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"disqusTitle": "Oroville Update: Evacuation Advisory Finally Lifted",
"title": "Oroville Update: Evacuation Advisory Finally Lifted",
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"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",
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"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>",
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"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>",
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"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>",
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"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>",
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"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>",
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"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>",
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"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>",
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"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>",
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"disqusTitle": "Experts: Oroville Spillway Damage Continues to Pose 'Very Significant Risk'",
"title": "Experts: Oroville Spillway Damage Continues to Pose 'Very Significant Risk'",
"headTitle": "The California Report | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>California officials are courting a \"very significant risk\" if a damaged spillway on the nation's tallest dam is not operational by the next rainy season, and the state's plan leaves no time for any delays, a team of safety experts has warned in a report obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crews working to repair a crippled spillway on the Lake Oroville dam will be racing the clock to have the structure in good enough shape to be used for flood control by next fall, according to the report prepared by an independent team of consultants and submitted to federal officials last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crews hope to prevent a repeat, or worse, of dramatic events that led to nearly 200,000 people being evacuated last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Repair contracts will have to be awarded by June and workers will have to have the spillway in solid enough shape to operate by Nov. 1, the experts warned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This is a very demanding schedule, as everyone recognizes. There seems to be no room anywhere to expand any part of the schedule,\" the five-member expert team said in the report for state and federal water and dam-safety officials. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"A very significant risk would be incurred if the Gated Spillway is not operational by November 1,\" the report said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=\"LeUmmYqQs8grBhCWwIPDZUgf2nmXASFE\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report does not explain the nature of the risk. However, officials with the state Department of Water Resources, which operates Oroville Dam and Lake Oroville -- the nation's tallest dam and California's second-largest reservoir -- fear that a huge rupture in the main spillway could expand and cripple a set of giant flood gates that control releases of water from the lake. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The independent consultants were selected by the state last month at the request of at the request of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Department of Water Resources spokeswoman Maggie Macias did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Feb. 12, authorities ordered the evacuation of 188,000 people in three counties downstream of the dam after a chain of events that began with major damage detected on the main spillway just as a series of warm and very wet winter storms rolled across the Feather river watershed. Dam managers limited releases down the spillway, and within days, Lake Oroville surged uncontrolled over the top of an emergency weir and down an adjacent hillside. The resulting erosion raised concerns that the emergency structure would collapse and send a wall of water down the Feather River into Oroville and other communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The experts called it \"absolutely critical\" that the dam's state operators avoid another overflow on the emergency spillway. The state should start work now redesigning a new emergency spillway for the 50-year-old dam, the consultants said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The experts inspected the main spillway before delivering the recommendations to the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water was even seeping from seemingly undamaged stretches of the main spillway, the experts said. Only 12 inches thick, the concrete spillway is heavily patched, at some places by clay stuffed into holes below the concrete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This calls into question whether the portions of the slab that appear undamaged by the failure should be replaced,\" the consultants said, raising the prospect of a much bigger long-term repair job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fully repairing the spillway will likely take two years, the consultants said. California still has at least a month left in the current, unusually wet rainy season. A record snowfall in the Sierra Nevada will send more and more runoff into Lake Oroville as weather warms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State water officials plan to use the damaged main spillway sparingly to control the runoff, releasing water down it to try to ensure it doesn't spill out over the non-functional emergency spillway again.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California officials are courting a \"very significant risk\" if a damaged spillway on the nation's tallest dam is not operational by the next rainy season, and the state's plan leaves no time for any delays, a team of safety experts has warned in a report obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crews working to repair a crippled spillway on the Lake Oroville dam will be racing the clock to have the structure in good enough shape to be used for flood control by next fall, according to the report prepared by an independent team of consultants and submitted to federal officials last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crews hope to prevent a repeat, or worse, of dramatic events that led to nearly 200,000 people being evacuated last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Repair contracts will have to be awarded by June and workers will have to have the spillway in solid enough shape to operate by Nov. 1, the experts warned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This is a very demanding schedule, as everyone recognizes. There seems to be no room anywhere to expand any part of the schedule,\" the five-member expert team said in the report for state and federal water and dam-safety officials. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"A very significant risk would be incurred if the Gated Spillway is not operational by November 1,\" the report said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report does not explain the nature of the risk. However, officials with the state Department of Water Resources, which operates Oroville Dam and Lake Oroville -- the nation's tallest dam and California's second-largest reservoir -- fear that a huge rupture in the main spillway could expand and cripple a set of giant flood gates that control releases of water from the lake. