education question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Yeah, let’s get right into it. Is Jules right? Are there actually fewer school buses here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Yes, Jules is correct. She’s actually put her finger on a real discrepancy. So there’s this survey that the Federal Highway Administration does across the country. And when you look nationwide, almost 40% of school-age kids ride a school bus. And that number has been fairly consistent across many decades. But here in California, only 8% of kids ride a school bus to school, which is the lowest in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Wow. 8%. You know, I wouldn’t have thought it was that low. Although I guess if I think about it, I don’t tend to see school buses very often when I’m out on the roads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Right, because they really aren’t that common. In fact, I had a fair amount of trouble finding any kid that rode a school bus until I started asking around in Berkeley, where it is a little bit more common. So, I met Liz Christiano at her house in Berkeley. She actually volunteered to let me come over at this very stressful time in the morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Liz Christiano:\u003c/b> Good morning. Welcome, Katrina\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Getting ready time in order to meet up with her son James and his friend Eli, as they were having breakfast and getting ready to go to the school bus. They are both fourth graders at John Muir Elementary, and they remember the first time that they rode the school bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eli: \u003c/b>It was kind of strange because, like, I didn’t know anybody, but then, like, I got used to it really quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>James: \u003c/b>It wasn’t really scary. I guess it felt weird.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>And they were not entirely positive about the experience but kind of resigned to it. I would say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eli: \u003c/b>It was pretty loud. There’s like so many people talking at once. And then the bus driver, like, frequently stops or has to use the radio to tell people to be quiet or to stop using foul language on the bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>OK. That tracks. I remember not loving the bus all the time as a student, but I know that my mom appreciated that it meant she didn’t have to drive me to school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Yes, I think buses are really more for parents than they are for kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Liz Christiano: \u003c/b>My morning would be ridiculously stressful if I had to take him, even though we’re not that far away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Liz Christiano says she’s not even sure how she’d manage her morning without the bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Liz Christiano: \u003c/b>The getting up and going. Having to manage all of the logistics of getting everywhere and everything on time is just… it’s a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>She has another child who’s younger, who goes to a preschool in Oakland. That school starts at the same time as James’ school. So if she was having to take them both to school, it would be this real logistical hurdle to juggle it all. And so she was just very thankful for the bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Liz Christiano: \u003c/b>Having your kid picked up and taken somewhere and then delivered home the amount of life and cognitive space that you get back, I love it. I really love it. The mornings are so much better because of the bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>James and Eli normally walk to the school bus together without their parents. It’s about a two-block walk. But this morning, because I was there, a bunch of kids met up and we all walked to the school bus together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>James: \u003c/b>We’re about to have to go to the bus. Do you want to interview Mia or Micah? they’re also on the bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz in scene: \u003c/b>So, Micah, how do you feel about the bus?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Micah: \u003c/b>I like that parents still get to work as much as they want. And it’s just fun to ride in the bus with friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz in scene: \u003c/b>What about you, Mia? How do you feel about it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mia: \u003c/b>I really like it. Because even if you’re late to the bus, all you have to do is run, and he’ll wait for you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz in scene: \u003c/b>He waits for you!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mia: \u003c/b>Yeah, and he laughs.\u003ci> (giggles)\u003c/i> This is my first year. So I was very nervous on the first day. I wasn’t expecting that my stop would be the first stop on the whole thing and that it would take like 20 minutes to get to school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz in scene: \u003c/b>Are you annoyed that it takes so long or is it OK?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mia: \u003c/b>It’s OK because then I get to talk to my friends when they get on the bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz in scene: \u003c/b>So, is this the bus stop?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eli: \u003c/b>It’s a very sad bus stop because it has no sign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>And, pretty soon the bus pulled up. The kids all kind of gave their moms hugs and then got on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mia: \u003c/b>What we’re trying to say, is the bus is amazing!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>James: \u003c/b>No, we are not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Off they went.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>I mean, it sounds like it’s working out really well for them. Why aren’t there more buses around California if it’s helping out this family so much?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Yeah. So this all goes back to Proposition 13, which is a constitutional amendment that passed in 1978. And it really limits how much property taxes can increase for homeowners, which is a big deal for school districts because, before Prop. 13, property taxes were the main way that school districts funded themselves. Since then, that burden has shifted more to the state because of Prop. 13.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sam Speroni: \u003c/b>The restriction of those sources of revenue in 1978 caused more or less a budget crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>I talked with Sam Speroni, who is a doctoral student at UCLA studying school transportation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sam Speroni: \u003c/b>So, in 1982, the state froze its home-to-school transportation budget with only cost-of-living adjustments, and that stayed in place until 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>So over the past 40-plus years, California’s population has grown, though. So there’s just this one pot of money that really hasn’t changed that much, and more kids and more need. So, if districts want to offer school buses, they have to kind of shoulder more of the burden to pay for that. And that means tradeoffs. You know, you can’t pay for everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sam Speroni: \u003c/b>That leads local districts into really difficult decisions about, do we continue providing busses or do we eliminate in school house services that are also super important?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Reading support specialist for example, or an extra social worker?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sam Speroni: \u003c/b>And politically, it’s difficult to justify the elimination of teaching staff if school buses can be reduced first.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Obviously, you said it’s an expensive prospect for school districts to think about doing this, but Berkeley is making a bigger investment than others to keep buses going. Why?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>So it goes back to the history of bussing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Archival tape: \u003c/b>The method is bussing, in itself one of the most controversial issues before boards of education throughout this country. But Berkeley is out to prove that it works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>You know, in the 1960s and 70s, school buses were one of the primary ways that districts tried to integrate their schools racially. There was a lot of segregation before that, and school bussing was a way of basically moving kids around, mixing them up, taking them to different neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Archival tape: \u003c/b>And with the use of 25 buses, 3,500 elementary children began to commute to and from White and Negro neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Trish McDermott is the senior communications director for Berkeley Unified, and she told me this history is fundamental to how Berkeley operates today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Trish McDermott: \u003c/b>In 1968, we integrated our elementary schools, and that really made Berkeley the first larger city in the country with a large minority enrollment to voluntarily desegregate schools. And we did that with our buses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>And Trish says even in progressive Berkeley, bussing for integration wasn’t always popular.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Trish McDermott: \u003c/b>Big, crowded school board meetings, a lot of pushback.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>They eventually got it done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Trish McDermott: \u003c/b>It’s change that we’re very proud of, and it really is the legacy of our transportation department as it exists today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Archival tape: \u003c/b>Oxford is typical of a school in Berkeley’s white middle-class neighborhood. Last year, Oxford student body had one Negro member. Today, 40% of the 325 students are black.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>It’s a progressive district, and they care about creating schools that are diverse and integrated. So, what they do is assign elementary school students to a zone, and then they look at the census for income data and parental education data to assign students to different schools. And then they use school buses to help kids and families get to the school that they were assigned to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Berkeley is doing this, but how does that stack up against all the other hundreds of school districts in California?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Well, it’s important to know that there’s no law in California that requires school districts to provide buses to general education students. So every district kind of looks at its budget and their student population and decides, you know, can we afford to do this or not? Is this where we want to spend our limited resources? You always have to make tradeoffs. So in a rural district, for example, they often prioritize school transportation because the distances are longer. There maybe aren’t any public transportation options for students, and the schools are more spread out. So bussing is sort of essential to getting kids to school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I will say that every district does need to provide some school busses, because they are federally mandated to transport certain groups of students to school. So if a student has transportation as part of their Individualized Education program, for example, maybe they have a disability or something like that, then they get transportation to school, and that is federally mandated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One district that actually does provide school buses for general education kids is San Francisco, which might actually surprise some families in San Francisco because a lot of families have to drive their kids to school or walk them to school or find some other way to get there. But there are a few school buses, 35 buses that the district runs. And again, it is also for equity reasons, largely the routes start on the south side of the city where there’s often more kids. It tends to be like lower-income neighborhoods, and the routes take kids to the west side of the city, and that’s to provide access to language programs, other schools, and basically makes sure that they have access to the rest of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>There must be families who would use bussing if it came to them, and it just doesn’t. What do those people do?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Well, you know, some kids walk to school if they’re close enough, some kids bike to school. But about two-thirds of California students get a ride to school in a private vehicle. So obviously that’s not great for the environment. And it’s a big ask of families. I mean, plenty of people don’t have cars, so some districts try to help out by partnering with public transportation systems. So in San Francisco, for example, school kids can ride Muni for free. And the district says that every school is served by at least one Muni bus line or train line. In the East Bay. It’s AC transit, and they actually reach out to the school districts around them and try to align their bus schedules to the school. Will start and end times to make it easier for kids to ride.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz in scene:\u003c/b> I’m here at De Anza High School in Richmond. And it’s interesting because, like, all the AC transit buses are waiting here, like school buses. They’re pulled up off the street in this little pick-up zone. And there’s a bunch of kids who came out of school who are waiting around for the buses to leave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Sound of fare machine beeping]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 20 minutes after school let out…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz in scene:\u003c/b> So all the kids are, like, crowded around the door waiting to get on the bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Sounds of bus honking and accelerating]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>The bus takes off. And it takes a route through the school boundary zone so that all these kids can get back home. But if there was another patron on the street who wanted to ride, they could easily get on the bus anywhere along the route.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>I mean, I imagine this, you know, really boils down to sort of a problem on the equity front, right? Because, OK, even if parents are able to take their kids to school because of their schedule, that still is going to mean they’re going to have to have a car that’s operational. That requires a certain amount of money. Be up to date on insurance. Or I mean, the other thing to consider is like, that’s going to limit the shift work that perhaps parents could do if they’re going to have to know that they need to be available to take their kid to school at a certain time. That’s a constraint that, especially if you’re living, you know, on a low-income salary, that’s just one more thing that you’re sort of juggling in an already pretty complicated life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Yeah, I think it is an equity issue, although it’s a little bit unclear how big of one it is. I mean, obviously any family that has more flexibility and more mobility is going to have more choices. And all the things that you laid out are true. But there are a lot of other factors that make schools unequal in California. So it’s hard to say how much of a difference a school bus would really make to the whole big picture. One thing that Sam Speroni says, though, is that if California as a state wants to even the playing field for families by offering choices about what schools a family might send their kid to, transportation really needs to be part of that conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sam Speroni: \u003c/b>Ultimately, you don’t have school choice if you don’t have transportation to those choices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>And then the other problem that Sam Speroni brought up — this is a national problem — there’s a huge school bus driver shortage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sam Speroni: \u003c/b>With the buses we already have. We’re struggling to staff them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>The school bus drivers have to have a special commercial driver’s license, which is also what you use for trucking or other types of delivery jobs. And often those jobs pay more. So in this current economy, it’s very hard to retain your school bus drivers. And we’re seeing that even in places that have much more robust bussing, they’re having a lot of trouble staffing their buses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Now, given everything you’ve learned, are there likely to be any changes to how many school buses California schools offer?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>I mean, a number of people have flagged this as a problem. It’s an equity issue, as we already talked about. So, State Sen. Nancy Skinner actually introduced a bill in 2022 that would have provided universal school transportation for California public school students. And she did that because she argued that providing dedicated funds for school transportation would actually improve attendance. It would help with chronic absenteeism, and especially for low income students, it could also improve outcomes at school, too. But this bill was estimated to cost the state $1.4 billion. And so it had some support in the state Senate, but ultimately it didn’t advance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>$1.4 billion is a lot of money. But still, you know, as someone who rode a school bus, I do have a little bit of nostalgia for those big yellow buses. And I find it a little sad that, you know, I have a 3-year-old, and he isn’t likely to ride a bus in California and have that special relationship with his bus driver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Yeah, I mean, I definitely got the sense from our question-asker, Jules, that she finds it a bit sad. I mean, she really had a positive experience on the bus and felt like it really created community. And not having them around here in the Bay area seems like just another way that the social fabric is fraying a little bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jules Winters: \u003c/b>I guess I’ve always imagined that buses are like a library or a firefighter station or a police station like it’s this community service that is part of the inlaid structure of what makes it a community or what makes it a school for that community. So it just boggles my mind that it’s not part of any of these communities here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Well, Katrina Schwartz, thank you so much for bringing the story to us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>You’re welcome. I’m sorry I couldn’t get more cute kids on buses. Apparently, there’s a lot of liability issues with getting on school buses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>The woes of education reporting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Yes. It’s hard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price \u003c/b>Big thanks to Jules Winters for asking this week’s question. If you’ve got a question you’d like Bay Curious to take on, head to baycurious.org and fill out our form at the top of the page. While you’re there, vote in our March voting round. Here are the options under consideration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Voice 1 \u003c/b>Have you noticed all the motels along Lombard Street? I have. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always wondered why. Can you find out?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Voice 2 \u003c/b>At the San Francisco Opera House, there’s a chandelier high above the orchestra level. How do they change the light bulbs when they burn out?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Voice 3 \u003c/b>San Mateo County has an official shared housing program, which helps people find housing in someone else’s home. How well is it working?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price \u003c/b>Again, that’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.baycurious.org\">baycurious.org\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Only about 8% of California public school students ride a school bus, as compared to almost 40% nationwide. The reason goes back to Proposition 13 and school funding reform.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1711649382,"stats":{"hasAudio":true,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":true,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":127,"wordCount":4963},"headData":{"title":"Why Doesn't California Have More School Buses? | KQED","description":"Only about 8% of California public school students ride a school bus, as compared to almost 40% nationwide. The reason goes back to Proposition 13 and school funding reform.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"source":"Bay Curious","sourceUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/baycurious/","audioUrl":"https://dcs.megaphone.fm/KQINC4087301904.mp3?key=a940237bee111ba8b944e9e9f85dc9c3&request_event_id=88eeff47-2301-4bb4-8781-4a2db771ad5e","sticky":false,"excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","articleAge":"0","path":"/news/11980715/why-dont-more-bay-area-kids-ride-school-buses","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weekday mornings are unquestionably hectic for many of us. We’re up early and out the door, headed towards some kind of commute to work. However, adding the responsibility of getting children through that morning routine and to school on time can feel like the day’s biggest accomplishment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Jules Winters first moved to the San Francisco Bay Area from the East Coast, she worried that in that morning rush, she’d get stuck behind a school bus stopping every couple of blocks to pick up kids. She knew from experience that it could make her late to work. But, soon, that concern turned to puzzlement because it never happened. Instead, she noticed a lot of traffic jams around schools at drop-off and pick-up times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now, I’m not going anywhere near [a] school because of all the parents dropping off their kids,” she says. “Why aren’t there buses taking students to and from school?” she wondered. “Why is that now the obligation of the family? And how do different families accommodate that? Is that equitable?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>It goes back to Proposition 13\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Winters isn’t wrong. California has fewer school buses than in other parts of the country. A survey conducted by the Federal Highway Administration found that nationally, almost 40% of school-aged kids ride a school bus. In California, that number is only 8%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like so many questions related to school funding and services, the answer to Winters’ question has roots in the passage of Proposition 13, a constitutional amendment that limited how much a homeowner’s property taxes could increase each year. Property taxes were the primary way school districts funded themselves back then.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The restriction of those sources of revenue in 1978 caused more or less a budget crisis,” says Sam Speroni, a doctoral researcher at the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies and a researcher at San Jose State’s Mineta Transportation Institute. “So in 1982, the state froze its home-to-school transportation budget with only cost of living adjustments, and that stayed in place until 2022.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980731\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980731\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/kids-ride-school-bus.jpg\" alt=\"A line of kids boards a yellow school bus.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/kids-ride-school-bus.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/kids-ride-school-bus-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/kids-ride-school-bus-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/kids-ride-school-bus-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/kids-ride-school-bus-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Across the country, about 40% of school-aged kids ride a school bus. In California, that number is closer to 8%. \u003ccite>( Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the intervening years, California’s population has grown, including school-aged children, but the transportation budget has largely stayed the same. That has forced districts to shoulder more of the costs associated with providing school buses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That leads local districts into really difficult decisions about, ‘do we continue providing buses or do we eliminate in-school-house services that are also super important?’” Speroni says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Districts are federally mandated to provide buses to certain groups of students, like those who have transportation, as part of their Individualized Education Program (IEP). However, California does not require school districts to offer school transportation to general education students. As the demands on the school budgets have grown, many districts have chosen not to prioritize school bus funding, which is costly.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Buses to serve equity goals\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Low-income families and families of color often travel the furthest to get to school and have the least resources at their disposal. In recognition of that, some Bay Area districts fund a small number of buses to help meet their equity goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley Unified School District assigns elementary students to zones and then places them in schools with an eye toward socioeconomic diversity. The district uses census data on family income and parental education to help it do this. If the student lives further than 1 1/2 miles from their assigned school, the district offers school buses to help them get there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over 1,600 students ride the bus in Berkeley, about 18% of the school community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC4087301904&light=true\" width=\"100%\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley’s commitment to school buses stems from a legacy of bussing for integration that goes back to 1968. Berkeley was the first sizable city with a large minority population to voluntarily start a two-way bussing program to both bring white students down from the hills and to take Black students up to the hill schools as a way to racially integrate the population of all its schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco also offers some school buses to general education students. It runs 35 buses for K–8 students each day, with routes that largely start on the southeast side of the city and bring kids to schools further north and west. The district says these routes help provide crucial access to language programs and offer more choices to families living in the southeast. The routes serve 46 schools and about 2,000 kids. Families sign up for the school bus when they enroll their children in elementary school. The routes and applications for spots on the bus are assigned at the educational placement center.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Partnering with public transit agencies\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While many school districts in the San Francisco Bay Area do not provide dedicated school buses for general education students, they often partner with public transportation systems to help families get kids to school. In San Francisco, school-aged kids ride for free on Muni. SamTrans, serving schools in San Mateo County, offers free rides to low-income students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some school districts and public transportation agencies even work together to align schedules. For example, AC Transit, in the East Bay, offers Supplementary Service to School routes designed to align with school bell schedules and to cover the attendance boundaries of certain schools. AC Transit also discounts fares based on income requirements, as does Clipper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite these efforts, according to the Federal Highway Administration survey, only about 2% of California students take public buses to school. In contrast, 68% get a ride in a private vehicle.