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The independent consultants were selected by the state last month at the request of at the request of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Department of Water Resources spokeswoman Maggie Macias did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Feb. 12, authorities ordered the evacuation of 188,000 people in three counties downstream of the dam after a chain of events that began with major damage detected on the main spillway just as a series of warm and very wet winter storms rolled across the Feather river watershed. Dam managers limited releases down the spillway, and within days, Lake Oroville surged uncontrolled over the top of an emergency weir and down an adjacent hillside. The resulting erosion raised concerns that the emergency structure would collapse and send a wall of water down the Feather River into Oroville and other communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The experts called it \"absolutely critical\" that the dam's state operators avoid another overflow on the emergency spillway. The state should start work now redesigning a new emergency spillway for the 50-year-old dam, the consultants said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The experts inspected the main spillway before delivering the recommendations to the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Water was even seeping from seemingly undamaged stretches of the main spillway, the experts said. Only 12 inches thick, the concrete spillway is heavily patched, at some places by clay stuffed into holes below the concrete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This calls into question whether the portions of the slab that appear undamaged by the failure should be replaced,\" the consultants said, raising the prospect of a much bigger long-term repair job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fully repairing the spillway will likely take two years, the consultants said. California still has at least a month left in the current, unusually wet rainy season. A record snowfall in the Sierra Nevada will send more and more runoff into Lake Oroville as weather warms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State water officials plan to use the damaged main spillway sparingly to control the runoff, releasing water down it to try to ensure it doesn't spill out over the non-functional emergency spillway again.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "New Coastal Commission Director Says Trump Threatens California Coast",
"headTitle": "New Coastal Commission Director Says Trump Threatens California Coast | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The new executive director of the California Coastal Commission, Jack Ainsworth, says his appointment demonstrates the Commission’s commitment to coastal protection and that his recommendations to Commissioners will be based on science and facts. Ainsworth took the helm as executive director in February, after a tumultuous year in which environmental advocates accused the Commission of firing the previous director to please developers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s Brian Watt talked with Ainsworth recently about his priorities, and how he plans to handle threats from the Trump administration to undo environmental protections. Here’s a transcript of that conversation, edited for brevity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Watt: Let’s imagine you have a crystal ball. What do you want to see along California’s coast in fifty years, given the challenges of balancing development and protection?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ainsworth: One would be one continuous coastal trail along the entire state of California, and we’re working towards that goal right now. The other thing is I want to see is sandy beaches along our coastline. I want to see communities that are not affected by the rising seas we see from climate change. The rising sea levels over the next 50 to 100 years are going to be the biggest threat to California. So ensuring we are building and planning for resilient communities is really going to be a critical part of what we’re about going forward. We have an $18 billion coastal tourism and recreation economy in California and that is threatened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1486132\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1486132\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-800x577.jpg\" alt=\"Jack Ainsworth, Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission\" width=\"800\" height=\"577\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-800x577.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-160x115.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-768x554.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-1020x735.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-1920x1384.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-1180x851.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-960x692.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-240x173.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-375x270.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-520x375.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jack Ainsworth, executive director of the California Coastal Commission \u003ccite>(California Coastal Commission)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Watt: Well let’s talk about California and this new administration. President Trump has called climate change a “hoax.” He’s promised to cut regulations. Is the current atmosphere in Washington a threat to California’s coastline?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ainsworth: Absolutely. It is one of the most significant threats we’ve had in many, many years. The administration is proposing significant cuts to NOAA’s budget, and the Commission receives 10 percent of its budget through coastal zone management grants to California, and if we lose that funding it will mean laying off staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Watt: Are you worried about offshore drilling and a potential fight over that issue in this administration?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nAinsworth: Yes, opening up of the federal oil and gas leases offshore is a significant concern for the Commission, as well as weakening what we call our “federal consistency authority” under the Coastal Zone Management Act. The Commission has the authority to review federal projects both in federal waters three miles offshore, and within our state waters and on land. So weakening that authority is a concern as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Watt: You know that a lot of things that the Commission does, like protecting the coast from mega-development and keeping access in the public’s hands, can be very political. How tough are you now as executive director with Californians who might want to use their wealth to block beach access for the public?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ainsworth: This is a battle that we’ve had over the 40-year life of the Coastal Act on providing access to the shoreline. That is one of the primary mandates of the Coastal Act. And I can tell you, from my position as executive director, that is one of my highest priorities going forward — is not only protecting it for the residents of those areas, but for all Californians and those Californians that may not have had access to the coast, particularly those in disadvantaged communities, and communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Watt: How are you going to address that?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nAinsworth: One of the ways of accessing the coast is the ability to stay overnight at the coast at an affordable accommodation. And so working to realize those types of low cost accommodations along the shoreline is one way of dealing with it. The other part of it is through our public education grants directed at underserved communities for trips to the beach, for marine and environmental education programs. There are many children within 20 miles from the coast that have never seen the coast. And that is a real tragedy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Watt: The Commission has had a pretty bumpy ride recently. The firing last year of the previous director, Charles Lester, angered a lot of people in the environmental community. What are you doing to heal any tensions or any lingering distrust right now?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nAinsworth: It was upsetting, the loss of our executive director, to staff. We felt it could have represented an attack on the coastal program. But in the end, with my appointment — I’ve been a long-time employee of the commission and I have the trust and confidence of staff — I think that showed that the Commission was committed to this program moving forward and the protection of our coastal resources and public access. The important thing is, our recommendations from the staff going forward need to be based on the facts, sound science and the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Watt: So the fight that could arise when a millionaire wants to essentially buy the beach, you’re ready?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ainsworth: Yes, I am. I’m ready. We’ve had battles over the years and we’ve proven that we will aggressively defend access to the coast, and that is my commitment to the people of the state of California.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The new executive director of the California Coastal Commission, Jack Ainsworth, says his appointment demonstrates the Commission’s commitment to coastal protection and that his recommendations to Commissioners will be based on science and facts. Ainsworth took the helm as executive director in February, after a tumultuous year in which environmental advocates accused the Commission of firing the previous director to please developers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED’s Brian Watt talked with Ainsworth recently about his priorities, and how he plans to handle threats from the Trump administration to undo environmental protections. Here’s a transcript of that conversation, edited for brevity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Watt: Let’s imagine you have a crystal ball. What do you want to see along California’s coast in fifty years, given the challenges of balancing development and protection?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ainsworth: One would be one continuous coastal trail along the entire state of California, and we’re working towards that goal right now. The other thing is I want to see is sandy beaches along our coastline. I want to see communities that are not affected by the rising seas we see from climate change. The rising sea levels over the next 50 to 100 years are going to be the biggest threat to California. So ensuring we are building and planning for resilient communities is really going to be a critical part of what we’re about going forward. We have an $18 billion coastal tourism and recreation economy in California and that is threatened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1486132\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1486132\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-800x577.jpg\" alt=\"Jack Ainsworth, Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission\" width=\"800\" height=\"577\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-800x577.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-160x115.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-768x554.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-1020x735.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-1920x1384.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-1180x851.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-960x692.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-240x173.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-375x270.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/03/IMG_0956-002-520x375.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jack Ainsworth, executive director of the California Coastal Commission \u003ccite>(California Coastal Commission)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Watt: Well let’s talk about California and this new administration. President Trump has called climate change a “hoax.” He’s promised to cut regulations. Is the current atmosphere in Washington a threat to California’s coastline?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ainsworth: Absolutely. It is one of the most significant threats we’ve had in many, many years. The administration is proposing significant cuts to NOAA’s budget, and the Commission receives 10 percent of its budget through coastal zone management grants to California, and if we lose that funding it will mean laying off staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Watt: Are you worried about offshore drilling and a potential fight over that issue in this administration?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nAinsworth: Yes, opening up of the federal oil and gas leases offshore is a significant concern for the Commission, as well as weakening what we call our “federal consistency authority” under the Coastal Zone Management Act. The Commission has the authority to review federal projects both in federal waters three miles offshore, and within our state waters and on land. So weakening that authority is a concern as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Watt: You know that a lot of things that the Commission does, like protecting the coast from mega-development and keeping access in the public’s hands, can be very political. How tough are you now as executive director with Californians who might want to use their wealth to block beach access for the public?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ainsworth: This is a battle that we’ve had over the 40-year life of the Coastal Act on providing access to the shoreline. That is one of the primary mandates of the Coastal Act. And I can tell you, from my position as executive director, that is one of my highest priorities going forward — is not only protecting it for the residents of those areas, but for all Californians and those Californians that may not have had access to the coast, particularly those in disadvantaged communities, and communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Watt: How are you going to address that?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nAinsworth: One of the ways of accessing the coast is the ability to stay overnight at the coast at an affordable accommodation. And so working to realize those types of low cost accommodations along the shoreline is one way of dealing with it. The other part of it is through our public education grants directed at underserved communities for trips to the beach, for marine and environmental education programs. There are many children within 20 miles from the coast that have never seen the coast. And that is a real tragedy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Watt: The Commission has had a pretty bumpy ride recently. The firing last year of the previous director, Charles Lester, angered a lot of people in the environmental community. What are you doing to heal any tensions or any lingering distrust right now?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nAinsworth: It was upsetting, the loss of our executive director, to staff. We felt it could have represented an attack on the coastal program. But in the end, with my appointment — I’ve been a long-time employee of the commission and I have the trust and confidence of staff — I think that showed that the Commission was committed to this program moving forward and the protection of our coastal resources and public access. The important thing is, our recommendations from the staff going forward need to be based on the facts, sound science and the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Watt: So the fight that could arise when a millionaire wants to essentially buy the beach, you’re ready?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ainsworth: Yes, I am. I’m ready. We’ve had battles over the years and we’ve proven that we will aggressively defend access to the coast, and that is my commitment to the people of the state of California.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>BIG SUR — Almost all the hotels, restaurants and state parks cut off when a bridge on the Central California coast crumbled last month remain closed, but Kurt Mayer chose to keep his deli and taproom open — even though it's costing him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heavy rains this winter damaged the span on iconic Highway 1 beyond repair, splitting the touristy Big Sur area in two and stranding more than 400 residents on one side. Visitors have been blocked from reaching part of the community known for its luxury spas, posh hotels and scenic retreats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Mayer, the bridge closure means a six-hour, round-trip route several times a week to buy goods to stock the shelves. He also had to temporarily lay off 11 of his 16 employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet he's keeping his doors open for locals who need produce, milk and propane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"They support me all year long, and I appreciate it,\" Mayer said. \"In the bad times, you've got to try to come through for the people who come through for you all the time.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The damaged Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge sits on an active landslide, which pushed out one of two columns holding it up. Crews are working to tear down the old span and replace it with a single-span steel bridge across the canyon, which will not sit on the slide. A large section of the bridge was demolished on March 18.