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Calls for school transportation reform\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Recently, there have been calls to reform California’s school transportation system. A 2014 Legislative Analyst’s Office report highlighted how underfunded the program had become and suggested several ways to reform it. In 2022, Newsom pledged state money to fund 60% of the cost of funding school transportation, the largest increase in years. The governor also allocated $1.5 billion in one-time funds to help districts transition to electric school buses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Nancy Skinner proposed a bill in 2022 that would provide universal access to school transportation for TK–12 public school students in the state. She argued that reliable transportation to school could reduce chronic absenteeism and improve school performance, especially for low-income students whose families more often don’t have cars. An analysis of the Skinner bill found it would cost the state $1.4 billion, which may be why, despite support in the Senate, it didn’t advance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The high cost of providing school buses, paired with the many demands on a school district’s budget, make changes to school transportation policy a tricky proposition going forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"baycuriousquestion","attributes":{"named":{"label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Whenever Bay Curious listener Jules Winters thinks about her childhood growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, she thinks of her school bus driver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jules Winters: \u003c/b>My bus driver was Ted for like, most of my life. This one time, there was a snowstorm that just hit, like out of nowhere, and it was like full-on blizzard. And I remember, like, we had been at school maybe only into like 9:00, and they were like, we got to get you out of here, like, now. And so they called all the buses. And we got on the bus with Ted, and we got stuck in a huge snowdrift on the way home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Jules doesn’t remember being scared in that moment, even though it was probably really stressful for Ted. She felt safe. She knew Ted would get her home, he always did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jules Winters: \u003c/b>I have really good memories of taking the bus. Like, I met my best friend on the bus. She had moved into town over the summer and was just starting in a new school, and it’s kind of like I was the first person that she met.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>So when she moved to California as an adult, Jules quickly noticed there weren’t many school buses moving kids around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jules Winters: \u003c/b>I think it’s ironic that initially, I was concerned about traffic, with like being stuck behind a bus, because that was what I was used to on the East Coast. Now, it’s like, I’m not going anywhere near that school because of all the parents dropping off their kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>I live a half block from a school, and trust me, some of the worst traffic jams happen around school start and end times. Since Jules has such positive memories of riding the bus as a student, it got her wondering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jules Winters: \u003c/b>Why aren’t there buses taking students to and from school?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>And that led to a whole bunch more questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jules Winters: \u003c/b>Why is that now the obligation of the family and how do different families accommodate that? Is that equitable?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Today on Bay Curious, we’re taking a closer look at how kids get to school, why it matters, and if it’s true that there aren’t as many school buses in California as there are in other places. I’m Olivia Alan Price. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Sponsor message]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Today, we’re digging into why you don’t see as many school buses around the Bay area as you might in other parts of the country. And to help answer some of Jules’ questions, we have Bay curious producer and longtime education reporter Katrina Schwartz. Welcome, Katrina.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Hi, Olivia. I was actually quite excited that we got an education question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Yeah, let’s get right into it. Is Jules right? Are there actually fewer school buses here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Yes, Jules is correct. She’s actually put her finger on a real discrepancy. So there’s this survey that the Federal Highway Administration does across the country. And when you look nationwide, almost 40% of school-age kids ride a school bus. And that number has been fairly consistent across many decades. But here in California, only 8% of kids ride a school bus to school, which is the lowest in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Wow. 8%. You know, I wouldn’t have thought it was that low. Although I guess if I think about it, I don’t tend to see school buses very often when I’m out on the roads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Right, because they really aren’t that common. In fact, I had a fair amount of trouble finding any kid that rode a school bus until I started asking around in Berkeley, where it is a little bit more common. So, I met Liz Christiano at her house in Berkeley. She actually volunteered to let me come over at this very stressful time in the morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Liz Christiano:\u003c/b> Good morning. Welcome, Katrina\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Getting ready time in order to meet up with her son James and his friend Eli, as they were having breakfast and getting ready to go to the school bus. They are both fourth graders at John Muir Elementary, and they remember the first time that they rode the school bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eli: \u003c/b>It was kind of strange because, like, I didn’t know anybody, but then, like, I got used to it really quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>James: \u003c/b>It wasn’t really scary. I guess it felt weird.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>And they were not entirely positive about the experience but kind of resigned to it. I would say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eli: \u003c/b>It was pretty loud. There’s like so many people talking at once. And then the bus driver, like, frequently stops or has to use the radio to tell people to be quiet or to stop using foul language on the bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>OK. That tracks. I remember not loving the bus all the time as a student, but I know that my mom appreciated that it meant she didn’t have to drive me to school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Yes, I think buses are really more for parents than they are for kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Liz Christiano: \u003c/b>My morning would be ridiculously stressful if I had to take him, even though we’re not that far away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Liz Christiano says she’s not even sure how she’d manage her morning without the bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Liz Christiano: \u003c/b>The getting up and going. Having to manage all of the logistics of getting everywhere and everything on time is just… it’s a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>She has another child who’s younger, who goes to a preschool in Oakland. That school starts at the same time as James’ school. So if she was having to take them both to school, it would be this real logistical hurdle to juggle it all. And so she was just very thankful for the bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Liz Christiano: \u003c/b>Having your kid picked up and taken somewhere and then delivered home the amount of life and cognitive space that you get back, I love it. I really love it. The mornings are so much better because of the bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>James and Eli normally walk to the school bus together without their parents. It’s about a two-block walk. But this morning, because I was there, a bunch of kids met up and we all walked to the school bus together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>James: \u003c/b>We’re about to have to go to the bus. Do you want to interview Mia or Micah? they’re also on the bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz in scene: \u003c/b>So, Micah, how do you feel about the bus?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Micah: \u003c/b>I like that parents still get to work as much as they want. And it’s just fun to ride in the bus with friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz in scene: \u003c/b>What about you, Mia? How do you feel about it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mia: \u003c/b>I really like it. Because even if you’re late to the bus, all you have to do is run, and he’ll wait for you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz in scene: \u003c/b>He waits for you!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mia: \u003c/b>Yeah, and he laughs.\u003ci> (giggles)\u003c/i> This is my first year. So I was very nervous on the first day. I wasn’t expecting that my stop would be the first stop on the whole thing and that it would take like 20 minutes to get to school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz in scene: \u003c/b>Are you annoyed that it takes so long or is it OK?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mia: \u003c/b>It’s OK because then I get to talk to my friends when they get on the bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz in scene: \u003c/b>So, is this the bus stop?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eli: \u003c/b>It’s a very sad bus stop because it has no sign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>And, pretty soon the bus pulled up. The kids all kind of gave their moms hugs and then got on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mia: \u003c/b>What we’re trying to say, is the bus is amazing!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>James: \u003c/b>No, we are not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Off they went.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>I mean, it sounds like it’s working out really well for them. Why aren’t there more buses around California if it’s helping out this family so much?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Yeah. So this all goes back to Proposition 13, which is a constitutional amendment that passed in 1978. And it really limits how much property taxes can increase for homeowners, which is a big deal for school districts because, before Prop. 13, property taxes were the main way that school districts funded themselves. Since then, that burden has shifted more to the state because of Prop. 13.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sam Speroni: \u003c/b>The restriction of those sources of revenue in 1978 caused more or less a budget crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>I talked with Sam Speroni, who is a doctoral student at UCLA studying school transportation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sam Speroni: \u003c/b>So, in 1982, the state froze its home-to-school transportation budget with only cost-of-living adjustments, and that stayed in place until 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>So over the past 40-plus years, California’s population has grown, though. So there’s just this one pot of money that really hasn’t changed that much, and more kids and more need. So, if districts want to offer school buses, they have to kind of shoulder more of the burden to pay for that. And that means tradeoffs. You know, you can’t pay for everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sam Speroni: \u003c/b>That leads local districts into really difficult decisions about, do we continue providing busses or do we eliminate in school house services that are also super important?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Reading support specialist for example, or an extra social worker?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sam Speroni: \u003c/b>And politically, it’s difficult to justify the elimination of teaching staff if school buses can be reduced first.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Obviously, you said it’s an expensive prospect for school districts to think about doing this, but Berkeley is making a bigger investment than others to keep buses going. Why?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>So it goes back to the history of bussing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Archival tape: \u003c/b>The method is bussing, in itself one of the most controversial issues before boards of education throughout this country. But Berkeley is out to prove that it works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>You know, in the 1960s and 70s, school buses were one of the primary ways that districts tried to integrate their schools racially. There was a lot of segregation before that, and school bussing was a way of basically moving kids around, mixing them up, taking them to different neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Archival tape: \u003c/b>And with the use of 25 buses, 3,500 elementary children began to commute to and from White and Negro neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Trish McDermott is the senior communications director for Berkeley Unified, and she told me this history is fundamental to how Berkeley operates today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Trish McDermott: \u003c/b>In 1968, we integrated our elementary schools, and that really made Berkeley the first larger city in the country with a large minority enrollment to voluntarily desegregate schools. And we did that with our buses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>And Trish says even in progressive Berkeley, bussing for integration wasn’t always popular.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Trish McDermott: \u003c/b>Big, crowded school board meetings, a lot of pushback.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>They eventually got it done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Trish McDermott: \u003c/b>It’s change that we’re very proud of, and it really is the legacy of our transportation department as it exists today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Archival tape: \u003c/b>Oxford is typical of a school in Berkeley’s white middle-class neighborhood. Last year, Oxford student body had one Negro member. Today, 40% of the 325 students are black.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>It’s a progressive district, and they care about creating schools that are diverse and integrated. So, what they do is assign elementary school students to a zone, and then they look at the census for income data and parental education data to assign students to different schools. And then they use school buses to help kids and families get to the school that they were assigned to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Berkeley is doing this, but how does that stack up against all the other hundreds of school districts in California?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Well, it’s important to know that there’s no law in California that requires school districts to provide buses to general education students. So every district kind of looks at its budget and their student population and decides, you know, can we afford to do this or not? Is this where we want to spend our limited resources? You always have to make tradeoffs. So in a rural district, for example, they often prioritize school transportation because the distances are longer. There maybe aren’t any public transportation options for students, and the schools are more spread out. So bussing is sort of essential to getting kids to school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I will say that every district does need to provide some school busses, because they are federally mandated to transport certain groups of students to school. So if a student has transportation as part of their Individualized Education program, for example, maybe they have a disability or something like that, then they get transportation to school, and that is federally mandated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One district that actually does provide school buses for general education kids is San Francisco, which might actually surprise some families in San Francisco because a lot of families have to drive their kids to school or walk them to school or find some other way to get there. But there are a few school buses, 35 buses that the district runs. And again, it is also for equity reasons, largely the routes start on the south side of the city where there’s often more kids. It tends to be like lower-income neighborhoods, and the routes take kids to the west side of the city, and that’s to provide access to language programs, other schools, and basically makes sure that they have access to the rest of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>There must be families who would use bussing if it came to them, and it just doesn’t. What do those people do?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Well, you know, some kids walk to school if they’re close enough, some kids bike to school. But about two-thirds of California students get a ride to school in a private vehicle. So obviously that’s not great for the environment. And it’s a big ask of families. I mean, plenty of people don’t have cars, so some districts try to help out by partnering with public transportation systems. So in San Francisco, for example, school kids can ride Muni for free. And the district says that every school is served by at least one Muni bus line or train line. In the East Bay. It’s AC transit, and they actually reach out to the school districts around them and try to align their bus schedules to the school. Will start and end times to make it easier for kids to ride.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz in scene:\u003c/b> I’m here at De Anza High School in Richmond. And it’s interesting because, like, all the AC transit buses are waiting here, like school buses. They’re pulled up off the street in this little pick-up zone. And there’s a bunch of kids who came out of school who are waiting around for the buses to leave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Sound of fare machine beeping]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 20 minutes after school let out…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz in scene:\u003c/b> So all the kids are, like, crowded around the door waiting to get on the bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Sounds of bus honking and accelerating]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>The bus takes off. And it takes a route through the school boundary zone so that all these kids can get back home. But if there was another patron on the street who wanted to ride, they could easily get on the bus anywhere along the route.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>I mean, I imagine this, you know, really boils down to sort of a problem on the equity front, right? Because, OK, even if parents are able to take their kids to school because of their schedule, that still is going to mean they’re going to have to have a car that’s operational. That requires a certain amount of money. Be up to date on insurance. Or I mean, the other thing to consider is like, that’s going to limit the shift work that perhaps parents could do if they’re going to have to know that they need to be available to take their kid to school at a certain time. That’s a constraint that, especially if you’re living, you know, on a low-income salary, that’s just one more thing that you’re sort of juggling in an already pretty complicated life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Yeah, I think it is an equity issue, although it’s a little bit unclear how big of one it is. I mean, obviously any family that has more flexibility and more mobility is going to have more choices. And all the things that you laid out are true. But there are a lot of other factors that make schools unequal in California. So it’s hard to say how much of a difference a school bus would really make to the whole big picture. One thing that Sam Speroni says, though, is that if California as a state wants to even the playing field for families by offering choices about what schools a family might send their kid to, transportation really needs to be part of that conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sam Speroni: \u003c/b>Ultimately, you don’t have school choice if you don’t have transportation to those choices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>And then the other problem that Sam Speroni brought up — this is a national problem — there’s a huge school bus driver shortage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sam Speroni: \u003c/b>With the buses we already have. We’re struggling to staff them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>The school bus drivers have to have a special commercial driver’s license, which is also what you use for trucking or other types of delivery jobs. And often those jobs pay more. So in this current economy, it’s very hard to retain your school bus drivers. And we’re seeing that even in places that have much more robust bussing, they’re having a lot of trouble staffing their buses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Now, given everything you’ve learned, are there likely to be any changes to how many school buses California schools offer?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>I mean, a number of people have flagged this as a problem. It’s an equity issue, as we already talked about. So, State Sen. Nancy Skinner actually introduced a bill in 2022 that would have provided universal school transportation for California public school students. And she did that because she argued that providing dedicated funds for school transportation would actually improve attendance. It would help with chronic absenteeism, and especially for low income students, it could also improve outcomes at school, too. But this bill was estimated to cost the state $1.4 billion. And so it had some support in the state Senate, but ultimately it didn’t advance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>$1.4 billion is a lot of money. But still, you know, as someone who rode a school bus, I do have a little bit of nostalgia for those big yellow buses. And I find it a little sad that, you know, I have a 3-year-old, and he isn’t likely to ride a bus in California and have that special relationship with his bus driver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Yeah, I mean, I definitely got the sense from our question-asker, Jules, that she finds it a bit sad. I mean, she really had a positive experience on the bus and felt like it really created community. And not having them around here in the Bay area seems like just another way that the social fabric is fraying a little bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Jules Winters: \u003c/b>I guess I’ve always imagined that buses are like a library or a firefighter station or a police station like it’s this community service that is part of the inlaid structure of what makes it a community or what makes it a school for that community. So it just boggles my mind that it’s not part of any of these communities here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>Well, Katrina Schwartz, thank you so much for bringing the story to us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>You’re welcome. I’m sorry I couldn’t get more cute kids on buses. Apparently, there’s a lot of liability issues with getting on school buses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/b>The woes of education reporting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Katrina Schwartz: \u003c/b>Yes. It’s hard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price \u003c/b>Big thanks to Jules Winters for asking this week’s question. If you’ve got a question you’d like Bay Curious to take on, head to baycurious.org and fill out our form at the top of the page. While you’re there, vote in our March voting round. Here are the options under consideration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Voice 1 \u003c/b>Have you noticed all the motels along Lombard Street? I have. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always wondered why. Can you find out?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Voice 2 \u003c/b>At the San Francisco Opera House, there’s a chandelier high above the orchestra level. How do they change the light bulbs when they burn out?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Voice 3 \u003c/b>San Mateo County has an official shared housing program, which helps people find housing in someone else’s home. How well is it working?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Olivia Allen-Price \u003c/b>Again, that’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.baycurious.org\">baycurious.org\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11980715/why-dont-more-bay-area-kids-ride-school-buses","authors":["234"],"programs":["news_33523"],"series":["news_17986"],"categories":["news_31795","news_18540","news_28250","news_8","news_1397"],"tags":["news_20013","news_27626","news_23484","news_3133"],"featImg":"news_11980722","label":"source_news_11980715"},"news_11306002":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11306002","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11306002","found":true},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"engineers-assess-spillway-problem-at-oroville-dam","title":"Oroville Update: Evacuation Advisory Finally Lifted","publishDate":1490301943,"format":"image","headTitle":"The California Report | KQED News","labelTerm":{"term":72,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"post-top\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"mar23\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 1:45 p.m., Wednesday, March 23:\u003c/strong> Nearly six weeks after downstream residents were ordered to flee their homes because of trouble with Oroville Dam's spillways, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea has lifted all evacuation warnings and advisories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents of Oroville were given just an hour to leave their homes on the afternoon of Feb.12. That was the day after Lake Oroville, rising rapidly after flood-control releases were reduced down the dam's main spillway, flowed over an ungated emergency weir. Severe erosion on the slope below raised concerns that the emergency structure would collapse and unleash a catastrophic flood down the Feather River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=\"kSUah7JZIA0Ameah7mPu6THfcz9ueki2\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents as far as 35 miles downstream were told to leave immediately, and an estimated 180,000 people in Butte, Sutter and Yuba counties were under evacuation orders. They were cleared to return home Feb. 14, but Butte County had remained under an evacuation advisory while the California Department of Water Resources worked to lower Lake Oroville, shore up the emergency spillway and clear a mountain of debris from the adjacent river channel. The blocked river channel had shut down the dam's hydroelectric power plant and further limited managers' ability to release water from the reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wednesday, Sheriff Honea said he was satisfied with the progress of the DWR's work, which has employed an army of contractors and cost something on the order of $200 million to date.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Honea acknowledged that the evacuation had been chaotic. Residents complained about not being notified they needed to leave, and there was at least one case in which a disabled Oroville resident was left behind for hours after the evacuation warning because no emergency transport was available.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch4>Oroville Dam Crisis: A Diary\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Here's KQED News' day-by-day entries tracking the unfolding crisis at Oroville Dam, beginning Feb. 7, 2017:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#feb07\">Feb. 7: Spillway problem detected\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb08\">Feb. 8: Engineers assess damage\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb09\">Feb. 9: Water likely to emergency spillway\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb10\">Feb. 10: Water nears top of reservoir\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb11\">Feb. 11: Emergency spillway overflows\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb12\">Feb. 12: Evacuations ordered\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb13\">Feb. 13: Releases lower lake\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb14\">Feb. 14: Mandatory evacuation order lifted\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb15\">Feb. 15: Shoring up emergency spillway area\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb16\">Feb. 16: New storms arrive\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb17\">Feb. 17: Reservoir releases reduced\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb19\">Feb. 19: Focus on clearing river channel\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb21\">Feb. 21: Lake inches upward as storms depart\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb22\">Feb. 22: Lake crests again as storm runoff dwindles \u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb26\">Feb. 26: DWR stops flows down spillway\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb27\">Feb. 27: Breathtaking destruction\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#mar03\">March 3: Operators restart hydro plant\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#mar04\">March 4: Power plant shut down again\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#mar06\">March 6: Moving a mountain of debris\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#mar10\">March 10: Power plant flows ramped up\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#mar17\">March 17: Main spillway reopened\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#mar23\">March 23: Evacuation advisory lifted\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>\"These past six weeks have been a very difficult and unsettling time for many individuals and families affected by the danger posed by fast-moving erosion to the emergency spillway,\" Honea said. \"I couldn't be more proud of this community and the countless unsung heroes who helped their neighbors and cared for those who needed it most.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Honea's mantra at virtually every media briefing and public appearance over the last month and a half has been a request for residents to sign up for the county's emergency notification system. And despite lifting the evacuation advisory, county officials are working on developing new evacuation plans in case of a future emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county has designated 11 new flood evacuation zones, complete with assembly points and emergency departure routes, along the Feather River from Oroville to the town of Gridley. Officials are holding informational meetings in each zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The potential for future trouble with the Oroville Dam was \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/03/22/experts-oroville-spillway-damage-continues-to-pose-very-significant-risk/\" target=\"_blank\">highlighted in a report\u003c/a> from a board of experts appointed to review the situation at the facility and oversee the process of repairing or rebuilding the spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report, obtained earlier this week by The Associated Press, says dam managers are facing a \"very significant risk\" if the main spillway is not operational in time for this fall's rainy season. The panel also said it's \"absolutely critical\" to avoid further flows over the emergency weir and down the hillside below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Water Resources has placed thousands of tons of rock in eroded sections of the eroded hillside, \"armored\" sections of the slope with concrete, and built a series of walls and check dams to slow any flow of water down to the river channel below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryDaily?s=ORO\" target=\"_blank\">current operational status of the spillway and reservoir\u003c/a>: Releases down the damaged concrete structure continue at about 40,000 cubic feet per second. Water is also being released through two of the five operational units in the dam's hydroelectric plants, for a total flow of about 45,000 cfs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR officials said when flows were resumed down the main spillway last Friday that they intend to lower the lake's surface elevation to between 835 and 838 feet above sea level. That would represent a drop of 26 to 29 feet from last week and would put the lake level 63 to 66 feet below the now-dreaded emergency weir. The agency said it plans to shut down spillway releases at that point to allow resumption of preliminary work to repairing or replacing the structure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One aspect of that work started this week, with crews drilling for rock and soil samples near the spillway to assess underlying conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flood-control releases down the main spillway are just one part of the equation determining how fast the lake level drops, of course. The other principal factor is the amount of water flowing into the lake from the Feather River watershed, or \"inflow.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inflow peaked during the February spillway crisis at about 190,000 cfs. After a long run of mostly dry, clear and cool weather in the first half of March, it fell and leveled off between 15,000 cfs and 20,000 cfs. Now, with a series of storms marching through Northern California, inflow has periodically risen into the 45,000 to 50,000 cfs range -- meaning the lake's level has fallen very slowly, and some hours not at all, during the last several days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One more big storm is expected in the week ahead -- a cold system that DWR forecasters say could drop 2 to 3 inches of rain or its snow equivalent on the Feather River basin over the weekend. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"mar17\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 1:45 p.m. Friday, March 17:\u003c/strong> The Department of Water Resources has reopened the Oroville Dam's badly damaged main spillway to make room for an expected surge of runoff amid a return of stormy weather and the onset of the spring runoff season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flow of water resumed down the spillway just after 11 a.m. Friday. Bill Croyle, the agency's acting director, said during a media briefing that flows would be increased to 50,000 cubic feet per second during the day. He said managers aimed to lower Lake Oroville, the state's second-largest reservoir, from its current surface level of 864 feet above sea level to between 835 and 838 feet. That would be 63 to 66 feet below the level of the dam's emergency spillway, which overflowed Feb. 11 and triggered a mass evacuation of Oroville and other communities along the Feather River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Croyle said the relatively high rate of flow from Lake Oroville into the Feather River will continue for five or six days, depending on the amount of runoff coming into the lake. He said DWR would \"continuously evaluate the condition of the flood-control spillway to see how it's performing, and then we'll make decisions during the week on how we'll step down from 50,000 to 40,000 (cfs) and ultimately back down to zero.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Croyle said dam managers anticipate they will have to conduct as many as three releases during the spring as snow in the higher elevations of the Feather River melts and flows into the lake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After nearly three weeks of mostly dry, sunny weather, a series of storms is expected to roll across Northern California over the next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The weather systems are expected to start out relatively warm, with freezing levels beginning about 7,500 feet over the Feather River watershed that feeds Lake Oroville, then falling to 4,000 to 5,500 feet as the heavier storms move in next week. The colder storms mean most precipitation will fall as snow over the watershed and slow the rush of runoff into the reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Releases down the shattered spillway chute were halted Feb. 27 so crews could bring in heavy equipment to clear a mountain of rubble, rock and sediment from the adjacent river channel. At the same time, workers have been scrambling to reinforce what remains of the main spillway -- grouting and cementing cracks and seams, bolting sections of the spillway to underlying rock, and enclosing an eroded area at the lip of the surviving structure in concrete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR says the work -- which at various points has meant marshaling a contractor army of helicopters, cranes, bulldozers, loaders, trucks and barges -- has cost about $4.7 million a day. If that figure is accurate, the effort to deal with the broken spillway and severe erosion below the dam's emergency weir has cost about $180 million so far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR has advised residents of downstream communities that the increased releases will trigger a rise of 13 to 15 feel along the Feather River. That has renewed fears among farmers along the stream whose land suffered severe erosion when river levels fell rapidly in late February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brad Foster, who farms near the Yuba County town of Marysville, \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-feather-river-erosion-20170315-story.html\" target=\"_blank\">told the Los Angeles Time\u003c/a>s this week:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“My concern right now is erosion,” Foster said. “We have 100-year-old oak trees lying in the river. Everything that was there, old growth that protected the banks, it was just sucked in. … This is all going to go under water and it’s all freshly slipped material. This is all going to start eroding. We don’t know if it’s going to take the banks. … The river could actually start a new channel.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>... Foster said a 300-foot buffer zone of bluffs, trees and vegetation protecting his walnut orchard was wiped out and now the orchard sits in the path of future rising waters. Debris turned the river brown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve never seen it so dirty in my life,” he said.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"mar10\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 7 p.m. Friday, March 10:\u003c/strong> To bring us up to date before the weekend:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Power plant:\u003c/strong> During the course of the week, the Department of Water Resources put all five of the available turbines at the Oroville Dam's Hyatt powerhouse into operation. The result: Releases from Lake Oroville, which had been halted Feb. 27 to allow crews to clear rock, rubble and mud from the river channel below the dam's devastated main spillway, have increased from 0 to about 13,000 cubic feet per second.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Lake level:\u003c/strong> The surface elevation of Lake Oroville, California's second-largest reservoir, is hovering right around 860 feet. That's 41 feet below the emergency spillway weir and right at the level that Bill Croyle, the DWR's acting chief, said last month the agency would consider restarting flows down the main spillway in order to maintain space in the reservoir for any incoming floodwaters. But runoff into the lake has remained modest as Northern California gets a prolonged break from rain and snow, and no new releases down the main spillway have been mentioned. On the other hand, much warmer weather over the next week in the Feather River basin could begin to melt the region's abundant snowpack and renew a rise in lake levels.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Main spillway:\u003c/strong> Crews have been engaged in patching and caulking cracks and holes along the surviving section of the concrete spillway and have also applied spray-on concrete -- shotcrete -- to a section under the concrete chute that showed signs of further erosion. That work is aimed at ensuring the structure can endure further releases without further major erosion.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Emergency spillway:\u003c/strong> Contractors continue to armor eroded areas below the dam's emergency weir, the slope where serious erosion the weekend of Feb. 11-12 threatened to undermine the weir and unleash a wall of water down the Feather River. The work now involves building a series of channels and check dams to slow the flow of water down the hill, should Lake Oroville go over the top of the weir again.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Debris removal:\u003c/strong> DWR has estimated that 1.7 million cubic yards of rubble, enough to cover a football field to a depth of 80 stories, would up in the river channel below the spillway. To get the Hyatt powerhouse running again, it was necessary to at least partially clear the channel. Friday, the agency said the army of contractors working on the job have removed about half the debris out of the channel.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Costs\u003c/strong>: A frequently asked question -- how much is this whole Oroville spillway emergency project costing the taxpayers? Here's an answer, \u003ca href=\"http://www.chicoer.com/general-news/20170308/dwr-tells-assemblyman-dam-repair-cost-estimated-daily-average-of-47-million\" target=\"_blank\">by way of the Chico Enterprise-Record\u003c/a>: $4.7 million a day. The details:\u003cbr>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Regarding estimated daily cost of labor, we’re focused on emergency response and recovery efforts. It would be premature to estimate costs at this time,” DWR public information officer Lauren Bisnett wrote in an email Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Representatives from the California Office of Emergency Services and the state’s Finance Department previously told this newspaper DWR was accountable for keeping track of the costs for the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday afternoon, Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, said he was expecting to hear about costs accrued, as the DWR met with the Federal Emergency Management Agency earlier Wednesday to discuss repair and maintenance costs related to damage of the spillways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Curtis Grima, Gallagher’s chief of staff, later said in an email that according to conversations with DWR officials, the estimated daily average cost is $4.7 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is estimated that between 75 percent-90 percent of the cost will be reimbursed by FEMA, Grima’s email said.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"mar06\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 4:35 p.m. Monday, March 6:\u003c/strong> The Department of Water Resources reopened the Oroville Dam hydroelectric plant at about 6 p.m. Sunday -- after suspending operations for 32 hours to allow crews to deepen the river channel downstream of the plant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Monday afternoon, just one of the plant's five available turbines was running, resulting in a release of about 1,750 cubic feet per second. The water agency hopes to get all five units running soon, which would increase outflow from Lake Oroville to somewhere in the range of 13,000 to 14,000 cfs (DWR has cited both figures).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reason the esoteric water release data is important: Higher flows through the powerhouse will allow the agency to limit the reservoir's rise as work continues on assessing the devastated main spillway and clearing debris from the river channel, formally known as the Thermalito Diversion Pool, below the shattered concrete structure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=\"kSUah7JZIA0Ameah7mPu6THfcz9ueki2\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lake Oroville's surface level at 4 p.m. Monday was 856 feet above sea level. That's 45 feet below the top of the problematic emergency spillway, where an overflow and severe erosion prompted a mass evacuation of Oroville and other communities downstream on Feb. 12. And it's 18 feet above the lake level a week ago, when flows were halted down the main spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR estimates the pile of debris in the channel to be a shocking 1.7 million cubic yards. That's mostly rock blasted out of the terrain beneath and adjacent to the main spillway by emergency reservoir releases that reached a maximum of 100,000 cfs after the emergency spillway crisis. So far, the water agency says, a force of contractors driving cranes, bulldozers, heavy trucks and barges has removed about a quarter of the material to spoils sites on land along the river channels. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"mar04\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 1:30 p.m. Saturday, March 4:\u003c/strong> Friday, the Department of Water Resources declared that resuming operations through the Hyatt Power Plant at the base of Oroville Dam marked a \"pivot point\" in the effort to get a handle on water levels in Lake Oroville and to proceed with the immense job of recovering from the failure of the dam's main spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After hearing a declaration like that, you might involuntarily say \"uh oh,\" when what you've been told is a big step forward is interrupted without explanation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was the case at midday Saturday. The power plant, which gives dam operators a way to let some water out of the reservoir and allows the closure of the crippled main spillway to continue, had been releasing a relatively modest but steady 2,500 cubic feet per second late Friday and early Saturday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The water was coming through one of the power plant's five available turbines. DWR Acting Director Bill Croyle said the agency planned to have all five running by early next week, which would allow a release of about 14,000 cfs -- enough to minimize rises in the lake during a period of relatively low inflow from the Feather River watershed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Saturday, flows through the power plant stopped without a prior announcement. And that led to social media \"uh oh\" moments like this:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/R1Lover/status/838113657582047232\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, just after midday, DWR announced in a press release that it had shut down the powerhouse again. The reason: Crews need to remove more of the rock, rubble and sediment from the debris-choked channel downstream of the power facility to allow it to operate full bore. From the release:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“We will dig deeper so we can fully ramp the plant up,” said DWR Acting Director Bill Croyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Initial flow from the plant on Friday was 1,750 cubic feet per second (cfs) and increased to 2550 cfs. Once fully operational, the plant can release up to 14,000 cfs, which is important for managing reservoir inflows and outflows through the spring runoff season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR engineers have determined that further deepening of the channel will help the power plant reach full capacity and that it will take approximately 1-2 days, at which time the plant will be restarted.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>We've asked for but haven't yet gotten details on how much more excavation needs to be done to prepare the channel for full operation of the power plant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meantime, \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Riverbanks-collapse-after-Oroville-Dam-spillway-10976144.php\" target=\"_blank\">the San Francisco Chronicle's Kurtis Alexander reports\u003c/a> a serious problem down the Feather River from the dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steep banks along the river started collapsing after DWR abruptly cut flows down the damaged spillway on Monday from 50,000 cfs to zero. Releases into the river have continued from smaller reservoirs near Oroville, but the Feather River is now flowing at something like a summertime rate of 2,500 cfs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here's the result, Alexander reports:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>With high water no longer propping up the shores, the still-wet soil crashed under its own weight, sometimes dragging in trees, rural roads and farmland, they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The damage is catastrophic,” said Brad Foster, who has waterfront property in Marysville (Yuba County), about 25 miles south of Lake Oroville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The farmer not only saw 25-foot bluffs collapse, but also lost irrigation lines to his almonds. “When the bank pulled in,” he said, “it pulled the pumps in with it. It busted the steel pipes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials at the state Department of Water Resources, which runs the dam, said Friday that they’re monitoring the river for erosion. But they declined to discuss the situation.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"mar03\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 2:25 p.m. Friday, March 3:\u003c/strong> The Department of Water Resources halted flows down the shattered main spillway at Oroville Dam \u003ca href=\"#feb27\">earlier this week\u003c/a> with one purpose in mind: to begin clearing the monstrous pile of concrete, rock and sediment washed into the river channel below the spillway. That work, in turn, would allow the channel's water level to drop and allow the hydroelectric plant at the base of the dam to resume operations. (How monstrous is that debris pile? We'll get to that.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Friday, the agency said it's making progress. The water level in the channel, which serves as a tailrace for the hydro plant and is formally called the Thermalito Diversion Pool, has fallen 22 feet over the last several days. That allowed dam managers to start up one of the plant's five available turbines, and they aim to have all of those units online by early next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Pretty exciting day for us,\" Bill Croyle, DWR's acting director, said during a midday media briefing in Oroville. \"This is a pivot point in how we are managing the inflows to the river (and) the reservoir elevation.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crucial point there: Running water through the power plant gives DWR a route other than the partially obliterated main spillway of releasing water from Lake Oroville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keeping water moving down the river also allows the agency to maintain the flow of water for several fish species, including juvenile chinook salmon that have started making their way down the Feather River on their way to the Delta and the Pacific Ocean. The abrupt halt to flows from the spillway earlier this week led to \u003ca href=\"http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article135596368.html\" target=\"_blank\">the stranding\u003c/a> of both adult and juvenile fish downstream from Oroville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With one turbine running, about 1,700 cubic feet of water is being discharged through the powerhouse. DWR says that rate will rise to 14,000 cfs when all five available units are online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having that water exiting the lake will help balance inflows -- which have stayed in the 14,000-20,000 cfs range most of the week since -- and slow the lake's rise while work continues to clear rubble from the river channel and assess the terrain around the badly damaged spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now, about that big pile of debris: DWR estimates it's about 1.7 million cubic yards. A cubic yard, as everyone knows, is a cube measuring 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet, or 27 cubic feet. How much material is 1.7 million of those cubes?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our calculations, using our handy cultural reference of a football field -- 120 yards long and 53.33 yards wide: 1.7 million cubic yards would be enough to bury a football field to a depth of 797 feet. That's a little higher than San Francisco's Bank of America building (779 feet).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb27\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 2:20 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27:\u003c/strong> The state Department of Water Resources has, as promised, halted flows down the damaged main spillway at Oroville Dam. Even if you've been following the progress of this incident since it began Feb. 7, and even if you understood the damage to the spillway was catastrophic, the first images of the structure are sobering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/UyvDPt-HU3g\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR stopped the release of water down the spillway early Monday afternoon with two main goals in mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, it wants contractors to begin the task of removing a staggering amount of rubble, rock and sediment that have wound up at the bottom of the river channel below the spillway. Clearing the debris, in turn, will allow dam managers to resume operations at the hydroelectric power plant at the base of the dam, a facility that was shut down as water rose behind the blockage in the channel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Second, shutting down the flows will allow geologists and other experts to inspect the shattered spillway structure and the surrounding terrain. That will give DWR officials a better understanding of the work ahead in designing a replacement spillway and the potential for further erosion when flows down the current spillway resume.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amount of material to be removed from the channel, parts of which are 70 to 80 feet deep, is immense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"There are a lot of numbers being thrown around, anywhere from 150,000 cubic yards all the way up to a million,\" DWR Acting Director Bill Croyle said in an interview Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said with flows down to zero, laser mapping technology will be used to assess just how much debris now obstructs the channel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I suspect it's going to be between a half-million and a million cubic yards,\" Croyle said. \"But again we won't know until that mapping tomorrow.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(A million cubic yards, if you're keeping score at home, would be enough material to cover five football fields, complete with end zones, to a depth of 100 feet.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Croyle said contractors have been tasked with clearing a channel 30 feet deep, 150 wide and 1,500 feet long to help facilitate flows below the dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The water level in the Thermalito Diversion Pool early Monday was about 20 feet high to allow operation of the turbines in the dam's hydroelectric powerhouse. Getting the turbines back online will give water managers another way of releasing water from Lake Oroville, the state's second-largest reservoir, as the spring runoff season begins. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb26\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 4:25 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26:\u003c/strong> Having drawn down the level of Lake Oroville 60 feet in the two weeks since a spillway emergency that triggered mass evacuations, and with the prospect of mostly dry weather for at least the next week, state water officials announced Sunday they will halt flows down Oroville Dam's badly damaged main spillway to speed up recovery work there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Department of Water Resources said it would reduce reservoir releases from 50,000 cubic feet per second to zero during the day Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR says stopping the flow of water down the main spillway will allow workers to \"aggressively attack\" a mountain of rubble that now lies submerged in the Feather River channel immediately below the broken concrete chute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The blockage in the channel, formally called the Thermalito Diversion Pool, has caused water to back up to the hydroelectric power plant at the base of the 770-foot-high dam. That high water, in turn, has forced officials to suspect operations at the plant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flows down the main spillway were as high as 100,000 cfs -- 750,000 gallons a second, enough to supply four average California households for a year -- after an emergency at the dam earlier this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Damage to the spillway was detected on Feb. 7, just as a series of storms triggered a huge surge of runoff into Lake Oroville, the state's second-biggest reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With flow rates into the lake peaking at about 190,000 cfs, releases down the damaged spillway were limited to a maximum of 55,000 cfs. The result: The lake rose nearly 50 feet in just four days and, for the first time since Oroville Dam went into service in 1968, flowed over an emergency weir on Feb. 11.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The water cascading over the ungated 1,730-foot-long weir rapidly eroded the adjacent slope. Less than 36 hours after the flow began over the weir, officials became concerned that the erosion was undermining the massive weir structure -- a collapse of which could unleash a devastating surge of water. That concern led to the mass evacuation of Oroville, the town of 16,000 just downstream of the dam, and about 180,000 people along the Feather River in Butte, Sutter and Yuba counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The emergency prompted federal dam safety authorities to order the Department of Water Resources to immediately form a panel of experts to investigate the cause of the main spillway failure and the performance of the emergency spillway. The federal order directs DWR to report to the panel throughout the process of designing and building a replacement for the main spillway and enhancements for the emergency spillway. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb22\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22:\u003c/strong> With runoff from our most recent spate of stormy weather dwindling, it appears that Lake Oroville's level is also falling again. According to Department of Water Resource's \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?s=ORO\" target=\"_blank\">hourly data\u003c/a>, the reservoir surface peaked at 852.93 feet above sea level at 5 a.m. and had fallen to 852.89 feet by 8 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OK, that's not much -- the decline amounts to a half-inch, a change imperceptible to all but the DWR's instruments. Overall, though, the lake is about 48 feet below the edge of Oroville Dam's emergency spillway and 4 feet above the low point it reached Monday amid managers' efforts to restore space in the reservoir to receive incoming floods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A couple of notable Wednesday news pieces on the Oroville situation:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Sacramento Bee:\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article133932379.html\" target=\"_blank\">Continued erosion of Oroville Dam's main spillway part of 'normal process,' officials say\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Los Angeles Times:\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-oroville-dam-recovery-20170221-story.html\" target=\"_blank\">Oroville hoping to turn dam crisis into tourism opportunity\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 12:05 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21:\u003c/strong> Lake Oroville is on the rise again in the wake of a series of storms that soaked most of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rise, however, is very gradual. The lake remains 49 feet below the top of the emergency weir at the center of the Oroville Dam crisis that resulted in the Feb. 12 evacuation order for about 188,000 people in Butte, Sutter and Yuba counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 120 hours of weather systems that culminated in the very wet Presidents Day storm dropped as much as a foot of precipitation -- rain or its snow equivalent -- in the Feather River watershed upstream of Lake Oroville. The gauge at Oroville Dam recorded 4.04 inches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The precipitation triggered a spike in runoff into the giant reservoir. The volume of water flowing in had remained in the range of 15,000 to 45,000 cubic feet per second for most of the week. On Monday, though, it increased to as much as 90,000 cfs. That's 673,000 gallons, or 2 acre-feet per second -- enough water to supply about four average California household for a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dam managers reduced the volume of water going down the facility's damaged main spillway from 100,000 cfs last week to about 60,000 cfs. The lower level allows crews to begin the work of clearing rubble, rock and sediment from the channel below the main spillway. That work, in turn, is designed to allow the hydroelectric power plant at the base of Oroville Dam to resume operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR has been quick to point out in each and every press release on the situation that work continues to \"armor\" and reinforce the severely eroded hillside below the emergency weir. That erosion occurred when floodwaters flowed across the structure for the first time since the dam was finished in 1968. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb19\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 1:45 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19:\u003c/strong> The significant weekend news at Oroville Dam: The Department of Water Resources decreased flows down the damaged main spillway to 55,000 cubic feet per second on Saturday, then announced it would ramp them up again, to 60,000 cfs, on Sunday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those levels are far lower than the 100,000 cfs released down the spillway starting a week ago, amid fears that the dam's emergency spillway system was about to fail. Those very high flows, maintained for four straight days, helped lower the lake from a foot above the 1,700-foot emergency weir last Sunday afternoon to 50 feet below it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flow reductions over the last couple of days were intended to help crews assess how much rubble, rock and sediment has been swept into the 80-foot-deep channel beneath the main spillway and begin the process of removing it. The debris has dammed the channel and made it impossible to use the hydropower plant at the base of Oroville Dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Incoming weather will no doubt play a part in releases over the next several days, with a storm expected to drop 8 inches or more of water by early Wednesday on the Feather River watershed above Lake Oroville. Snow levels are forecast to remain low, however, which will help slow down runoff into the reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below: DWR drone video showing the state of work to reinforce the badly eroded slope beneath the emergency weir, as well as the condition of the main spillway as of Saturday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/yxgtyOfwrj8?list=PLeod6x87Tu6eVFnSyEtQeOVbxvSWywPlx\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb17\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 3:25 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17:\u003c/strong> To start with the numbers: Department of Water Resources data show that despite cutting back releases down Oroville Dam's shattered spillway and the return of storms to the Feather River basin, Lake Oroville continues to empty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 3 p.m. Friday, \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?s=ORO&d=17-Feb-2017+15:05&span=25hours\" target=\"_blank\">DWR's running statistics on the reservoir\u003c/a> show that its surface is now a little more than 42 feet below the lip of the dam's emergency spillway. The lake is falling at a rate of roughly 3 to 4 inches an hour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second in a series of winter storms arrived in the region on Friday, dropping moderate amounts of rain and snow on the 3,600-square-mile Feather River watershed. Forty-eight-hour rain totals in the area ranged from 1.36 inches at Oroville Dam to 2.44 inches at the Humbug gauge in the mountains north of the reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thursday, DWR cut releases from Lake Oroville from 100,000 cubic feet per second to 80,000 cfs. The reduction was designed to give crews a chance to begin removing the mass of concrete rubble, rock and sediment that tumbled into a channel that issues from the bottom of the dam. The agency said Friday it would cut spillway flows further -- down to 70,000 cfs -- as part of the effort to clear the channel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As we've reported every day this week, work continues to repair erosion damage to the hillside below the dam's emergency spillway structure. That erosion, which occurred when the water rose above the weir at the top of the emergency spillway and gouged out huge sections of the slope below as it rushed downhill, prompted last Sunday evening's mass evacuation from Oroville and communities as far as 35 miles downriver from the dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea reiterated during a press briefing Friday that those who live downstream from the dam need to be prepared to leave if trouble recurs at the dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The likelihood (of trouble) is low,\" Honea said. \"But -- and I don't want to sound like a broken record, but that's my job. My job is to keep people prepared. So they've got to pay attention, they've got to be vigilant, they've got to be prepared, they've got to sign up for their emergency warning notification system. And if you're tired of hearing my say that, I'm sorry, but I'm going to keep saying it until this situation is well past us.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Honea also addressed again a question that has arisen in the aftermath of last weekend's evacuation: Whether Oroville or other communities in the evacuation zone had experienced looting after people left town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sheriff has said while there had been burglaries and thefts during the roughly 48-hour evacuation, there had been no looting. Friday, he clarified that a little.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Now that my staff has had a better opportunity to talk with me, we find that a couple of those burglary- or theft-related crimes, we can charge ... the individuals responsible with an enhancement of looting,\" Honea said. He did not immediately offer specific details of those episodes. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb16\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 3:20 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16:\u003c/strong> The Feather River watershed has gotten its first dose of rain and snow from an expected series of storms, with moderate amounts of precipitation that haven't yet caused a major increase in flows into the reservoir behind Oroville Dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the 12 hours ending at 9 a.m., precipitation totals ranged from about a half-inch at the dam itself to 1.50 inches near Bucks Lake, in the higher country of the Feather River watershed..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the Department of Water Resources announced today it was reducing flows down the dam's main spillway as crews get ready to remove the large volume of debris that has fallen into the channel below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rubble from the main release structure, and rock and sediment eroded from the adjacent slope, have filled the 80-foot channel immediately below the spillway chute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR reduced the spillway flows from 100,000 cubic feet per second to 80,000 cubic feet per second.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 100,000 cfs rate, which commenced Sunday afternoon as fears mounted that the dam's emergency spillway system might fail and unleash an uncontrolled surge of water down the Feather River, helped lower the lake's level 34 feet over the past four days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The DWR has said the reduced releases will be sufficient to continue lowering the lake and make room for runoff from future storms and snowmelt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The wettest storm in the series of storms that began Thursday is expected to arrive Monday. One precipitation forecast, from NOAA's California-Nevada River Forecast Center, says that system could drop as much 6 inches of water -- either rain or snow -- on the higher elevations of the Feather River watershed. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb15\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday:\u003c/strong> Officials raced to drain more water from Lake Oroville as new storms began rolling into Northern California on Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three storms were expected to stretch into next week. Forecasters said the first two storms could drop a total of 5 inches of rain in higher elevations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the third storm, starting as early as Monday, could be more powerful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"There's a potential for several inches,\" National Weather Service forecaster Tom Dang said. \"It will be very wet.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, California Department of Water Resources chief Bill Croyle said water was draining at about four times the rate that it was flowing in and the repairs should hold at the nation's tallest dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 100,000 cubic feet of water was flowing from the reservoir each second, enough to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"sharedaddy show-for-medium-up\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/KQED_Oroville_Desktop.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1408201\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/KQED_Oroville_Desktop-800x645.jpg\" alt=\"KQED_Oroville_Desktop\" width=\"800\" height=\"645\">\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv class=\"show-for-small-only\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/KQED_Oroville_Mobile.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1408199\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/KQED_Oroville_Mobile.jpg\" alt=\"KQED_Oroville_Mobile\" width=\"750\" height=\"1335\">\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Croyle said work crews had made \"great progress\" cementing thousands of tons of rocks into holes in the spillways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We shouldn't see a bump in the reservoir\" from the upcoming storms, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reservoir has dropped 20 feet since it reached capacity Sunday. Croyle said officials hope it falls 50 feet by this Sunday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, officials warned residents who have returned to their homes that the area downstream of the dam remained under an evacuation warning and they should be prepared to leave if the risk increases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED's Dan Brekke hosted a \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/KQEDnews/videos/1339741799433547/\" target=\"_blank\">live Facebook video\u003c/a> below the Oroville Dam spillway earlier Wednesday:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe src=\"https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FKQEDnews%2Fvideos%2F1339741799433547%2F&show_text=1&width=560\" width=\"560\" height=\"983\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14:\u003c/strong> The evacuation order affecting about 180,000 residents along the course of the Feather River below Oroville Dam has been reduced to a warning, allowing residents to return to their homes, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said during a press conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Taking into account the current level of risk, the predicted strength of the next round of inclement weather and the capacity of the lake to accommodate increased inflow associated with those storms, we have concluded that it is safe to reduce the immediate evacuation order currently in place to an evacuation warning,” Honea said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Water Resources indicated during the conference that the inflow of water to the reservoir continues to drop and that about 100,000 cubic feet of water per second is being released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re continuing to make significant gains in removing water from the reservoir,” acting DWR chief Bill Croyle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR officials said the goal is to get the level of the reservoir down to flood control storage, which is about 850 feet. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14:\u003c/strong> Large-scale releases of water continue at Oroville Dam, and the level of the giant reservoir there has dropped to about 12 feet below the emergency spillway structure that engineers believed was on the verge of failure on Sunday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Water Resources and other agencies are continuing to assess the condition of the slope below the dam, parts of which were scoured down to rock by the force of water rushing over the emergency release structure over the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crisis was triggered a week ago, when serious damage to the dam's main spillway was detected just as runoff began cascading into the nearly full lake after a series of wet, warm storms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Jerry Brown has issued \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=19683\" target=\"_blank\">an emergency declaration\u003c/a> to help speed up state agencies' response to the Oroville crisis. On Monday, he told reporters at \u003ca href=\"http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article132550884.html\" target=\"_blank\">a Sacramento-area media briefing\u003c/a> with emergency officials that he's confident the Trump administration will respond promptly to the state's requests for aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Responding to questions about whether the Department of Water Resources should have done more to reinforce the emergency spillway system -- as \u003ca href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/12/oroville-dam-feds-and-state-officials-ignored-warnings-12-years-ago/\" target=\"_blank\">suggested by environmental groups\u003c/a> during a 2005 relicensing process -- Brown said:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\"Every time you have one of these disasters, people perk up and start looking at analogous situations and things that you might not have paid as much attention to. But we live in a world of risk – the earthquake shook the Bay Bridge, and then we the state and all the different governors had to put up a new bridge.\"\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Tuesday morning, 180,000 people remain evacuated along the course of the Feather River in the east-central Sacramento Valley. At a media briefing Monday, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said the evacuation order, issued hurriedly on Sunday, would be in place until agencies handling the situation at the dam say the danger of a catastrophic emergency spillway failure has passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A series of storms expected to begin rolling across Northern California on Wednesday night are expected to trigger a new rise in Lake Oroville -- the reason dam managers are continuing to try to lower the lake as fast as the damaged main spillway will allow. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb13\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 1:20 p.m. Monday, Feb. 13:\u003c/strong> Here are four big takeaways from the Department of Water Resources (with other local officials' noontime briefing on the situation at Oroville Dam:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>First: The evacuation order that forced 180,000 people from their homes on Sunday will remain in place for now. Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea, whose jurisdiction includes the dam and the communities immediately downstream, said he is depending on the advice of \"subject-matter experts\" from the DWR and other agencies before people are allowed to return home.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Second: The desperate effort to lower Lake Oroville's level after an imminent failure of the dam's emergency spillway continues. With water pounding down the severely damaged main spillway at nearly 100,000 cubic feet per second -- that's about 750,000 gallons, for those of us who don't measure water in cubic feet -- the giant reservoir is falling at about 4 inches per hour and is now about 5 feet from the top of the emergency spillway.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Third: Dam and water managers are preparing for the resumption of winter storms over the Feather River watershed above Lake Oroville. The DWR's 10-day precipitation forecast, based on analysis of weather models, suggests that the next round of storms will be much colder and drop less than half the precipitation than the very warm weather systems that helped trigger the Oroville crisis.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Fourth: The DWR and other state and federal agencies are going to face very tough questioning about whether something should have been done years ago to shore up the emergency spillway structure and adjacent hillside. Those questions will be prompted by a story by KQED Science Managing Editor and San Jose Mercury News reporter Paul Rogers, who \u003ca href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/12/oroville-dam-feds-and-state-officials-ignored-warnings-12-years-ago/\" target=\"_blank\">details concerns raised about the soundness of the emergency spillway system\u003c/a> back in 2005.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb12\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 5:40 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12: \u003c/strong>Officials say the emergency spillway at Oroville Dam could fail at any time and are ordering evacuations from Oroville to Gridley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Department of Water Resources urged residents of Oroville to head north, toward Chico. Residents elsewhere downstream should follow the orders of their local law enforcement, the department said. Officials have set up an evacuation shelter at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The emergency spillway is separate from the main dam structure. It's a massive, ungated concrete weir that stretches for one-third of a mile to the north of the dam and began overflowing Saturday morning. Below an initial concrete lip, water courses over bare earth all the way to the river channel below, scouring the slope of earth, rocks and trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Erosion on the hillside has increased beyond expectations. Oroville Dam contains California's second-largest reservoir, and is currently holding back more than 3.5 million acre-feet of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 9:40 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 12:\u003c/strong> After rising to record high levels, the water level in Lake Oroville appears to be dropping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Data from the California Department of Water Resources -- see \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?s=ORO\" target=\"_blank\">real-time Lake Oroville levels here\u003c/a> -- show the reservoir's surface crested at 902.59 feet above sea level at 3 a.m. Sunday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the volume of runoff into the lake decreasing and about 500,000 gallons of water flowing out of the lake every second down the badly damaged main spillway and the emergency outlet, reservoir levels had dropped to 902.39 feet by 9 a.m. That drop is equivalent to about 2.5 inches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lake is considered full at 901 feet, and it's at that level that it began pouring over an emergency spillway early Saturday. The emergency outlet is being used for the first time since the dam went into operation in 1968.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR managers say water should stop flowing over the emergency spillway sometime Monday. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb11\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 4:45 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11:\u003c/strong> The real news of this afternoon came from a media briefing with acting Department of Water Resources chief Bill Croyle, who gave new details about the work ahead to replace Oroville Dam's shattered spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before we get to that, though, let's take a glance once more at Lake Oroville, which has continued to rise and spill over on this sparkling midwinter Saturday. The giant reservoir, California's second-largest, is now \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?s=ORO\" target=\"_blank\">a foot over\u003c/a> the dam's never-before-used emergency spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR officials say that with several days of dry weather in store and the volume of runoff dropping, they expect water to continue to flow over the emergency weir until sometime Monday. \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/uux0bjzSh7Y\" target=\"_blank\">Video posted Saturday afternoon\u003c/a> (see below) showed a muddy, debris-laden torrent pouring into the waterway below the spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At his noon-hour media briefing, Croyle said the damaged main spillway will need to be completely rebuilt. He said he told Gov. Jerry Brown in a discussion on Friday the cost would come to $100 million to $200 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"My objective is to get a spillway back in operation before the wet season next year, which is typically Oct. 15 or so,\" Croyle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Croyle said he can only give \"a very rough range\" of the eventual cost because of the many unknowns involved in the project, including exactly where the replacement spillway will be built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We haven't gone in and looked at it, we don't know how much more damage we're going to do, decisions have to be made on a new one ... so the range is huge,\" Croyle said. \"What we told the governor yesterday afternoon is a hundred to two hundred million. Again, with the caveats we don't know a lot about the site itself.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added that while the agency has the resources it needs to carry out the new spillway project and associated cleanup and repairs, he's hoping for support from the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Croyle said dam managers face a long, complex juggling act to deal with the impact of the spillway failure amid a continuing very wet winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the biggest challenges engineers and work crews face is how to clear the Thermalito Diversion Pool immediately below the wrecked spillway of a large volume of concrete debris and sediment that have dammed the waterway and forced closure of the hydroelectric plant at the base of Oroville Dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Muddy water rose and backed up toward the powerhouse as the lower section of the main spillway disintegrated under high flows. To avoid contaminating the power facility, it was shut down early Friday. That had an unfortunate side effect: Outflows through the plant, which can handle a maximum of 12,000 cubic feet per second, were halted. That, in turn, limited the amount of water managers could release from the fast-filling reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To remove the debris blocking the waterway, Croyle said, flows down the damaged main spillway will probably need to be halted temporarily. With another series of storms forecast to arrive in the region starting Thursday, that's not something that can be done immediately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One piece of good news about the forecast, though: The next round of storms is expected to be colder, meaning they are far less likely to unleash the torrents of runoff produced by the last group of extremely warm weather systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/uux0bjzSh7Y\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 11:\u003c/strong> Floodwaters began flowing over Oroville Dam's emergency spillway early Saturday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's the first time since the dam went into operation in 1968 that the emergency outlet from Lake Oroville has been used. The lake filled rapidly this week after severe damage to the main spillway forced dam managers to decrease the volume of water being released at the same time a series of warm storms triggered heavy runoff into the reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Department of Water Resources officials said water began moving over the 1,700-foot-long emergency weir just before 8 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/KCRA3/videos/10155022492371514/\" target=\"_blank\">TV helicopter video \u003c/a>soon after showed sheets of water cascading over the concrete structure, although heavy flows did not appear to have begun downhill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/DVNaPBlIxe4\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the lake continues to rise. By 11 a.m., the reservoir's surface was 901.55 feet, 6 inches over the top of the emergency spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR spokesman Doug Carlson said the rate of flow over the auxiliary release structure was expected to increase from an estimated 660 cubic feet per second at 9 a.m. to 6,000 to 12,000 cubic feet per second.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said dam and water managers estimate the flow will continue for 40 to 56 hours -- a time frame that runs roughly between midnight Sunday and 4 p.m. Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 12:35 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 11:\u003c/strong> Anyone who's been watching \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?s=ORO&d=11-Feb-2017+00:14&span=25hours\" target=\"_blank\">the numbers\u003c/a> associated with Oroville Dam and Lake Oroville this evening -- how much water is flowing into the lake, how much is flowing out through the partially destroyed spillway -- probably has come to a conclusion similar to this one: At some point during the next few hours, water from the state's second-largest reservoir is likely to start pouring across the dam's emergency spillway and start racing down an adjacent slope toward the waterway below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At midnight Friday, Lake Oroville had risen to within about 18 inches of the lip of the emergency spillway. With water still coming into the lake from the Feather River watershed faster than it can be released down the damaged spillway, the level is rising at about 3 inches per hour. At that rate, simple spectator arithmetic tells you that the lake will overtop the emergency spillway as early as 6 a.m. Saturday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dam managers with the Department of Water Resources had calculated releasing 65,000 cubic feet of water per second down the damaged spillway would slow the lake's rise enough to keep water from reaching the emergency structure. Those hopes dimmed Friday evening when \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/news/newsreleases/2017/021017oroville.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">releases were cut\u003c/a> to 55,000 CFS to lower the risk of erosion that would threaten the stability of nearby power line towers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR is unable to use another release point in the dam, a hydroelectric generating station that can handle another 12,000 CFS. Debris from the shattered spillway wound up in the channel just downstream from the power plant, causing water to back up and forcing officials to shut it down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This would mark the first time water has flowed over the emergency facility since the dam began operating in 1968. (The closest call since then: June 2011, when late-season runoff from a lush snowpack brought the lake to within 15 inches of the emergency spillway.