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/nbcbayarea/status/843545203629875200\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Susana Cruz, a spokeswoman for Caltrans, said construction is expected to cost about $20 million and take six to nine months — too long for some.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We as a community simply will not survive in any way that is recognizable without a timely rebuild of that bridge,\" said Big Sur Chamber of Commerce President Kirk Gafill, owner of the historic Nepenthe Restaurant, which has been serving Big Sur since 1949. The area also is without law enforcement and public services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gafill said Caltrans needs to prioritize the bridge replacement over other projects, or some businesses may go under. He had hoped for a different bridge design that could be built more quickly, but Cruz said the work is being expedited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bridge closure also has affected Gafill personally. His wife and 14-year-old son have moved to a friend's condominium in Monterey to keep the boy in high school, creating chaos for the family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We are constantly packing and unpacking,\" he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11369833\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11369833\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-800x563.jpg\" alt=\"Kirk Gafill, owner of the historic Nepenthe Restaurant, says they're using the unexpected closure to refinish the wood and update the restaurant.\" width=\"800\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-800x563.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-160x113.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-1020x717.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-1180x830.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-960x675.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-240x169.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-375x264.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-520x366.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kirk Gafill, owner of the historic Nepenthe Restaurant, says they're using the unexpected closure to refinish the wood and update the restaurant. \u003ccite>(jongela19/Flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>East of the bridge, a 2-foot-wide trail is under construction to allow people who live south of the damaged span to bypass it by walking about 30 minutes each way through steep terrain. Fire brigade escorts will bring them back and forth in the morning and evening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's a godsend compared to what we have now, which is nothing,\" Gafill said. \"People are going to be in the best shape of their lives.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The New Camaldoli Hermitage, a monastery known for its ocean views, is among the places that have been cut off. The two dozen monks and staff members there have been working on their spiritual fitness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The morale of the house has been really good,\" Prior Cyprian Consiglio said. \"We are using this to simplify and get back to basics.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Staff cooks are no longer on the property, so the monks have been making meals. When the phones went down, they communicated with walkie-talkies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The monks usually make money by hosting at least 15 people at a time on their sprawling property. But with access cut off, the rooms sit empty. An online fundraiser has generated about $245,000 of at least $500,000 needed to recover from the lost income and repair an entrance road damaged by walloping rains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting fuel is also challenging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We are going to conserve some more,\" Consiglio said.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>BIG SUR — Almost all the hotels, restaurants and state parks cut off when a bridge on the Central California coast crumbled last month remain closed, but Kurt Mayer chose to keep his deli and taproom open — even though it's costing him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heavy rains this winter damaged the span on iconic Highway 1 beyond repair, splitting the touristy Big Sur area in two and stranding more than 400 residents on one side. Visitors have been blocked from reaching part of the community known for its luxury spas, posh hotels and scenic retreats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Mayer, the bridge closure means a six-hour, round-trip route several times a week to buy goods to stock the shelves. He also had to temporarily lay off 11 of his 16 employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet he's keeping his doors open for locals who need produce, milk and propane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"They support me all year long, and I appreciate it,\" Mayer said. \"In the bad times, you've got to try to come through for the people who come through for you all the time.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The damaged Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge sits on an active landslide, which pushed out one of two columns holding it up. Crews are working to tear down the old span and replace it with a single-span steel bridge across the canyon, which will not sit on the slide. A large section of the bridge was demolished on March 18.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Susana Cruz, a spokeswoman for Caltrans, said construction is expected to cost about $20 million and take six to nine months — too long for some.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We as a community simply will not survive in any way that is recognizable without a timely rebuild of that bridge,\" said Big Sur Chamber of Commerce President Kirk Gafill, owner of the historic Nepenthe Restaurant, which has been serving Big Sur since 1949. The area also is without law enforcement and public services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gafill said Caltrans needs to prioritize the bridge replacement over other projects, or some businesses may go under. He had hoped for a different bridge design that could be built more quickly, but Cruz said the work is being expedited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bridge closure also has affected Gafill personally. His wife and 14-year-old son have moved to a friend's condominium in Monterey to keep the boy in high school, creating chaos for the family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We are constantly packing and unpacking,\" he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11369833\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11369833\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-800x563.jpg\" alt=\"Kirk Gafill, owner of the historic Nepenthe Restaurant, says they're using the unexpected closure to refinish the wood and update the restaurant.\" width=\"800\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-800x563.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-160x113.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-1020x717.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-1180x830.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-960x675.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-240x169.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-375x264.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/NepentheRestaurant-520x366.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kirk Gafill, owner of the historic Nepenthe Restaurant, says they're using the unexpected closure to refinish the wood and update the restaurant. \u003ccite>(jongela19/Flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>East of the bridge, a 2-foot-wide trail is under construction to allow people who live south of the damaged span to bypass it by walking about 30 minutes each way through steep terrain. Fire brigade escorts will bring them back and forth in the morning and evening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's a godsend compared to what we have now, which is nothing,\" Gafill said. \"People are going to be in the best shape of their lives.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The New Camaldoli Hermitage, a monastery known for its ocean views, is among the places that have been cut off. The two dozen monks and staff members there have been working on their spiritual fitness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The morale of the house has been really good,\" Prior Cyprian Consiglio said. \"We are using this to simplify and get back to basics.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Staff cooks are no longer on the property, so the monks have been making meals. When the phones went down, they communicated with walkie-talkies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The monks usually make money by hosting at least 15 people at a time on their sprawling property. But with access cut off, the rooms sit empty. An online fundraiser has generated about $245,000 of at least $500,000 needed to recover from the lost income and repair an entrance road damaged by walloping rains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting fuel is also challenging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We are going to conserve some more,\" Consiglio said.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The Extraordinary Effort to Save the White Abalone",
"headTitle": "The Extraordinary Effort to Save the White Abalone | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">O\u003c/span>n a rainy winter evening, biologist \u003ca href=\"http://kristinaquilino.weebly.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kristin Aquilino\u003c/a> was rummaging through the trunk of her pickup truck in the \u003ca href=\"http://bml.ucdavis.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bodega Marine Lab\u003c/a> parking lot. She was looking for a rubber spatula—a tool she needed to pry a recently captured white abalone from inside an ice chest brimming with seawater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aquilino had driven the rare animal 385 miles from Los Angeles, where it was captured off the coast, and where small numbers of this endangered species can still be found. She was about to introduce the 7-inch marine snail to its new home, a research facility at UC Davis’ Bodega Marine Lab in Bodega Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1483680\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1483680\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656.jpg\" alt=\"Kristen Aquilino searches for a spatula so she can remove a wild-caught white abalone from inside a cooler that transported the animal from Los Angeles to San Francisco.\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656.jpg 1000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kristen Aquilino searches for a spatula so she can remove a wild-caught white abalone from inside a cooler that transported the animal from Los Angeles to San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Maggie Carson Jurow)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now Aquilino had the unenviable task of trying to pry loose the creature’s squishy orange foot without injuring it. Any nick to this male abalone’s flesh, or chip to its shell, could cause the snail to bleed uncontrollably since its fluid doesn’t clot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been studying these animals for years and this is one of the few wild white abalone I’ve seen,” says Aquilino, an abalone expert at the Bodega Marine Lab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because there are more white abalone living in captivity than there are in the wild. And the mollusk suctioning Aquilino’s hands is the first wild white abalone scientists have collected from the ocean in more than a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These rare creatures are incredibly difficult for divers to find in the deep waters where they live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve been working for six to seven years to find loner abalone along the coast,” says fish biologist \u003ca href=\"http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/restoration/connection/davewitting.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dave Witting\u003c/a> from the \u003ca href=\"http://www.noaa.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1484296\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 346px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1484296\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660.jpg\" alt='A wild white abalone was covered in so much algae that scientists say he was \"extremely hard\" to find.' width=\"346\" height=\"342\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660.jpg 1000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-160x158.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-800x789.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-768x757.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-960x947.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-240x237.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-375x370.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-520x513.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-32x32.jpg 32w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-50x50.jpg 50w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-64x64.jpg 64w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-96x96.jpg 96w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-128x128.jpg 128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 346px) 100vw, 346px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A wild white abalone was covered in so much algae that scientists say he was “extremely hard” to find. \u003ccite>(Maggie Carson Jurow)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We spoke to old abalone divers who are long retired now, but, basically we picked their brains and found some locations,” says Witting, who collected the male abalone that Aquilino drove to Bodega Marine Lab. “\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He was extremely hard to find,” says Witting. “\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It looked like a fuzzy rock.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not only was the abalone difficult to spot, but Witting needed a special Endangered Species Act permit to collect him—a permit that took two years to acquire. So the animal’s arrival at Bodega Marine Lab was historic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a big moment,” said Aquilino. “They will go extinct in 10 to 15 years if there’s not a program to place them back in the wild.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aquilino gingerly placed the snail inside a bright blue bucket at the lab, where her 12-person research team runs a captive breeding program to protect white abalone from dying off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like all new abalone that arrive, he received a nickname: abalone 314 or “Pi.” Researchers were hoping Pi’s arrival would introduce new DNA into the aging captive population, creating stronger offspring with more genetic diversity—and a better chance for survival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1427858\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1427858\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey.jpg\" alt=\"A free diver searches for abalone off the California coast.\" width=\"1000\" height=\"665\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey.jpg 1000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey-960x638.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey-375x249.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey-520x346.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A free diver searches for abalone off the California coast. \u003ccite>(Ken Bailey)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Path to Extinction\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>White abalone was once a delicacy at California seafood restaurants, the most highly prized of all abalone species for its soft meat. Then it disappeared from menus in 1993 when the fishery was closed due to overfishing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Abalone-Worldwide-Haliotidae-Daniel-Geiger/dp/3939767433\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Buzz Owen\u003c/a>, a retired commercial and recreational abalone diver, recalls his abundant abalone catches back in the ’50s and ’60s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was no limit on the number you could take,” says Owen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My record was in 1961. After diving for nine hours near Catalina Island when I caught 83 dozen including some whites and greens and pinks. “That didn’t even dent this population.