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond the history, the event brings uncertainty about what happens next. Crews from DWR, Cal Fire and private contractors scurried over the landscape immediately below the emergency weir over the last two days, trying to prepare the way for the cataract that soon might be pouring down the slope. Preparations included clearing trees and brush and cementing boulders into place at the edge of the emergency spillway. (See KCRA-Channel 3's \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/KCRA3/videos/10155020503816514/\" target=\"_blank\">helicopter footage of the scene Friday afternoon\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To corral any debris that comes tumbling down the slope as the water comes down, log booms have been placed in the channel below the spillway (a waterway known as the Thermalito Diversion Pool) with crews ready to tow large objects to a nearby cove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the highest immediate concern to people residing downstream is whether the water coming over the emergency spillway will represent a flood threat. The Department of Water Resources says it will not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Longer term, the deeper interest will be finding out whether DWR did everything it could and should have to ensure the integrity of the spillway, and what it will do to design and build a repaired structure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now, just after midnight early Saturday morning, we'll sign off by saying: We'll see what happens after day breaks. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb10\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Update, 12:45 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10:\u003c/strong> State Department of Water Resources officials now say they believe the volume of water rushing into Lake Oroville is slowing enough -- and releases down a badly damaged spillway have increased enough -- that the giant reservoir will not flow over an emergency spillway as feared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dam managers increased the flow of water down the broken main spillway to 65,000 cubic feet per second -- 486,000 gallons -- in the early morning hours Friday. While department officials say damage to the structure is continuing, the erosion does not appear to pose a threat to the spillway gates or other critical infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, DWR officials noted at a noon media briefing, runoff into the lake is decreasing. The inflow hit a peak of 190,000 cubic feet per second Thursday evening and had fallen to 130,000 by midnight Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The difference between the inflow and outflow means the lake is still rising -- about 4 inches per hour at noon. Lake Oroville's surface is about 5 feet below the lip of the emergency spillway. But DWR officials say with rains having stopped for the time being, the volume of water coming into the lake should continue to drop and the lake's rise will stop short of overflowing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 9:20 a.m. Friday, Feb. 10:\u003c/strong> Two things have changed overnight at Oroville Dam and the giant reservoir behind it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First: Inflow from the Feather River watershed into Lake Oroville, while still very high, has dropped from its peak levels Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Second: California Department of Water Resources managers followed through with a plan to ramp up releases down the dam's wrecked spillway (for their rationale for doing that, see our earlier updates, below).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rate of rise in the lake -- see \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?s=ORO&d=10-Feb-2017+09:13&span=25hours\" target=\"_blank\">the DWR's real-time data\u003c/a> for yourself --has decreased from nearly a foot an hour at times Thursday to about 4 or 5 inches an hour Friday morning. The reservoir surface at 9 a.m. was reported to be 895 feet -- up 45 feet from Tuesday when the spillway damage was discovered and just 6 feet below the dam's emergency spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The net result: That rate of increase would mean water from the reservoir would begin cascading over the emergency spillway sometime early Saturday morning. The lake, which has a stated maximum capacity of 3.5 million acre-feet, is now 98 percent full.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mostly light rain and snow are expected across the Feather River watershed today before clear weather Saturday. Colder weather and a break from heavy rain could help reduce the volume of water flowing into the lake. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb09\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9:\u003c/strong> The situation surrounding the damaged spillway at Oroville Dam has escalated into a crisis, with state water managers hoping they can dump enough water down the badly compromised structure to prevent the state's second-largest reservoir from pouring over an emergency release point that has never been used before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flow rates down the collapsing spillway were increased late Thursday morning to 35,000 cubic feet per second. The result was a spectacle of churning mud and water and further damage to the concrete structure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/DerekKCRA/status/829844037410574336\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But with storms continuing to pound the northern Sierra and torrents of water quickly filling Lake Oroville, the huge reservoir behind the dam, crews from the Department of Water Resources and Cal Fire are getting ready for what officials previously called \"a very last-ditch measure.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crews on Thursday began cutting down trees and bulldozing brush on the steep slope below an emergency spillway to try to minimize downstream debris flows should the lake exceed its 3.5 million acre-feet capacity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We have crews out there just as a precaution,\" said DWR spokesman Eric See during a media briefing at midday Thursday. \"We're still taking every measure we can to not have to use the emergency spillway, but if we do, we're actually removing that debris right now so it doesn't get mobilized\" into an adjacent waterway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the possibility that Lake Oroville would overflow for the first time in its half-century history grew stronger as the day progressed, despite the water being released down the damaged spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acting DWR chief Bill Croyle said at an evening press conference that it was becoming more and more likely that water would pour uncontrolled over the emergency spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"To be very clear, with the hydraulic conditions we have now, and with the flow that we have coming down out of the spillway chute, unless conditions change, we anticipate there may be a release of water over the emergency spillway,\" Croyle said. \"Maybe sometime on Saturday.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That event has become imminent because the volume of water flowing into the lake increased dramatically during the day as heavy rain fell across the Feather River watershed. Some locations in upstream mountains had received 4 to 5 inches of rain in the last 24 hours, with another inch or two expected before clear weather arrives Saturday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lake Oroville will overflow the emergency spillway if it reaches an elevation of 901 feet above sea level. On Tuesday, when the spillway damaged was first noted, the lake's surface was at about 850 feet. With the spillway shut down for most of the last 48 hours, the lake has risen to 887 feet as of 7 p.m. Thursday. (See DWR's \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/DerekKCRA/status/829844037410574336\" target=\"_blank\">real-time Lake Oroville statistics\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The downside of having water go over the emergency spillway is that it would go down the hillside and take out trees and soil and create a big mess in the diversion down below,\" the DWR's See said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>See said the severe erosion seen on and around the spillway structure is being closely monitored by crews on the ground, remote cameras and drones. Engineers believe the heavy flow of water will scour its way down to bedrock before long, See said, but acknowledged there are risks to allowing the erosion to continue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Erosion is occurring in multiple ways,\" See said. \"You can have erosion to the side and erosion going down the hill, and then you can have 'head cutting,' which is erosion that can actually work its way back upstream. So that's the one that's of most concern.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If engineers detect that uphill erosion, See said, it would be \"a trigger point\" that would prompt another shutdown of releases down the spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The erosion has already released massive flows of sediment into the adjacent waterway, a canal called the Thermalito Diversion Pool. The canal carries water from the dam down to and around the city of Oroville. Among the facilities to which it conveys water is the Feather River Hatchery, which raises millions of chinook salmon and steelhead trout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heavy sediment in the water can kill juvenile salmonids. With muddy water cascading into the hatchery facility Thursday morning, the Department of Fish and Wildlife began an emergency rescue of salmon and steelhead, trucking the young fish to a satellite hatchery on the Thermalito Afterbay, west of Oroville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the \u003ca href=\"http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article131743014.html\" target=\"_blank\">Sacramento Bee's account \u003c/a>of the fish rescue:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>At the hatchery Thursday, workers waded waist-deep through concrete holding ponds filled with water the color of chocolate milk. They used screens to push baby fish toward tanker trucks that would transport them a few miles southwest to Thermalito.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Harry] Morse said that wild steelhead and salmon are spawning in the Feather River, fueling concern that sediment could overwhelm their nests and kill eggs and juvenile fish.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Officials at the media briefing repeated further reassurances that the integrity of Oroville Dam, one of the largest in the United States, has not been affected by the spillway collapse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said that while local emergency agencies are preparing for evacuations downstream of the dam, he didn't believe the spillway situation posed an imminent threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 11:55 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 9:\u003c/strong> The California Department of Water Resources is fast running out of time and options for dealing with the badly damaged spillway at Oroville Dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With Lake Oroville rapidly approaching full, water managers increased flows down the spillway Wednesday afternoon and early Thursday to test the effect on the damaged structure. The result was both unsurprising and sobering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department said it expected the test, which involved releasing about 20,000 cubic feet per second down the long concrete spillway chute, would cause further damage to the structure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they may not have anticipated the extent of the damage that daylight revealed early Thursday. Photos from the scene showed that the massive cavity in the face of the spillway had grown several times larger and that the adjacent slow had suffered extensive new erosion. Here are a couple of views tweeted out early Thursday:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/MickWest/status/829746045290631168\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/billhusa1/status/829749590756700160\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the spillway mostly out of commission since major releases were curtailed, Lake Oroville has been rising at the rate of about half a foot an hour since midday Tuesday. Its level has increased 30 feet since then, with the reservoir's surface now 20 feet below an emergency spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The emergency spillway, which would release water down a steep slope adjacent to the spillway, has never been used in the dam's half-century of operation. DWR officials and others say water flowing down the slope will likely result in a large volume of debris being dumped into the Feather River, which flows through the city of Oroville on its way to the Sacramento Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That's one reason dam managers are willing to risk the destruction of the concrete spillway, calculating that would be preferable to the unknowns involved in an uncontrolled emergency spillover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's going to be rocks, trees, mud -- liquid concrete -- going down that river,\" retired DWR engineer Jerry Antonetti \u003ca href=\"http://www.kcra.com/article/officials-release-water-from-oroville-dam-to-test-damaged-spillway/8694754\" target=\"_blank\">told Sacramento's KCRA\u003c/a> as he watched the spillway Wednesday night. \"I'd open 'er up, sacrifice the bottom of that thing -- it's going to go in the river -- clean it out next year and build a new spillway.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 8:45 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 9:\u003c/strong> State water officials say they may be forced to continue using a badly damaged spillway at Oroville Dam to prevent the lake from reaching capacity in the next few days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doing that would likely cause further damage to the spillway structure and continue eroding the surrounding area, Department of Water Resources spokesman Doug Carlson said Wednesday afternoon. But that could be preferable to allowing the lake to begin flowing over an emergency spillway on the dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carlson called the alternate spillway -- which would send water cascading down a long tree- and brush-covered slope containing roads and power lines, a \"very last-ditch measure.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's an outcome that DWR is committed to not allowing to happen,\" Carlson said. Like other DWR officials, he was quick to add that the spillway damage does not pose a threat to the dam itself, one of the largest ever built in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department conducted an experiment during the day Wednesday in which it began sending a limited amount of water -- about 20,000 cubic feet per second -- down the damaged concrete spillway structure. The purpose of the test, Carlson said, was to see how much additional damage was done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We may just let the spillway do its job\" despite the damage, Carlson said. Then, after the rainy season, \"we could shut off the spillway, keep it dry, put construction people in there, whatever has to be done -- rocks, fill, concrete mix, whatever -- and get it back to 100 percent efficiency.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The DWR's spillway test came as Lake Oroville, the state's second-largest reservoir, is filling rapidly with runoff from recent storms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to maintain enough space in the lake to accommodate in-rushing floodwaters, managers would normally release water down the dam's massive concrete spillway. That was just what was happening Tuesday when bystanders alerted dam personnel that there appeared to be damage to the structure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Releases that were being ramped up to about 60,000 cubic feet per second were abruptly halted so that Department of Water Resources crews could assess the situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, a high volume of runoff into the lake has continued, raising it more than 20 feet since early Tuesday. Late Wednesday afternoon, the reservoir was just 30 feet below an emergency spillway that has never been used in the dam's half-century of use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's quite serious,\" Carlson said of the dam and reservoir's status. \"The good news is that we think we have it under control.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Below: DWR photo gallery depicting damage to spillway and erosion to adjacent area.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[gallery type=\"rectangular\" size=\"medium\" ids=\"11307354,11307355,11307356,11307357,11307358,11307359,11307360,11307361,11307362,11307363,11307364,11307365\"]\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb08\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 12:25 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8:\u003c/strong> State water officials say engineers are still in the process of assessing damage to the spillway at Oroville Dam and figuring out what they can do to fix it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"They're evaluating the situation intensively this morning,\" said Ted Thomas, the chief spokesman for the Department of Water Resources. \"They're looking at what their options are for repair.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An extensive section of concrete on the spillway, which is used to manage the level of Lake Oroville, has peeled away or collapsed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time the problem was spotted at midday Tuesday, water managers were in the process of ramping up the volume of water being dumped down the spillway into the Feather River. That was necessary to make room for high flows coming into the reservoir, the state's second largest, from a series of storms that have dumped very heavy rain over the Feather River watershed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Releases were reduced from about 60,000 cubic feet per second to just 5,000 cfs -- the amount being routed through the dam's hydroelectric generating facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The immediate result of curtailing the releases while huge amounts of runoff stream into the reservoir has been a very rapid rise in the lake's level. In the 20 hours after releases were reduced at midday Tuesday, Lake Oroville has risen 10 feet and added 150,000 acre-feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If current release and flow rates persisted -- and that's not a sure thing by any means -- the reservoir would reach its 3.5 million acre-foot capacity in the next three or four days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If that happens, Thomas said, the dam's emergency spillway -- which has not been used since the dam was finished in the late 1960s -- would channel floodwaters down a hillside into the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas said he expected details on a proposed fix for the spillway damage later Wednesday. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb07\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Original post, 5:35 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7:\u003c/strong> California Department of Water Resources crews are assessing a potentially serious problem with Oroville Dam, the giant structure that impounds the Feather River to create the state's second-largest reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tuesday morning, the spillway that managers use to release water from Lake Oroville into the river appeared to suffer a partial collapse. That led to the shutdown of the spillway while engineers assess its condition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Department officials say the dam itself, perched above the Sacramento Valley about 130 miles northeast of San Francisco, is not in danger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The timing of the shutdown is critical: A huge amount of runoff is coming into Lake Oroville from the Feather River watershed after recent storms. To maintain room in the reservoir to contain the incoming flows, a high volume of water --- about 55,000 cubic feet per second -- was being released down the spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the spillway closed for the time being, there's no way to release water from the dam except through a hydroelectric powerhouse built into the structure. Only about 5,000 cubic feet per second can be released through the powerhouse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The net effect is that with releases virtually halted and heavy inflows from a series of very wet winter storms continuing to pour into the reservoir, the lake is rising steadily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/kurtisalexander/status/829117361600933888\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?s=ORO&d=07-Feb-2017+15:47&span=25hours\" target=\"_blank\">Lake Oroville was 82 percent full\u003c/a> and was 150,000 acre-feet above the storage level prescribed to maintain room for incoming floodwaters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Water Resources said \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/news/newsreleases/2017/020717spillway.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">in a statement\u003c/a> that \"sufficient capacity exists within the reservoir to capture projected inflows for at least days, and DWR expects to resume releases from the gated spillway at a rate deemed later today after a thorough inspection is performed.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/swp/facilities/Oroville/LakeDam.cfm\" target=\"_blank\">Oroville Dam\u003c/a> is an earth-fill dam and was dedicated in 1968. At 770 feet high, it's the highest dam in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What does the spillway look like under normal conditions? Here's a video shot Monday, when managers had ramped up releases from 25,000 cubic feet per second top 50,000 CFS (see below for some perspective on the flow numbers):\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/coQnMRklVg4\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flow perspective: One cubic foot of water is 7.48 gallons. So 55,000 cubic feet per second, roughly the volume being released down the spillway before problems were detected Tuesday, comes out to 411,400 gallons a second. That equals 1.26 acre-feet -- enough water to flood a football field to a depth of 15 inches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An acre-foot, in turn, is roughly the amount of water used each year by two \"average\" California households. So the volume of water pounding down the spillway \u003cem>every second\u003c/em> is close to what three households would use in a year.\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>\u003cbr>\nMiranda Leitsinger, Don Clyde, Kat Snow, Craig Miller and David Marks of KQED contributed to this post. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Butte County sheriff says work on shoring up damaged spillways allows him to cancel orders. ","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1490304328,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":true,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":true,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":273,"wordCount":12012},"headData":{"title":"Oroville Update: Evacuation Advisory Finally Lifted | KQED","description":"Butte County sheriff says work on shoring up damaged spillways allows him to cancel orders. ","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","authorsData":[{"type":"authors","id":"222","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"222","found":true},"name":"Dan Brekke","firstName":"Dan","lastName":"Brekke","slug":"danbrekke","email":"dbrekke@kqed.org","display_author_email":true,"staff_mastheads":["news","science"],"title":"KQED Editor and Reporter","bio":"Dan Brekke is a reporter and editor for KQED News, responsible for coverage of topics ranging from California water issues to the Bay Area's transportation challenges. In a newsroom career that began in Chicago in 1972, Dan has worked for \u003cem>The San Francisco Examiner,\u003c/em> Wired and TechTV and has been published in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, Business 2.0, Salon and elsewhere.\r\n\r\nSince joining KQED in 2007, Dan has reported, edited and produced both radio and online features and breaking news pieces. He has shared as both editor and reporter in four Society of Professional Journalists Norcal Excellence in Journalism awards and one Edward R. Murrow regional award. He was chosen for a spring 2017 residency at the Mesa Refuge to advance his research on California salmon.\r\n\r\nEmail Dan at: \u003ca href=\"mailto:dbrekke@kqed.org\">dbrekke@kqed.org\u003c/a>\r\n\r\n\u003cstrong>Twitter:\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/danbrekke\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">twitter.com/danbrekke\u003c/a>\r\n\u003cstrong>Facebook:\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/danbrekke\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">www.facebook.com/danbrekke\u003c/a>\r\n\u003cstrong>LinkedIn:\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbrekke\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">www.linkedin.com/in/danbrekke\u003c/a>","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c8126230345efca3f7aa89b1a402be45?s=600&d=mm&r=g","twitter":"danbrekke","facebook":null,"instagram":"https://www.instagram.com/dan.brekke/","linkedin":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbrekke/","sites":[{"site":"news","roles":["administrator","create_posts"]},{"site":"stateofhealth","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"science","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"quest","roles":["contributor"]},{"site":"food","roles":["contributor"]},{"site":"forum","roles":["contributor"]},{"site":"liveblog","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Dan Brekke | KQED","description":"KQED Editor and Reporter","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c8126230345efca3f7aa89b1a402be45?s=600&d=mm&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c8126230345efca3f7aa89b1a402be45?s=600&d=mm&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/danbrekke"}],"imageData":{"ogImageSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/RM_Oroville-5455_03_18_2017-1020x619.jpg","width":1020,"height":619,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twImageSize":{"file":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/RM_Oroville-5455_03_18_2017-1020x619.jpg","width":1020,"height":619,"mimeType":"image/jpeg"},"twitterCard":"summary_large_image"},"tagData":{"tags":["Lake Oroville","Oroville Dam","Oroville spillway","State Water Project"]}},"disqusIdentifier":"11306002 https://ww2.kqed.org/news/?p=11306002","disqusUrl":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/03/23/engineers-assess-spillway-problem-at-oroville-dam/","disqusTitle":"Oroville Update: Evacuation Advisory Finally Lifted","customPermalink":"2017/02/07/engineers-assess-spillway-problem-at-oroville-dam/","path":"/news/11306002/engineers-assess-spillway-problem-at-oroville-dam","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"post-top\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"mar23\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 1:45 p.m., Wednesday, March 23:\u003c/strong> Nearly six weeks after downstream residents were ordered to flee their homes because of trouble with Oroville Dam's spillways, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea has lifted all evacuation warnings and advisories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents of Oroville were given just an hour to leave their homes on the afternoon of Feb.12. That was the day after Lake Oroville, rising rapidly after flood-control releases were reduced down the dam's main spillway, flowed over an ungated emergency weir. Severe erosion on the slope below raised concerns that the emergency structure would collapse and unleash a catastrophic flood down the Feather River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents as far as 35 miles downstream were told to leave immediately, and an estimated 180,000 people in Butte, Sutter and Yuba counties were under evacuation orders. They were cleared to return home Feb. 14, but Butte County had remained under an evacuation advisory while the California Department of Water Resources worked to lower Lake Oroville, shore up the emergency spillway and clear a mountain of debris from the adjacent river channel. The blocked river channel had shut down the dam's hydroelectric power plant and further limited managers' ability to release water from the reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wednesday, Sheriff Honea said he was satisfied with the progress of the DWR's work, which has employed an army of contractors and cost something on the order of $200 million to date.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Honea acknowledged that the evacuation had been chaotic. Residents complained about not being notified they needed to leave, and there was at least one case in which a disabled Oroville resident was left behind for hours after the evacuation warning because no emergency transport was available.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch4>Oroville Dam Crisis: A Diary\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Here's KQED News' day-by-day entries tracking the unfolding crisis at Oroville Dam, beginning Feb. 7, 2017:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#feb07\">Feb. 7: Spillway problem detected\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb08\">Feb. 8: Engineers assess damage\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb09\">Feb. 9: Water likely to emergency spillway\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb10\">Feb. 10: Water nears top of reservoir\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb11\">Feb. 11: Emergency spillway overflows\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb12\">Feb. 12: Evacuations ordered\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb13\">Feb. 13: Releases lower lake\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb14\">Feb. 14: Mandatory evacuation order lifted\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb15\">Feb. 15: Shoring up emergency spillway area\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb16\">Feb. 16: New storms arrive\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb17\">Feb. 17: Reservoir releases reduced\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb19\">Feb. 19: Focus on clearing river channel\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb21\">Feb. 21: Lake inches upward as storms depart\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb22\">Feb. 22: Lake crests again as storm runoff dwindles \u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb26\">Feb. 26: DWR stops flows down spillway\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#feb27\">Feb. 27: Breathtaking destruction\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#mar03\">March 3: Operators restart hydro plant\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#mar04\">March 4: Power plant shut down again\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#mar06\">March 6: Moving a mountain of debris\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#mar10\">March 10: Power plant flows ramped up\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#mar17\">March 17: Main spillway reopened\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#mar23\">March 23: Evacuation advisory lifted\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>\"These past six weeks have been a very difficult and unsettling time for many individuals and families affected by the danger posed by fast-moving erosion to the emergency spillway,\" Honea said. \"I couldn't be more proud of this community and the countless unsung heroes who helped their neighbors and cared for those who needed it most.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Honea's mantra at virtually every media briefing and public appearance over the last month and a half has been a request for residents to sign up for the county's emergency notification system. And despite lifting the evacuation advisory, county officials are working on developing new evacuation plans in case of a future emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The county has designated 11 new flood evacuation zones, complete with assembly points and emergency departure routes, along the Feather River from Oroville to the town of Gridley. Officials are holding informational meetings in each zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The potential for future trouble with the Oroville Dam was \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/03/22/experts-oroville-spillway-damage-continues-to-pose-very-significant-risk/\" target=\"_blank\">highlighted in a report\u003c/a> from a board of experts appointed to review the situation at the facility and oversee the process of repairing or rebuilding the spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report, obtained earlier this week by The Associated Press, says dam managers are facing a \"very significant risk\" if the main spillway is not operational in time for this fall's rainy season. The panel also said it's \"absolutely critical\" to avoid further flows over the emergency weir and down the hillside below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Water Resources has placed thousands of tons of rock in eroded sections of the eroded hillside, \"armored\" sections of the slope with concrete, and built a series of walls and check dams to slow any flow of water down to the river channel below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryDaily?s=ORO\" target=\"_blank\">current operational status of the spillway and reservoir\u003c/a>: Releases down the damaged concrete structure continue at about 40,000 cubic feet per second. Water is also being released through two of the five operational units in the dam's hydroelectric plants, for a total flow of about 45,000 cfs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR officials said when flows were resumed down the main spillway last Friday that they intend to lower the lake's surface elevation to between 835 and 838 feet above sea level. That would represent a drop of 26 to 29 feet from last week and would put the lake level 63 to 66 feet below the now-dreaded emergency weir. The agency said it plans to shut down spillway releases at that point to allow resumption of preliminary work to repairing or replacing the structure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One aspect of that work started this week, with crews drilling for rock and soil samples near the spillway to assess underlying conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flood-control releases down the main spillway are just one part of the equation determining how fast the lake level drops, of course. The other principal factor is the amount of water flowing into the lake from the Feather River watershed, or \"inflow.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inflow peaked during the February spillway crisis at about 190,000 cfs. After a long run of mostly dry, clear and cool weather in the first half of March, it fell and leveled off between 15,000 cfs and 20,000 cfs. Now, with a series of storms marching through Northern California, inflow has periodically risen into the 45,000 to 50,000 cfs range -- meaning the lake's level has fallen very slowly, and some hours not at all, during the last several days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One more big storm is expected in the week ahead -- a cold system that DWR forecasters say could drop 2 to 3 inches of rain or its snow equivalent on the Feather River basin over the weekend. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"mar17\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 1:45 p.m. Friday, March 17:\u003c/strong> The Department of Water Resources has reopened the Oroville Dam's badly damaged main spillway to make room for an expected surge of runoff amid a return of stormy weather and the onset of the spring runoff season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flow of water resumed down the spillway just after 11 a.m. Friday. Bill Croyle, the agency's acting director, said during a media briefing that flows would be increased to 50,000 cubic feet per second during the day. He said managers aimed to lower Lake Oroville, the state's second-largest reservoir, from its current surface level of 864 feet above sea level to between 835 and 838 feet. That would be 63 to 66 feet below the level of the dam's emergency spillway, which overflowed Feb. 11 and triggered a mass evacuation of Oroville and other communities along the Feather River.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Croyle said the relatively high rate of flow from Lake Oroville into the Feather River will continue for five or six days, depending on the amount of runoff coming into the lake. He said DWR would \"continuously evaluate the condition of the flood-control spillway to see how it's performing, and then we'll make decisions during the week on how we'll step down from 50,000 to 40,000 (cfs) and ultimately back down to zero.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Croyle said dam managers anticipate they will have to conduct as many as three releases during the spring as snow in the higher elevations of the Feather River melts and flows into the lake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After nearly three weeks of mostly dry, sunny weather, a series of storms is expected to roll across Northern California over the next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The weather systems are expected to start out relatively warm, with freezing levels beginning about 7,500 feet over the Feather River watershed that feeds Lake Oroville, then falling to 4,000 to 5,500 feet as the heavier storms move in next week. The colder storms mean most precipitation will fall as snow over the watershed and slow the rush of runoff into the reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Releases down the shattered spillway chute were halted Feb. 27 so crews could bring in heavy equipment to clear a mountain of rubble, rock and sediment from the adjacent river channel. At the same time, workers have been scrambling to reinforce what remains of the main spillway -- grouting and cementing cracks and seams, bolting sections of the spillway to underlying rock, and enclosing an eroded area at the lip of the surviving structure in concrete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR says the work -- which at various points has meant marshaling a contractor army of helicopters, cranes, bulldozers, loaders, trucks and barges -- has cost about $4.7 million a day. If that figure is accurate, the effort to deal with the broken spillway and severe erosion below the dam's emergency weir has cost about $180 million so far.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR has advised residents of downstream communities that the increased releases will trigger a rise of 13 to 15 feel along the Feather River. That has renewed fears among farmers along the stream whose land suffered severe erosion when river levels fell rapidly in late February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brad Foster, who farms near the Yuba County town of Marysville, \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-feather-river-erosion-20170315-story.html\" target=\"_blank\">told the Los Angeles Time\u003c/a>s this week:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“My concern right now is erosion,” Foster said. “We have 100-year-old oak trees lying in the river. Everything that was there, old growth that protected the banks, it was just sucked in. … This is all going to go under water and it’s all freshly slipped material. This is all going to start eroding. We don’t know if it’s going to take the banks. … The river could actually start a new channel.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>... Foster said a 300-foot buffer zone of bluffs, trees and vegetation protecting his walnut orchard was wiped out and now the orchard sits in the path of future rising waters. Debris turned the river brown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve never seen it so dirty in my life,” he said.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"mar10\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 7 p.m. Friday, March 10:\u003c/strong> To bring us up to date before the weekend:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Power plant:\u003c/strong> During the course of the week, the Department of Water Resources put all five of the available turbines at the Oroville Dam's Hyatt powerhouse into operation. The result: Releases from Lake Oroville, which had been halted Feb. 27 to allow crews to clear rock, rubble and mud from the river channel below the dam's devastated main spillway, have increased from 0 to about 13,000 cubic feet per second.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Lake level:\u003c/strong> The surface elevation of Lake Oroville, California's second-largest reservoir, is hovering right around 860 feet. That's 41 feet below the emergency spillway weir and right at the level that Bill Croyle, the DWR's acting chief, said last month the agency would consider restarting flows down the main spillway in order to maintain space in the reservoir for any incoming floodwaters. But runoff into the lake has remained modest as Northern California gets a prolonged break from rain and snow, and no new releases down the main spillway have been mentioned. On the other hand, much warmer weather over the next week in the Feather River basin could begin to melt the region's abundant snowpack and renew a rise in lake levels.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Main spillway:\u003c/strong> Crews have been engaged in patching and caulking cracks and holes along the surviving section of the concrete spillway and have also applied spray-on concrete -- shotcrete -- to a section under the concrete chute that showed signs of further erosion. That work is aimed at ensuring the structure can endure further releases without further major erosion.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Emergency spillway:\u003c/strong> Contractors continue to armor eroded areas below the dam's emergency weir, the slope where serious erosion the weekend of Feb. 11-12 threatened to undermine the weir and unleash a wall of water down the Feather River. The work now involves building a series of channels and check dams to slow the flow of water down the hill, should Lake Oroville go over the top of the weir again.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Debris removal:\u003c/strong> DWR has estimated that 1.7 million cubic yards of rubble, enough to cover a football field to a depth of 80 stories, would up in the river channel below the spillway. To get the Hyatt powerhouse running again, it was necessary to at least partially clear the channel. Friday, the agency said the army of contractors working on the job have removed about half the debris out of the channel.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Costs\u003c/strong>: A frequently asked question -- how much is this whole Oroville spillway emergency project costing the taxpayers? Here's an answer, \u003ca href=\"http://www.chicoer.com/general-news/20170308/dwr-tells-assemblyman-dam-repair-cost-estimated-daily-average-of-47-million\" target=\"_blank\">by way of the Chico Enterprise-Record\u003c/a>: $4.7 million a day. The details:\u003cbr>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Regarding estimated daily cost of labor, we’re focused on emergency response and recovery efforts. It would be premature to estimate costs at this time,” DWR public information officer Lauren Bisnett wrote in an email Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Representatives from the California Office of Emergency Services and the state’s Finance Department previously told this newspaper DWR was accountable for keeping track of the costs for the project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday afternoon, Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, said he was expecting to hear about costs accrued, as the DWR met with the Federal Emergency Management Agency earlier Wednesday to discuss repair and maintenance costs related to damage of the spillways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Curtis Grima, Gallagher’s chief of staff, later said in an email that according to conversations with DWR officials, the estimated daily average cost is $4.7 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is estimated that between 75 percent-90 percent of the cost will be reimbursed by FEMA, Grima’s email said.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"mar06\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 4:35 p.m. Monday, March 6:\u003c/strong> The Department of Water Resources reopened the Oroville Dam hydroelectric plant at about 6 p.m. Sunday -- after suspending operations for 32 hours to allow crews to deepen the river channel downstream of the plant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Monday afternoon, just one of the plant's five available turbines was running, resulting in a release of about 1,750 cubic feet per second. The water agency hopes to get all five units running soon, which would increase outflow from Lake Oroville to somewhere in the range of 13,000 to 14,000 cfs (DWR has cited both figures).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reason the esoteric water release data is important: Higher flows through the powerhouse will allow the agency to limit the reservoir's rise as work continues on assessing the devastated main spillway and clearing debris from the river channel, formally known as the Thermalito Diversion Pool, below the shattered concrete structure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lake Oroville's surface level at 4 p.m. Monday was 856 feet above sea level. That's 45 feet below the top of the problematic emergency spillway, where an overflow and severe erosion prompted a mass evacuation of Oroville and other communities downstream on Feb. 12. And it's 18 feet above the lake level a week ago, when flows were halted down the main spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR estimates the pile of debris in the channel to be a shocking 1.7 million cubic yards. That's mostly rock blasted out of the terrain beneath and adjacent to the main spillway by emergency reservoir releases that reached a maximum of 100,000 cfs after the emergency spillway crisis. So far, the water agency says, a force of contractors driving cranes, bulldozers, heavy trucks and barges has removed about a quarter of the material to spoils sites on land along the river channels. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"mar04\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 1:30 p.m. Saturday, March 4:\u003c/strong> Friday, the Department of Water Resources declared that resuming operations through the Hyatt Power Plant at the base of Oroville Dam marked a \"pivot point\" in the effort to get a handle on water levels in Lake Oroville and to proceed with the immense job of recovering from the failure of the dam's main spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After hearing a declaration like that, you might involuntarily say \"uh oh,\" when what you've been told is a big step forward is interrupted without explanation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was the case at midday Saturday. The power plant, which gives dam operators a way to let some water out of the reservoir and allows the closure of the crippled main spillway to continue, had been releasing a relatively modest but steady 2,500 cubic feet per second late Friday and early Saturday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The water was coming through one of the power plant's five available turbines. DWR Acting Director Bill Croyle said the agency planned to have all five running by early next week, which would allow a release of about 14,000 cfs -- enough to minimize rises in the lake during a period of relatively low inflow from the Feather River watershed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Saturday, flows through the power plant stopped without a prior announcement. And that led to social media \"uh oh\" moments like this:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"singleTwitterStatus","attributes":{"named":{"id":"838113657582047232"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Then, just after midday, DWR announced in a press release that it had shut down the powerhouse again. The reason: Crews need to remove more of the rock, rubble and sediment from the debris-choked channel downstream of the power facility to allow it to operate full bore. From the release:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>“We will dig deeper so we can fully ramp the plant up,” said DWR Acting Director Bill Croyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Initial flow from the plant on Friday was 1,750 cubic feet per second (cfs) and increased to 2550 cfs. Once fully operational, the plant can release up to 14,000 cfs, which is important for managing reservoir inflows and outflows through the spring runoff season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR engineers have determined that further deepening of the channel will help the power plant reach full capacity and that it will take approximately 1-2 days, at which time the plant will be restarted.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>We've asked for but haven't yet gotten details on how much more excavation needs to be done to prepare the channel for full operation of the power plant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meantime, \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Riverbanks-collapse-after-Oroville-Dam-spillway-10976144.php\" target=\"_blank\">the San Francisco Chronicle's Kurtis Alexander reports\u003c/a> a serious problem down the Feather River from the dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steep banks along the river started collapsing after DWR abruptly cut flows down the damaged spillway on Monday from 50,000 cfs to zero. Releases into the river have continued from smaller reservoirs near Oroville, but the Feather River is now flowing at something like a summertime rate of 2,500 cfs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here's the result, Alexander reports:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>With high water no longer propping up the shores, the still-wet soil crashed under its own weight, sometimes dragging in trees, rural roads and farmland, they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The damage is catastrophic,” said Brad Foster, who has waterfront property in Marysville (Yuba County), about 25 miles south of Lake Oroville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The farmer not only saw 25-foot bluffs collapse, but also lost irrigation lines to his almonds. “When the bank pulled in,” he said, “it pulled the pumps in with it. It busted the steel pipes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials at the state Department of Water Resources, which runs the dam, said Friday that they’re monitoring the river for erosion. But they declined to discuss the situation.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"mar03\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 2:25 p.m. Friday, March 3:\u003c/strong> The Department of Water Resources halted flows down the shattered main spillway at Oroville Dam \u003ca href=\"#feb27\">earlier this week\u003c/a> with one purpose in mind: to begin clearing the monstrous pile of concrete, rock and sediment washed into the river channel below the spillway. That work, in turn, would allow the channel's water level to drop and allow the hydroelectric plant at the base of the dam to resume operations. (How monstrous is that debris pile? We'll get to that.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Friday, the agency said it's making progress. The water level in the channel, which serves as a tailrace for the hydro plant and is formally called the Thermalito Diversion Pool, has fallen 22 feet over the last several days. That allowed dam managers to start up one of the plant's five available turbines, and they aim to have all of those units online by early next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Pretty exciting day for us,\" Bill Croyle, DWR's acting director, said during a midday media briefing in Oroville. \"This is a pivot point in how we are managing the inflows to the river (and) the reservoir elevation.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crucial point there: Running water through the power plant gives DWR a route other than the partially obliterated main spillway of releasing water from Lake Oroville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keeping water moving down the river also allows the agency to maintain the flow of water for several fish species, including juvenile chinook salmon that have started making their way down the Feather River on their way to the Delta and the Pacific Ocean. The abrupt halt to flows from the spillway earlier this week led to \u003ca href=\"http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article135596368.html\" target=\"_blank\">the stranding\u003c/a> of both adult and juvenile fish downstream from Oroville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With one turbine running, about 1,700 cubic feet of water is being discharged through the powerhouse. DWR says that rate will rise to 14,000 cfs when all five available units are online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having that water exiting the lake will help balance inflows -- which have stayed in the 14,000-20,000 cfs range most of the week since -- and slow the lake's rise while work continues to clear rubble from the river channel and assess the terrain around the badly damaged spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now, about that big pile of debris: DWR estimates it's about 1.7 million cubic yards. A cubic yard, as everyone knows, is a cube measuring 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet, or 27 cubic feet. How much material is 1.7 million of those cubes?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our calculations, using our handy cultural reference of a football field -- 120 yards long and 53.33 yards wide: 1.7 million cubic yards would be enough to bury a football field to a depth of 797 feet. That's a little higher than San Francisco's Bank of America building (779 feet).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb27\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 2:20 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27:\u003c/strong> The state Department of Water Resources has, as promised, halted flows down the damaged main spillway at Oroville Dam. Even if you've been following the progress of this incident since it began Feb. 7, and even if you understood the damage to the spillway was catastrophic, the first images of the structure are sobering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/UyvDPt-HU3g\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR stopped the release of water down the spillway early Monday afternoon with two main goals in mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, it wants contractors to begin the task of removing a staggering amount of rubble, rock and sediment that have wound up at the bottom of the river channel below the spillway. Clearing the debris, in turn, will allow dam managers to resume operations at the hydroelectric power plant at the base of the dam, a facility that was shut down as water rose behind the blockage in the channel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Second, shutting down the flows will allow geologists and other experts to inspect the shattered spillway structure and the surrounding terrain. That will give DWR officials a better understanding of the work ahead in designing a replacement spillway and the potential for further erosion when flows down the current spillway resume.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amount of material to be removed from the channel, parts of which are 70 to 80 feet deep, is immense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"There are a lot of numbers being thrown around, anywhere from 150,000 cubic yards all the way up to a million,\" DWR Acting Director Bill Croyle said in an interview Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said with flows down to zero, laser mapping technology will be used to assess just how much debris now obstructs the channel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I suspect it's going to be between a half-million and a million cubic yards,\" Croyle said. \"But again we won't know until that mapping tomorrow.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(A million cubic yards, if you're keeping score at home, would be enough material to cover five football fields, complete with end zones, to a depth of 100 feet.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Croyle said contractors have been tasked with clearing a channel 30 feet deep, 150 wide and 1,500 feet long to help facilitate flows below the dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The water level in the Thermalito Diversion Pool early Monday was about 20 feet high to allow operation of the turbines in the dam's hydroelectric powerhouse. Getting the turbines back online will give water managers another way of releasing water from Lake Oroville, the state's second-largest reservoir, as the spring runoff season begins. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb26\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 4:25 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26:\u003c/strong> Having drawn down the level of Lake Oroville 60 feet in the two weeks since a spillway emergency that triggered mass evacuations, and with the prospect of mostly dry weather for at least the next week, state water officials announced Sunday they will halt flows down Oroville Dam's badly damaged main spillway to speed up recovery work there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Department of Water Resources said it would reduce reservoir releases from 50,000 cubic feet per second to zero during the day Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR says stopping the flow of water down the main spillway will allow workers to \"aggressively attack\" a mountain of rubble that now lies submerged in the Feather River channel immediately below the broken concrete chute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The blockage in the channel, formally called the Thermalito Diversion Pool, has caused water to back up to the hydroelectric power plant at the base of the 770-foot-high dam. That high water, in turn, has forced officials to suspect operations at the plant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flows down the main spillway were as high as 100,000 cfs -- 750,000 gallons a second, enough to supply four average California households for a year -- after an emergency at the dam earlier this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Damage to the spillway was detected on Feb. 7, just as a series of storms triggered a huge surge of runoff into Lake Oroville, the state's second-biggest reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With flow rates into the lake peaking at about 190,000 cfs, releases down the damaged spillway were limited to a maximum of 55,000 cfs. The result: The lake rose nearly 50 feet in just four days and, for the first time since Oroville Dam went into service in 1968, flowed over an emergency weir on Feb. 11.