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1483445\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 768px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1483445\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Abalone_shell_pile.png\" alt=\"These abalone shells in Monterey, California on September 5, 1930 sit outside a market after the tender meat was removed. White was so popular that it was nearly eaten to extinction.\" width=\"768\" height=\"546\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Abalone_shell_pile.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Abalone_shell_pile-160x114.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Abalone_shell_pile-240x171.png 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Abalone_shell_pile-375x267.png 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Abalone_shell_pile-520x370.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">White abalone was so popular that it was nearly eaten to extinction. These shells sit outside a Monterey market in 1930. \u003ccite>(Richard S. Crocker/Online Archive of California)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Size limits on what divers could catch were intended to protect abalone so they could mature and reproduce. But it wasn’t enough to prevent the numbers from dwindling to a crisis point. The scattered survivors were too far apart for their ejected sperm and eggs to mingle, so spawning was rarely successful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The government eventually realized closing the fishery wasn’t enough, so they made collection of all abalone a federal crime in 1997. (One exception for abalone diving remains: there’s still a legal, recreational red abalone fishery north of San Francisco.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then in 2001, white abalone became the first marine invertebrate to receive federal protection as an endangered species after the population had declined by almost \u003ca href=\"http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pr/species/esa/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">99 percent\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The success—or failure—of white abalone now depends on the breeding program at the Bodega Lab, and six other organizations, including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California Department of Fish and Wildlife\u003c/a> and NOAA, that support the effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the first captive breeding attempt at UC Santa Barbara in 2001, the parent abalone created 100,000 juveniles, but almost all of them died due to a fatal wasting disease called withering syndrome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2003, the \u003ca href=\"http://cimwi.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Channel Islands Marine Resource Institute\u003c/a> in Santa Barbara bred the abalone again and after the Bodega lab received a permit in 2011, it bred animals in 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Captive breeding was finally turning a corner. Between 2012 and 2014, the number of abalone that survived to be juveniles increased threefold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[gallery type=\"rectangular\" size=\"medium\" ids=\"1483442,1484303,1484302\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are now 8,000 juveniles living in captivity at Bodega’s lab. They haven’t been released into the wild yet because scientists still need to test methods for introduction into the ocean—an environment the animals have never experienced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re in a make-or-break situation right now with the wild population,” says Aquilino.\u003cb> \u003c/b>“We put them in this mess, so it’s up to us to save them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>New Abalone Brings Hope \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Pi arrived at the Bodega Lab, Aquilino was excited about breeding him in March. White abalone only spawn once a year so timing is critical. It would be the first breeding of a newly collected abalone in more than a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even hopeful stories don’t always turn out to be happy ones. In early February, 15 weeks after Pi’s arrival to Bodega, Aquilino sent an email with “cruddy news.” He didn’t survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">By 2019, scientists may be ready to release of thousands of young white abalone into the wild.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know why,” she later explained over the phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was obviously very sudden and unexpected. He looked fine on Tuesday and then a day later he was no longer holding on to the side of the tank.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In late February, Jim Moore, a California Department of Fish and Wildlife shellfish health expert, examined the animal’s tissue, and says “Pi” may have developed a foot infection, though he couldn’t be sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We may never be able to pinpoint cause of death, that is just the way it is sometimes,” says Moore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there was some good news for Aquilino and her team. A female white abalone recently captured off the coast of Southern California arrived at the Bodega lab just before Pi’s death—just in time for breeding. They named her “Green 312.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was one of 13 animals that successfully spawned on March 1. For the scientists, it was a big deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1483453 alignright\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Map_partial.jpeg\" alt=\"Map_partial\" width=\"370\" height=\"407\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Map_partial.jpeg 680w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Map_partial-160x176.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Map_partial-240x264.jpeg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Map_partial-375x413.jpeg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Map_partial-520x572.jpeg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 370px) 100vw, 370px\">“\u003cem>Pretty cool that there are new genes in the program for the first time in 14 years!!!\u003c/em>” Aquilino said in an email to colleagues a day after the event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Green 312 and four other female abalone from the original captive group produced about 14 million eggs. By the next morning, scientists woke up to find millions of embryos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was lucky enough to witness one of the embryos from the wild female hatching under the scope this morning, Aquilino wrote, “which was a first for me and super duper exciting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bodega Marine Lab and six other agencies have a \u003ca href=\"http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/stories/2016/02/docs/white__abalone_spotlight_species_5_year_action_plan_final_web.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">five-year plan\u003c/a> and expect to be ready in about two years for a release of thousands of young white abalone into the wild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We now have enough captive white abalone to start testing the best methods for reintroduction to the wild once a permit is in place,” says Aquilino, “and we’re hopeful.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "On the brink of extinction, white abalone get another chance inside a Northern California science lab.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">O\u003c/span>n a rainy winter evening, biologist \u003ca href=\"http://kristinaquilino.weebly.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kristin Aquilino\u003c/a> was rummaging through the trunk of her pickup truck in the \u003ca href=\"http://bml.ucdavis.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bodega Marine Lab\u003c/a> parking lot. She was looking for a rubber spatula—a tool she needed to pry a recently captured white abalone from inside an ice chest brimming with seawater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aquilino had driven the rare animal 385 miles from Los Angeles, where it was captured off the coast, and where small numbers of this endangered species can still be found. She was about to introduce the 7-inch marine snail to its new home, a research facility at UC Davis’ Bodega Marine Lab in Bodega Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1483680\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1483680\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656.jpg\" alt=\"Kristen Aquilino searches for a spatula so she can remove a wild-caught white abalone from inside a cooler that transported the animal from Los Angeles to San Francisco.\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656.jpg 1000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5656-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kristen Aquilino searches for a spatula so she can remove a wild-caught white abalone from inside a cooler that transported the animal from Los Angeles to San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Maggie Carson Jurow)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now Aquilino had the unenviable task of trying to pry loose the creature’s squishy orange foot without injuring it. Any nick to this male abalone’s flesh, or chip to its shell, could cause the snail to bleed uncontrollably since its fluid doesn’t clot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been studying these animals for years and this is one of the few wild white abalone I’ve seen,” says Aquilino, an abalone expert at the Bodega Marine Lab.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because there are more white abalone living in captivity than there are in the wild. And the mollusk suctioning Aquilino’s hands is the first wild white abalone scientists have collected from the ocean in more than a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These rare creatures are incredibly difficult for divers to find in the deep waters where they live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve been working for six to seven years to find loner abalone along the coast,” says fish biologist \u003ca href=\"http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/restoration/connection/davewitting.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dave Witting\u003c/a> from the \u003ca href=\"http://www.noaa.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1484296\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 346px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1484296\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660.jpg\" alt='A wild white abalone was covered in so much algae that scientists say he was \"extremely hard\" to find.' width=\"346\" height=\"342\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660.jpg 1000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-160x158.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-800x789.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-768x757.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-960x947.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-240x237.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-375x370.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-520x513.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-32x32.jpg 32w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-50x50.jpg 50w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-64x64.jpg 64w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-96x96.jpg 96w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/maggie-carson-jurow-npr-5660-128x128.jpg 128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 346px) 100vw, 346px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A wild white abalone was covered in so much algae that scientists say he was “extremely hard” to find. \u003ccite>(Maggie Carson Jurow)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We spoke to old abalone divers who are long retired now, but, basically we picked their brains and found some locations,” says Witting, who collected the male abalone that Aquilino drove to Bodega Marine Lab. “\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He was extremely hard to find,” says Witting. “\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It looked like a fuzzy rock.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not only was the abalone difficult to spot, but Witting needed a special Endangered Species Act permit to collect him—a permit that took two years to acquire. So the animal’s arrival at Bodega Marine Lab was historic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a big moment,” said Aquilino. “They will go extinct in 10 to 15 years if there’s not a program to place them back in the wild.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aquilino gingerly placed the snail inside a bright blue bucket at the lab, where her 12-person research team runs a captive breeding program to protect white abalone from dying off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like all new abalone that arrive, he received a nickname: abalone 314 or “Pi.” Researchers were hoping Pi’s arrival would introduce new DNA into the aging captive population, creating stronger offspring with more genetic diversity—and a better chance for survival.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1427858\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1427858\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey.jpg\" alt=\"A free diver searches for abalone off the California coast.\" width=\"1000\" height=\"665\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey.jpg 1000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey-960x638.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey-375x249.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/02/abalone_ken-bailey-520x346.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A free diver searches for abalone off the California coast. \u003ccite>(Ken Bailey)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Path to Extinction\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>White abalone was once a delicacy at California seafood restaurants, the most highly prized of all abalone species for its soft meat. Then it disappeared from menus in 1993 when the fishery was closed due to overfishing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Abalone-Worldwide-Haliotidae-Daniel-Geiger/dp/3939767433\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Buzz Owen\u003c/a>, a retired commercial and recreational abalone diver, recalls his abundant abalone catches back in the ’50s and ’60s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was no limit on the number you could take,” says Owen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My record was in 1961. After diving for nine hours near Catalina Island when I caught 83 dozen including some whites and greens and pinks. “That didn’t even dent this population.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1483445\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 768px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1483445\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Abalone_shell_pile.png\" alt=\"These abalone shells in Monterey, California on September 5, 1930 sit outside a market after the tender meat was removed. White was so popular that it was nearly eaten to extinction.\" width=\"768\" height=\"546\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Abalone_shell_pile.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Abalone_shell_pile-160x114.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Abalone_shell_pile-240x171.png 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Abalone_shell_pile-375x267.png 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Abalone_shell_pile-520x370.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">White abalone was so popular that it was nearly eaten to extinction. These shells sit outside a Monterey market in 1930. \u003ccite>(Richard S. Crocker/Online Archive of California)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Size limits on what divers could catch were intended to protect abalone so they could mature and reproduce. But it wasn’t enough to prevent the numbers from dwindling to a crisis point. The scattered survivors were too far apart for their ejected sperm and eggs to mingle, so spawning was rarely successful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The government eventually realized closing the fishery wasn’t enough, so they made collection of all abalone a federal crime in 1997. (One exception for abalone diving remains: there’s still a legal, recreational red abalone fishery north of San Francisco.