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The water cascading over the ungated 1,730-foot-long weir rapidly eroded the adjacent slope. Less than 36 hours after the flow began over the weir, officials became concerned that the erosion was undermining the massive weir structure -- a collapse of which could unleash a devastating surge of water. That concern led to the mass evacuation of Oroville, the town of 16,000 just downstream of the dam, and about 180,000 people along the Feather River in Butte, Sutter and Yuba counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The emergency prompted federal dam safety authorities to order the Department of Water Resources to immediately form a panel of experts to investigate the cause of the main spillway failure and the performance of the emergency spillway. The federal order directs DWR to report to the panel throughout the process of designing and building a replacement for the main spillway and enhancements for the emergency spillway. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb22\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22:\u003c/strong> With runoff from our most recent spate of stormy weather dwindling, it appears that Lake Oroville's level is also falling again. According to Department of Water Resource's \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?s=ORO\" target=\"_blank\">hourly data\u003c/a>, the reservoir surface peaked at 852.93 feet above sea level at 5 a.m. and had fallen to 852.89 feet by 8 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>OK, that's not much -- the decline amounts to a half-inch, a change imperceptible to all but the DWR's instruments. Overall, though, the lake is about 48 feet below the edge of Oroville Dam's emergency spillway and 4 feet above the low point it reached Monday amid managers' efforts to restore space in the reservoir to receive incoming floods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A couple of notable Wednesday news pieces on the Oroville situation:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Sacramento Bee:\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article133932379.html\" target=\"_blank\">Continued erosion of Oroville Dam's main spillway part of 'normal process,' officials say\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Los Angeles Times:\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-oroville-dam-recovery-20170221-story.html\" target=\"_blank\">Oroville hoping to turn dam crisis into tourism opportunity\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 12:05 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21:\u003c/strong> Lake Oroville is on the rise again in the wake of a series of storms that soaked most of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rise, however, is very gradual. The lake remains 49 feet below the top of the emergency weir at the center of the Oroville Dam crisis that resulted in the Feb. 12 evacuation order for about 188,000 people in Butte, Sutter and Yuba counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 120 hours of weather systems that culminated in the very wet Presidents Day storm dropped as much as a foot of precipitation -- rain or its snow equivalent -- in the Feather River watershed upstream of Lake Oroville. The gauge at Oroville Dam recorded 4.04 inches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The precipitation triggered a spike in runoff into the giant reservoir. The volume of water flowing in had remained in the range of 15,000 to 45,000 cubic feet per second for most of the week. On Monday, though, it increased to as much as 90,000 cfs. That's 673,000 gallons, or 2 acre-feet per second -- enough water to supply about four average California household for a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dam managers reduced the volume of water going down the facility's damaged main spillway from 100,000 cfs last week to about 60,000 cfs. The lower level allows crews to begin the work of clearing rubble, rock and sediment from the channel below the main spillway. That work, in turn, is designed to allow the hydroelectric power plant at the base of Oroville Dam to resume operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR has been quick to point out in each and every press release on the situation that work continues to \"armor\" and reinforce the severely eroded hillside below the emergency weir. That erosion occurred when floodwaters flowed across the structure for the first time since the dam was finished in 1968. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb19\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 1:45 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19:\u003c/strong> The significant weekend news at Oroville Dam: The Department of Water Resources decreased flows down the damaged main spillway to 55,000 cubic feet per second on Saturday, then announced it would ramp them up again, to 60,000 cfs, on Sunday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those levels are far lower than the 100,000 cfs released down the spillway starting a week ago, amid fears that the dam's emergency spillway system was about to fail. Those very high flows, maintained for four straight days, helped lower the lake from a foot above the 1,700-foot emergency weir last Sunday afternoon to 50 feet below it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flow reductions over the last couple of days were intended to help crews assess how much rubble, rock and sediment has been swept into the 80-foot-deep channel beneath the main spillway and begin the process of removing it. The debris has dammed the channel and made it impossible to use the hydropower plant at the base of Oroville Dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Incoming weather will no doubt play a part in releases over the next several days, with a storm expected to drop 8 inches or more of water by early Wednesday on the Feather River watershed above Lake Oroville. Snow levels are forecast to remain low, however, which will help slow down runoff into the reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below: DWR drone video showing the state of work to reinforce the badly eroded slope beneath the emergency weir, as well as the condition of the main spillway as of Saturday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/yxgtyOfwrj8?list=PLeod6x87Tu6eVFnSyEtQeOVbxvSWywPlx\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb17\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 3:25 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17:\u003c/strong> To start with the numbers: Department of Water Resources data show that despite cutting back releases down Oroville Dam's shattered spillway and the return of storms to the Feather River basin, Lake Oroville continues to empty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 3 p.m. Friday, \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?s=ORO&d=17-Feb-2017+15:05&span=25hours\" target=\"_blank\">DWR's running statistics on the reservoir\u003c/a> show that its surface is now a little more than 42 feet below the lip of the dam's emergency spillway. The lake is falling at a rate of roughly 3 to 4 inches an hour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second in a series of winter storms arrived in the region on Friday, dropping moderate amounts of rain and snow on the 3,600-square-mile Feather River watershed. Forty-eight-hour rain totals in the area ranged from 1.36 inches at Oroville Dam to 2.44 inches at the Humbug gauge in the mountains north of the reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thursday, DWR cut releases from Lake Oroville from 100,000 cubic feet per second to 80,000 cfs. The reduction was designed to give crews a chance to begin removing the mass of concrete rubble, rock and sediment that tumbled into a channel that issues from the bottom of the dam. The agency said Friday it would cut spillway flows further -- down to 70,000 cfs -- as part of the effort to clear the channel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As we've reported every day this week, work continues to repair erosion damage to the hillside below the dam's emergency spillway structure. That erosion, which occurred when the water rose above the weir at the top of the emergency spillway and gouged out huge sections of the slope below as it rushed downhill, prompted last Sunday evening's mass evacuation from Oroville and communities as far as 35 miles downriver from the dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea reiterated during a press briefing Friday that those who live downstream from the dam need to be prepared to leave if trouble recurs at the dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The likelihood (of trouble) is low,\" Honea said. \"But -- and I don't want to sound like a broken record, but that's my job. My job is to keep people prepared. So they've got to pay attention, they've got to be vigilant, they've got to be prepared, they've got to sign up for their emergency warning notification system. And if you're tired of hearing my say that, I'm sorry, but I'm going to keep saying it until this situation is well past us.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Honea also addressed again a question that has arisen in the aftermath of last weekend's evacuation: Whether Oroville or other communities in the evacuation zone had experienced looting after people left town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sheriff has said while there had been burglaries and thefts during the roughly 48-hour evacuation, there had been no looting. Friday, he clarified that a little.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Now that my staff has had a better opportunity to talk with me, we find that a couple of those burglary- or theft-related crimes, we can charge ... the individuals responsible with an enhancement of looting,\" Honea said. He did not immediately offer specific details of those episodes. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb16\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 3:20 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16:\u003c/strong> The Feather River watershed has gotten its first dose of rain and snow from an expected series of storms, with moderate amounts of precipitation that haven't yet caused a major increase in flows into the reservoir behind Oroville Dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the 12 hours ending at 9 a.m., precipitation totals ranged from about a half-inch at the dam itself to 1.50 inches near Bucks Lake, in the higher country of the Feather River watershed..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the Department of Water Resources announced today it was reducing flows down the dam's main spillway as crews get ready to remove the large volume of debris that has fallen into the channel below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rubble from the main release structure, and rock and sediment eroded from the adjacent slope, have filled the 80-foot channel immediately below the spillway chute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR reduced the spillway flows from 100,000 cubic feet per second to 80,000 cubic feet per second.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 100,000 cfs rate, which commenced Sunday afternoon as fears mounted that the dam's emergency spillway system might fail and unleash an uncontrolled surge of water down the Feather River, helped lower the lake's level 34 feet over the past four days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The DWR has said the reduced releases will be sufficient to continue lowering the lake and make room for runoff from future storms and snowmelt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The wettest storm in the series of storms that began Thursday is expected to arrive Monday. One precipitation forecast, from NOAA's California-Nevada River Forecast Center, says that system could drop as much 6 inches of water -- either rain or snow -- on the higher elevations of the Feather River watershed. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb15\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday:\u003c/strong> Officials raced to drain more water from Lake Oroville as new storms began rolling into Northern California on Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three storms were expected to stretch into next week. Forecasters said the first two storms could drop a total of 5 inches of rain in higher elevations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the third storm, starting as early as Monday, could be more powerful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"There's a potential for several inches,\" National Weather Service forecaster Tom Dang said. \"It will be very wet.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless, California Department of Water Resources chief Bill Croyle said water was draining at about four times the rate that it was flowing in and the repairs should hold at the nation's tallest dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 100,000 cubic feet of water was flowing from the reservoir each second, enough to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"sharedaddy show-for-medium-up\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/KQED_Oroville_Desktop.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1408201\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/KQED_Oroville_Desktop-800x645.jpg\" alt=\"KQED_Oroville_Desktop\" width=\"800\" height=\"645\">\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv class=\"show-for-small-only\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/KQED_Oroville_Mobile.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1408199\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/KQED_Oroville_Mobile.jpg\" alt=\"KQED_Oroville_Mobile\" width=\"750\" height=\"1335\">\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Croyle said work crews had made \"great progress\" cementing thousands of tons of rocks into holes in the spillways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We shouldn't see a bump in the reservoir\" from the upcoming storms, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reservoir has dropped 20 feet since it reached capacity Sunday. Croyle said officials hope it falls 50 feet by this Sunday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, officials warned residents who have returned to their homes that the area downstream of the dam remained under an evacuation warning and they should be prepared to leave if the risk increases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED's Dan Brekke hosted a \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/KQEDnews/videos/1339741799433547/\" target=\"_blank\">live Facebook video\u003c/a> below the Oroville Dam spillway earlier Wednesday:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe src=\"https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FKQEDnews%2Fvideos%2F1339741799433547%2F&show_text=1&width=560\" width=\"560\" height=\"983\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14:\u003c/strong> The evacuation order affecting about 180,000 residents along the course of the Feather River below Oroville Dam has been reduced to a warning, allowing residents to return to their homes, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said during a press conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Taking into account the current level of risk, the predicted strength of the next round of inclement weather and the capacity of the lake to accommodate increased inflow associated with those storms, we have concluded that it is safe to reduce the immediate evacuation order currently in place to an evacuation warning,” Honea said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Water Resources indicated during the conference that the inflow of water to the reservoir continues to drop and that about 100,000 cubic feet of water per second is being released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re continuing to make significant gains in removing water from the reservoir,” acting DWR chief Bill Croyle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR officials said the goal is to get the level of the reservoir down to flood control storage, which is about 850 feet. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14:\u003c/strong> Large-scale releases of water continue at Oroville Dam, and the level of the giant reservoir there has dropped to about 12 feet below the emergency spillway structure that engineers believed was on the verge of failure on Sunday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Water Resources and other agencies are continuing to assess the condition of the slope below the dam, parts of which were scoured down to rock by the force of water rushing over the emergency release structure over the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crisis was triggered a week ago, when serious damage to the dam's main spillway was detected just as runoff began cascading into the nearly full lake after a series of wet, warm storms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Jerry Brown has issued \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=19683\" target=\"_blank\">an emergency declaration\u003c/a> to help speed up state agencies' response to the Oroville crisis. On Monday, he told reporters at \u003ca href=\"http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article132550884.html\" target=\"_blank\">a Sacramento-area media briefing\u003c/a> with emergency officials that he's confident the Trump administration will respond promptly to the state's requests for aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Responding to questions about whether the Department of Water Resources should have done more to reinforce the emergency spillway system -- as \u003ca href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/12/oroville-dam-feds-and-state-officials-ignored-warnings-12-years-ago/\" target=\"_blank\">suggested by environmental groups\u003c/a> during a 2005 relicensing process -- Brown said:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>\"Every time you have one of these disasters, people perk up and start looking at analogous situations and things that you might not have paid as much attention to. But we live in a world of risk – the earthquake shook the Bay Bridge, and then we the state and all the different governors had to put up a new bridge.\"\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Tuesday morning, 180,000 people remain evacuated along the course of the Feather River in the east-central Sacramento Valley. At a media briefing Monday, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said the evacuation order, issued hurriedly on Sunday, would be in place until agencies handling the situation at the dam say the danger of a catastrophic emergency spillway failure has passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A series of storms expected to begin rolling across Northern California on Wednesday night are expected to trigger a new rise in Lake Oroville -- the reason dam managers are continuing to try to lower the lake as fast as the damaged main spillway will allow. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb13\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 1:20 p.m. Monday, Feb. 13:\u003c/strong> Here are four big takeaways from the Department of Water Resources (with other local officials' noontime briefing on the situation at Oroville Dam:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>First: The evacuation order that forced 180,000 people from their homes on Sunday will remain in place for now. Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea, whose jurisdiction includes the dam and the communities immediately downstream, said he is depending on the advice of \"subject-matter experts\" from the DWR and other agencies before people are allowed to return home.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Second: The desperate effort to lower Lake Oroville's level after an imminent failure of the dam's emergency spillway continues. With water pounding down the severely damaged main spillway at nearly 100,000 cubic feet per second -- that's about 750,000 gallons, for those of us who don't measure water in cubic feet -- the giant reservoir is falling at about 4 inches per hour and is now about 5 feet from the top of the emergency spillway.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Third: Dam and water managers are preparing for the resumption of winter storms over the Feather River watershed above Lake Oroville. The DWR's 10-day precipitation forecast, based on analysis of weather models, suggests that the next round of storms will be much colder and drop less than half the precipitation than the very warm weather systems that helped trigger the Oroville crisis.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Fourth: The DWR and other state and federal agencies are going to face very tough questioning about whether something should have been done years ago to shore up the emergency spillway structure and adjacent hillside. Those questions will be prompted by a story by KQED Science Managing Editor and San Jose Mercury News reporter Paul Rogers, who \u003ca href=\"http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/12/oroville-dam-feds-and-state-officials-ignored-warnings-12-years-ago/\" target=\"_blank\">details concerns raised about the soundness of the emergency spillway system\u003c/a> back in 2005.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb12\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 5:40 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12: \u003c/strong>Officials say the emergency spillway at Oroville Dam could fail at any time and are ordering evacuations from Oroville to Gridley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Department of Water Resources urged residents of Oroville to head north, toward Chico. Residents elsewhere downstream should follow the orders of their local law enforcement, the department said. Officials have set up an evacuation shelter at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The emergency spillway is separate from the main dam structure. It's a massive, ungated concrete weir that stretches for one-third of a mile to the north of the dam and began overflowing Saturday morning. Below an initial concrete lip, water courses over bare earth all the way to the river channel below, scouring the slope of earth, rocks and trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Erosion on the hillside has increased beyond expectations. Oroville Dam contains California's second-largest reservoir, and is currently holding back more than 3.5 million acre-feet of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 9:40 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 12:\u003c/strong> After rising to record high levels, the water level in Lake Oroville appears to be dropping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Data from the California Department of Water Resources -- see \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?s=ORO\" target=\"_blank\">real-time Lake Oroville levels here\u003c/a> -- show the reservoir's surface crested at 902.59 feet above sea level at 3 a.m. Sunday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the volume of runoff into the lake decreasing and about 500,000 gallons of water flowing out of the lake every second down the badly damaged main spillway and the emergency outlet, reservoir levels had dropped to 902.39 feet by 9 a.m. That drop is equivalent to about 2.5 inches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lake is considered full at 901 feet, and it's at that level that it began pouring over an emergency spillway early Saturday. The emergency outlet is being used for the first time since the dam went into operation in 1968.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR managers say water should stop flowing over the emergency spillway sometime Monday. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb11\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 4:45 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11:\u003c/strong> The real news of this afternoon came from a media briefing with acting Department of Water Resources chief Bill Croyle, who gave new details about the work ahead to replace Oroville Dam's shattered spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before we get to that, though, let's take a glance once more at Lake Oroville, which has continued to rise and spill over on this sparkling midwinter Saturday. The giant reservoir, California's second-largest, is now \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?s=ORO\" target=\"_blank\">a foot over\u003c/a> the dam's never-before-used emergency spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR officials say that with several days of dry weather in store and the volume of runoff dropping, they expect water to continue to flow over the emergency weir until sometime Monday. \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/uux0bjzSh7Y\" target=\"_blank\">Video posted Saturday afternoon\u003c/a> (see below) showed a muddy, debris-laden torrent pouring into the waterway below the spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At his noon-hour media briefing, Croyle said the damaged main spillway will need to be completely rebuilt. He said he told Gov. Jerry Brown in a discussion on Friday the cost would come to $100 million to $200 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"My objective is to get a spillway back in operation before the wet season next year, which is typically Oct. 15 or so,\" Croyle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Croyle said he can only give \"a very rough range\" of the eventual cost because of the many unknowns involved in the project, including exactly where the replacement spillway will be built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We haven't gone in and looked at it, we don't know how much more damage we're going to do, decisions have to be made on a new one ... so the range is huge,\" Croyle said. \"What we told the governor yesterday afternoon is a hundred to two hundred million. Again, with the caveats we don't know a lot about the site itself.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added that while the agency has the resources it needs to carry out the new spillway project and associated cleanup and repairs, he's hoping for support from the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Croyle said dam managers face a long, complex juggling act to deal with the impact of the spillway failure amid a continuing very wet winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the biggest challenges engineers and work crews face is how to clear the Thermalito Diversion Pool immediately below the wrecked spillway of a large volume of concrete debris and sediment that have dammed the waterway and forced closure of the hydroelectric plant at the base of Oroville Dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Muddy water rose and backed up toward the powerhouse as the lower section of the main spillway disintegrated under high flows. To avoid contaminating the power facility, it was shut down early Friday. That had an unfortunate side effect: Outflows through the plant, which can handle a maximum of 12,000 cubic feet per second, were halted. That, in turn, limited the amount of water managers could release from the fast-filling reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To remove the debris blocking the waterway, Croyle said, flows down the damaged main spillway will probably need to be halted temporarily. With another series of storms forecast to arrive in the region starting Thursday, that's not something that can be done immediately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One piece of good news about the forecast, though: The next round of storms is expected to be colder, meaning they are far less likely to unleash the torrents of runoff produced by the last group of extremely warm weather systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/uux0bjzSh7Y\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 11:\u003c/strong> Floodwaters began flowing over Oroville Dam's emergency spillway early Saturday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's the first time since the dam went into operation in 1968 that the emergency outlet from Lake Oroville has been used. The lake filled rapidly this week after severe damage to the main spillway forced dam managers to decrease the volume of water being released at the same time a series of warm storms triggered heavy runoff into the reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Department of Water Resources officials said water began moving over the 1,700-foot-long emergency weir just before 8 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/KCRA3/videos/10155022492371514/\" target=\"_blank\">TV helicopter video \u003c/a>soon after showed sheets of water cascading over the concrete structure, although heavy flows did not appear to have begun downhill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/DVNaPBlIxe4\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the lake continues to rise. By 11 a.m., the reservoir's surface was 901.55 feet, 6 inches over the top of the emergency spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR spokesman Doug Carlson said the rate of flow over the auxiliary release structure was expected to increase from an estimated 660 cubic feet per second at 9 a.m. to 6,000 to 12,000 cubic feet per second.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said dam and water managers estimate the flow will continue for 40 to 56 hours -- a time frame that runs roughly between midnight Sunday and 4 p.m. Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 12:35 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 11:\u003c/strong> Anyone who's been watching \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?s=ORO&d=11-Feb-2017+00:14&span=25hours\" target=\"_blank\">the numbers\u003c/a> associated with Oroville Dam and Lake Oroville this evening -- how much water is flowing into the lake, how much is flowing out through the partially destroyed spillway -- probably has come to a conclusion similar to this one: At some point during the next few hours, water from the state's second-largest reservoir is likely to start pouring across the dam's emergency spillway and start racing down an adjacent slope toward the waterway below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At midnight Friday, Lake Oroville had risen to within about 18 inches of the lip of the emergency spillway. With water still coming into the lake from the Feather River watershed faster than it can be released down the damaged spillway, the level is rising at about 3 inches per hour. At that rate, simple spectator arithmetic tells you that the lake will overtop the emergency spillway as early as 6 a.m. Saturday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dam managers with the Department of Water Resources had calculated releasing 65,000 cubic feet of water per second down the damaged spillway would slow the lake's rise enough to keep water from reaching the emergency structure. Those hopes dimmed Friday evening when \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/news/newsreleases/2017/021017oroville.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">releases were cut\u003c/a> to 55,000 CFS to lower the risk of erosion that would threaten the stability of nearby power line towers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DWR is unable to use another release point in the dam, a hydroelectric generating station that can handle another 12,000 CFS. Debris from the shattered spillway wound up in the channel just downstream from the power plant, causing water to back up and forcing officials to shut it down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This would mark the first time water has flowed over the emergency facility since the dam began operating in 1968. (The closest call since then: June 2011, when late-season runoff from a lush snowpack brought the lake to within 15 inches of the emergency spillway.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond the history, the event brings uncertainty about what happens next. Crews from DWR, Cal Fire and private contractors scurried over the landscape immediately below the emergency weir over the last two days, trying to prepare the way for the cataract that soon might be pouring down the slope. Preparations included clearing trees and brush and cementing boulders into place at the edge of the emergency spillway. (See KCRA-Channel 3's \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/KCRA3/videos/10155020503816514/\" target=\"_blank\">helicopter footage of the scene Friday afternoon\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To corral any debris that comes tumbling down the slope as the water comes down, log booms have been placed in the channel below the spillway (a waterway known as the Thermalito Diversion Pool) with crews ready to tow large objects to a nearby cove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the highest immediate concern to people residing downstream is whether the water coming over the emergency spillway will represent a flood threat. The Department of Water Resources says it will not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Longer term, the deeper interest will be finding out whether DWR did everything it could and should have to ensure the integrity of the spillway, and what it will do to design and build a repaired structure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now, just after midnight early Saturday morning, we'll sign off by saying: We'll see what happens after day breaks. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb10\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Update, 12:45 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10:\u003c/strong> State Department of Water Resources officials now say they believe the volume of water rushing into Lake Oroville is slowing enough -- and releases down a badly damaged spillway have increased enough -- that the giant reservoir will not flow over an emergency spillway as feared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dam managers increased the flow of water down the broken main spillway to 65,000 cubic feet per second -- 486,000 gallons -- in the early morning hours Friday. While department officials say damage to the structure is continuing, the erosion does not appear to pose a threat to the spillway gates or other critical infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, DWR officials noted at a noon media briefing, runoff into the lake is decreasing. The inflow hit a peak of 190,000 cubic feet per second Thursday evening and had fallen to 130,000 by midnight Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The difference between the inflow and outflow means the lake is still rising -- about 4 inches per hour at noon. Lake Oroville's surface is about 5 feet below the lip of the emergency spillway. But DWR officials say with rains having stopped for the time being, the volume of water coming into the lake should continue to drop and the lake's rise will stop short of overflowing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 9:20 a.m. Friday, Feb. 10:\u003c/strong> Two things have changed overnight at Oroville Dam and the giant reservoir behind it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First: Inflow from the Feather River watershed into Lake Oroville, while still very high, has dropped from its peak levels Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Second: California Department of Water Resources managers followed through with a plan to ramp up releases down the dam's wrecked spillway (for their rationale for doing that, see our earlier updates, below).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rate of rise in the lake -- see \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?s=ORO&d=10-Feb-2017+09:13&span=25hours\" target=\"_blank\">the DWR's real-time data\u003c/a> for yourself --has decreased from nearly a foot an hour at times Thursday to about 4 or 5 inches an hour Friday morning. The reservoir surface at 9 a.m. was reported to be 895 feet -- up 45 feet from Tuesday when the spillway damage was discovered and just 6 feet below the dam's emergency spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The net result: That rate of increase would mean water from the reservoir would begin cascading over the emergency spillway sometime early Saturday morning. The lake, which has a stated maximum capacity of 3.5 million acre-feet, is now 98 percent full.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mostly light rain and snow are expected across the Feather River watershed today before clear weather Saturday. Colder weather and a break from heavy rain could help reduce the volume of water flowing into the lake. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb09\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9:\u003c/strong> The situation surrounding the damaged spillway at Oroville Dam has escalated into a crisis, with state water managers hoping they can dump enough water down the badly compromised structure to prevent the state's second-largest reservoir from pouring over an emergency release point that has never been used before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flow rates down the collapsing spillway were increased late Thursday morning to 35,000 cubic feet per second. The result was a spectacle of churning mud and water and further damage to the concrete structure.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"singleTwitterStatus","attributes":{"named":{"id":"829844037410574336"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>But with storms continuing to pound the northern Sierra and torrents of water quickly filling Lake Oroville, the huge reservoir behind the dam, crews from the Department of Water Resources and Cal Fire are getting ready for what officials previously called \"a very last-ditch measure.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crews on Thursday began cutting down trees and bulldozing brush on the steep slope below an emergency spillway to try to minimize downstream debris flows should the lake exceed its 3.5 million acre-feet capacity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We have crews out there just as a precaution,\" said DWR spokesman Eric See during a media briefing at midday Thursday. \"We're still taking every measure we can to not have to use the emergency spillway, but if we do, we're actually removing that debris right now so it doesn't get mobilized\" into an adjacent waterway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the possibility that Lake Oroville would overflow for the first time in its half-century history grew stronger as the day progressed, despite the water being released down the damaged spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acting DWR chief Bill Croyle said at an evening press conference that it was becoming more and more likely that water would pour uncontrolled over the emergency spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"To be very clear, with the hydraulic conditions we have now, and with the flow that we have coming down out of the spillway chute, unless conditions change, we anticipate there may be a release of water over the emergency spillway,\" Croyle said. \"Maybe sometime on Saturday.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That event has become imminent because the volume of water flowing into the lake increased dramatically during the day as heavy rain fell across the Feather River watershed. Some locations in upstream mountains had received 4 to 5 inches of rain in the last 24 hours, with another inch or two expected before clear weather arrives Saturday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lake Oroville will overflow the emergency spillway if it reaches an elevation of 901 feet above sea level. On Tuesday, when the spillway damaged was first noted, the lake's surface was at about 850 feet. With the spillway shut down for most of the last 48 hours, the lake has risen to 887 feet as of 7 p.m. Thursday. (See DWR's \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/DerekKCRA/status/829844037410574336\" target=\"_blank\">real-time Lake Oroville statistics\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The downside of having water go over the emergency spillway is that it would go down the hillside and take out trees and soil and create a big mess in the diversion down below,\" the DWR's See said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>See said the severe erosion seen on and around the spillway structure is being closely monitored by crews on the ground, remote cameras and drones. Engineers believe the heavy flow of water will scour its way down to bedrock before long, See said, but acknowledged there are risks to allowing the erosion to continue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Erosion is occurring in multiple ways,\" See said. \"You can have erosion to the side and erosion going down the hill, and then you can have 'head cutting,' which is erosion that can actually work its way back upstream. So that's the one that's of most concern.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If engineers detect that uphill erosion, See said, it would be \"a trigger point\" that would prompt another shutdown of releases down the spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The erosion has already released massive flows of sediment into the adjacent waterway, a canal called the Thermalito Diversion Pool. The canal carries water from the dam down to and around the city of Oroville. Among the facilities to which it conveys water is the Feather River Hatchery, which raises millions of chinook salmon and steelhead trout.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heavy sediment in the water can kill juvenile salmonids. With muddy water cascading into the hatchery facility Thursday morning, the Department of Fish and Wildlife began an emergency rescue of salmon and steelhead, trucking the young fish to a satellite hatchery on the Thermalito Afterbay, west of Oroville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From the \u003ca href=\"http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article131743014.html\" target=\"_blank\">Sacramento Bee's account \u003c/a>of the fish rescue:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>At the hatchery Thursday, workers waded waist-deep through concrete holding ponds filled with water the color of chocolate milk. They used screens to push baby fish toward tanker trucks that would transport them a few miles southwest to Thermalito.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Harry] Morse said that wild steelhead and salmon are spawning in the Feather River, fueling concern that sediment could overwhelm their nests and kill eggs and juvenile fish.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Officials at the media briefing repeated further reassurances that the integrity of Oroville Dam, one of the largest in the United States, has not been affected by the spillway collapse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said that while local emergency agencies are preparing for evacuations downstream of the dam, he didn't believe the spillway situation posed an imminent threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 11:55 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 9:\u003c/strong> The California Department of Water Resources is fast running out of time and options for dealing with the badly damaged spillway at Oroville Dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With Lake Oroville rapidly approaching full, water managers increased flows down the spillway Wednesday afternoon and early Thursday to test the effect on the damaged structure. The result was both unsurprising and sobering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department said it expected the test, which involved releasing about 20,000 cubic feet per second down the long concrete spillway chute, would cause further damage to the structure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they may not have anticipated the extent of the damage that daylight revealed early Thursday. Photos from the scene showed that the massive cavity in the face of the spillway had grown several times larger and that the adjacent slow had suffered extensive new erosion. Here are a couple of views tweeted out early Thursday:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"singleTwitterStatus","attributes":{"named":{"id":"829746045290631168"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"singleTwitterStatus","attributes":{"named":{"id":"829749590756700160"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>With the spillway mostly out of commission since major releases were curtailed, Lake Oroville has been rising at the rate of about half a foot an hour since midday Tuesday. Its level has increased 30 feet since then, with the reservoir's surface now 20 feet below an emergency spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The emergency spillway, which would release water down a steep slope adjacent to the spillway, has never been used in the dam's half-century of operation. DWR officials and others say water flowing down the slope will likely result in a large volume of debris being dumped into the Feather River, which flows through the city of Oroville on its way to the Sacramento Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That's one reason dam managers are willing to risk the destruction of the concrete spillway, calculating that would be preferable to the unknowns involved in an uncontrolled emergency spillover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's going to be rocks, trees, mud -- liquid concrete -- going down that river,\" retired DWR engineer Jerry Antonetti \u003ca href=\"http://www.kcra.com/article/officials-release-water-from-oroville-dam-to-test-damaged-spillway/8694754\" target=\"_blank\">told Sacramento's KCRA\u003c/a> as he watched the spillway Wednesday night. \"I'd open 'er up, sacrifice the bottom of that thing -- it's going to go in the river -- clean it out next year and build a new spillway.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 8:45 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 9:\u003c/strong> State water officials say they may be forced to continue using a badly damaged spillway at Oroville Dam to prevent the lake from reaching capacity in the next few days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doing that would likely cause further damage to the spillway structure and continue eroding the surrounding area, Department of Water Resources spokesman Doug Carlson said Wednesday afternoon. But that could be preferable to allowing the lake to begin flowing over an emergency spillway on the dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carlson called the alternate spillway -- which would send water cascading down a long tree- and brush-covered slope containing roads and power lines, a \"very last-ditch measure.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's an outcome that DWR is committed to not allowing to happen,\" Carlson said. Like other DWR officials, he was quick to add that the spillway damage does not pose a threat to the dam itself, one of the largest ever built in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department conducted an experiment during the day Wednesday in which it began sending a limited amount of water -- about 20,000 cubic feet per second -- down the damaged concrete spillway structure. The purpose of the test, Carlson said, was to see how much additional damage was done.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We may just let the spillway do its job\" despite the damage, Carlson said. Then, after the rainy season, \"we could shut off the spillway, keep it dry, put construction people in there, whatever has to be done -- rocks, fill, concrete mix, whatever -- and get it back to 100 percent efficiency.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The DWR's spillway test came as Lake Oroville, the state's second-largest reservoir, is filling rapidly with runoff from recent storms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to maintain enough space in the lake to accommodate in-rushing floodwaters, managers would normally release water down the dam's massive concrete spillway. That was just what was happening Tuesday when bystanders alerted dam personnel that there appeared to be damage to the structure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Releases that were being ramped up to about 60,000 cubic feet per second were abruptly halted so that Department of Water Resources crews could assess the situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, a high volume of runoff into the lake has continued, raising it more than 20 feet since early Tuesday. Late Wednesday afternoon, the reservoir was just 30 feet below an emergency spillway that has never been used in the dam's half-century of use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's quite serious,\" Carlson said of the dam and reservoir's status. \"The good news is that we think we have it under control.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Below: DWR photo gallery depicting damage to spillway and erosion to adjacent area.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"gallery","attributes":{"named":{"type":"rectangular","size":"medium","ids":"11307354,11307355,11307356,11307357,11307358,11307359,11307360,11307361,11307362,11307363,11307364,11307365","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb08\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Update, 12:25 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8:\u003c/strong> State water officials say engineers are still in the process of assessing damage to the spillway at Oroville Dam and figuring out what they can do to fix it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"They're evaluating the situation intensively this morning,\" said Ted Thomas, the chief spokesman for the Department of Water Resources. \"They're looking at what their options are for repair.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An extensive section of concrete on the spillway, which is used to manage the level of Lake Oroville, has peeled away or collapsed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time the problem was spotted at midday Tuesday, water managers were in the process of ramping up the volume of water being dumped down the spillway into the Feather River. That was necessary to make room for high flows coming into the reservoir, the state's second largest, from a series of storms that have dumped very heavy rain over the Feather River watershed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Releases were reduced from about 60,000 cubic feet per second to just 5,000 cfs -- the amount being routed through the dam's hydroelectric generating facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The immediate result of curtailing the releases while huge amounts of runoff stream into the reservoir has been a very rapid rise in the lake's level. In the 20 hours after releases were reduced at midday Tuesday, Lake Oroville has risen 10 feet and added 150,000 acre-feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If current release and flow rates persisted -- and that's not a sure thing by any means -- the reservoir would reach its 3.5 million acre-foot capacity in the next three or four days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If that happens, Thomas said, the dam's emergency spillway -- which has not been used since the dam was finished in the late 1960s -- would channel floodwaters down a hillside into the river.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thomas said he expected details on a proposed fix for the spillway damage later Wednesday. \u003ca href=\"#post-top\">Back to top.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"feb07\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Original post, 5:35 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7:\u003c/strong> California Department of Water Resources crews are assessing a potentially serious problem with Oroville Dam, the giant structure that impounds the Feather River to create the state's second-largest reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tuesday morning, the spillway that managers use to release water from Lake Oroville into the river appeared to suffer a partial collapse. That led to the shutdown of the spillway while engineers assess its condition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Department officials say the dam itself, perched above the Sacramento Valley about 130 miles northeast of San Francisco, is not in danger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The timing of the shutdown is critical: A huge amount of runoff is coming into Lake Oroville from the Feather River watershed after recent storms. To maintain room in the reservoir to contain the incoming flows, a high volume of water --- about 55,000 cubic feet per second -- was being released down the spillway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the spillway closed for the time being, there's no way to release water from the dam except through a hydroelectric powerhouse built into the structure. Only about 5,000 cubic feet per second can be released through the powerhouse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The net effect is that with releases virtually halted and heavy inflows from a series of very wet winter storms continuing to pour into the reservoir, the lake is rising steadily.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"singleTwitterStatus","attributes":{"named":{"id":"829117361600933888"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?s=ORO&d=07-Feb-2017+15:47&span=25hours\" target=\"_blank\">Lake Oroville was 82 percent full\u003c/a> and was 150,000 acre-feet above the storage level prescribed to maintain room for incoming floodwaters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Water Resources said \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/news/newsreleases/2017/020717spillway.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">in a statement\u003c/a> that \"sufficient capacity exists within the reservoir to capture projected inflows for at least days, and DWR expects to resume releases from the gated spillway at a rate deemed later today after a thorough inspection is performed.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/swp/facilities/Oroville/LakeDam.cfm\" target=\"_blank\">Oroville Dam\u003c/a> is an earth-fill dam and was dedicated in 1968. At 770 feet high, it's the highest dam in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What does the spillway look like under normal conditions? Here's a video shot Monday, when managers had ramped up releases from 25,000 cubic feet per second top 50,000 CFS (see below for some perspective on the flow numbers):\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/coQnMRklVg4\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The flow perspective: One cubic foot of water is 7.48 gallons. So 55,000 cubic feet per second, roughly the volume being released down the spillway before problems were detected Tuesday, comes out to 411,400 gallons a second. That equals 1.26 acre-feet -- enough water to flood a football field to a depth of 15 inches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An acre-foot, in turn, is roughly the amount of water used each year by two \"average\" California households. So the volume of water pounding down the spillway \u003cem>every second\u003c/em> is close to what three households would use in a year.\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>\u003cbr>\nMiranda Leitsinger, Don Clyde, Kat Snow, Craig Miller and David Marks of KQED contributed to this post. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11306002/engineers-assess-spillway-problem-at-oroville-dam","authors":["222"],"programs":["news_6944","news_72"],"categories":["news_19906","news_8","news_356"],"tags":["news_4175","news_20509","news_20559","news_5641"],"featImg":"news_11372756","label":"news_72","isLoading":false,"hasAllInfo":true}},"programsReducer":{"possible":{"id":"possible","title":"Possible","info":"Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. 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Michel Martin hosts on the weekends.","airtime":"MON-FRI 1pm-2pm, 4:30pm-6:30pm\u003cbr />SAT-SUN 5pm-6pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ATC_1400.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/all-things-considered"},"american-suburb-podcast":{"id":"american-suburb-podcast","title":"American Suburb: The Podcast","tagline":"The flip side of gentrification, told through one town","info":"Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. 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And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/powerpress/1440_0017_BayCurious_iTunesTile_01.jpg","imageAlt":"\"KQED Bay Curious","officialWebsiteLink":"/news/series/baycurious","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"4"},"link":"/podcasts/baycurious","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious","rss":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/category/bay-curious-podcast/feed/podcast","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvbmV3cy9jYXRlZ29yeS9iYXktY3VyaW91cy1wb2RjYXN0L2ZlZWQvcG9kY2FzdA","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/bay-curious","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/6O76IdmhixfijmhTZLIJ8k"}},"bbc-world-service":{"id":"bbc-world-service","title":"BBC World Service","info":"The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.","airtime":"MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2021/10/BBC_1400.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service","meta":{"site":"news","source":"BBC World Service"},"link":"/radio/program/bbc-world-service","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-news-podcast/id135067274?mt=2","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/","rss":"https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"}},"code-switch-life-kit":{"id":"code-switch-life-kit","title":"Code Switch / Life Kit","info":"\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />","airtime":"SUN 9pm-10pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/CodeSwitchLifeKit_StationGraphics_300x300EmailGraphic.png","meta":{"site":"radio","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/code-switch-life-kit","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/1112190608?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/3bExJ9JQpkwNhoHvaIIuyV","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510312/podcast.xml"}},"commonwealth-club":{"id":"commonwealth-club","title":"Commonwealth Club of California Podcast","info":"The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.","airtime":"THU 10pm, FRI 1am","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2019/07/commonwealthclub.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts","meta":{"site":"news","source":"Commonwealth Club of California"},"link":"/radio/program/commonwealth-club","subscribe":{"apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/Commonwealth-Club-of-California-p1060/"}},"considerthis":{"id":"considerthis","title":"Consider This","tagline":"Make sense of the day","info":"Make sense of the day. Every weekday afternoon, Consider This helps you consider the major stories of the day in less than 15 minutes, featuring the reporting and storytelling resources of NPR. 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