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then in 2001, white abalone became the first marine invertebrate to receive federal protection as an endangered species after the population had declined by almost \u003ca href=\"http://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/pr/species/esa/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">99 percent\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The success—or failure—of white abalone now depends on the breeding program at the Bodega Lab, and six other organizations, including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California Department of Fish and Wildlife\u003c/a> and NOAA, that support the effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the first captive breeding attempt at UC Santa Barbara in 2001, the parent abalone created 100,000 juveniles, but almost all of them died due to a fatal wasting disease called withering syndrome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2003, the \u003ca href=\"http://cimwi.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Channel Islands Marine Resource Institute\u003c/a> in Santa Barbara bred the abalone again and after the Bodega lab received a permit in 2011, it bred animals in 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Captive breeding was finally turning a corner. Between 2012 and 2014, the number of abalone that survived to be juveniles increased threefold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are now 8,000 juveniles living in captivity at Bodega’s lab. They haven’t been released into the wild yet because scientists still need to test methods for introduction into the ocean—an environment the animals have never experienced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re in a make-or-break situation right now with the wild population,” says Aquilino.\u003cb> \u003c/b>“We put them in this mess, so it’s up to us to save them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>New Abalone Brings Hope \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Pi arrived at the Bodega Lab, Aquilino was excited about breeding him in March. White abalone only spawn once a year so timing is critical. It would be the first breeding of a newly collected abalone in more than a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even hopeful stories don’t always turn out to be happy ones. In early February, 15 weeks after Pi’s arrival to Bodega, Aquilino sent an email with “cruddy news.” He didn’t survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">By 2019, scientists may be ready to release of thousands of young white abalone into the wild.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know why,” she later explained over the phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was obviously very sudden and unexpected. He looked fine on Tuesday and then a day later he was no longer holding on to the side of the tank.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In late February, Jim Moore, a California Department of Fish and Wildlife shellfish health expert, examined the animal’s tissue, and says “Pi” may have developed a foot infection, though he couldn’t be sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We may never be able to pinpoint cause of death, that is just the way it is sometimes,” says Moore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there was some good news for Aquilino and her team. A female white abalone recently captured off the coast of Southern California arrived at the Bodega lab just before Pi’s death—just in time for breeding. They named her “Green 312.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was one of 13 animals that successfully spawned on March 1. For the scientists, it was a big deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1483453 alignright\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Map_partial.jpeg\" alt=\"Map_partial\" width=\"370\" height=\"407\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Map_partial.jpeg 680w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Map_partial-160x176.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Map_partial-240x264.jpeg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Map_partial-375x413.jpeg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2017/03/Map_partial-520x572.jpeg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 370px) 100vw, 370px\">“\u003cem>Pretty cool that there are new genes in the program for the first time in 14 years!!!\u003c/em>” Aquilino said in an email to colleagues a day after the event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Green 312 and four other female abalone from the original captive group produced about 14 million eggs. By the next morning, scientists woke up to find millions of embryos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was lucky enough to witness one of the embryos from the wild female hatching under the scope this morning, Aquilino wrote, “which was a first for me and super duper exciting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bodega Marine Lab and six other agencies have a \u003ca href=\"http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/stories/2016/02/docs/white__abalone_spotlight_species_5_year_action_plan_final_web.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">five-year plan\u003c/a> and expect to be ready in about two years for a release of thousands of young white abalone into the wild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We now have enough captive white abalone to start testing the best methods for reintroduction to the wild once a permit is in place,” says Aquilino, “and we’re hopeful.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-deserts-in-super-bloom-thanks-to-a-wet-winter",
"title": "California Deserts in 'Super Bloom' Thanks to a Wet Winter",
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"content": "\u003cp>In some parts of the country, cold weather is threatening crops. Meanwhile, California has been so unseasonably wet that its deserts are experiencing what’s called a “super bloom.” After years of drought, the normally arid desert is lush.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just looks like a sea of flowers,” says Janet Gordon, a geologist from Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11363737\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11363737\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/2017-03-17_superbloom_ngregory-5-of-5-3536f7f53c5b7ef4f6e081cf93775891c11c9a73-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Visitors have flocked from as far as Asia and Africa to see the rare floral bloom in the California desert.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Visitors have flocked from as far as Asia and Africa to see the rare floral bloom in the California desert. \u003ccite>(Nina Gregory/NPR )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You got purple, red, yellows and blues,” adds Joe Sheidness, visiting from San Diego.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s fantastic,” says Dennis Brian, from Reno, Nevada, who says he was a flower child in the 1960s. “You don’t see this very often. The little flowers look so delicate, but yet they’re prolific. They’re everywhere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s neat to see so much color on something that’s usually so tan and stone color with all the rocks,” says Andrea Smith, who brought her 16-month-old baby here in the 90-degree heat at high noon on Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These were just a few of the many people flocking to see the colors blanketing the hills and valleys of Anza-Borrego. It is California’s largest state park, in the desert south of Palm Springs, a nearly four-hour car drive from Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Visitors are coming from as far as Europe, Africa and Asia. This super bloom is so rare, so special, that looky-loos are causing traffic jams, getting lost in the hillsides and fainting from dehydration — just to take in the beauty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11363739\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11363739 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/triptych-layout-03_custom-1a5f360e18886782bcd8d9cb89a044a4142d89da-800x863.jpg\" alt=' California has been so unseasonably wet, its deserts are experiencing a \"super bloom.\" After years of drought, the desert is lush.' width=\"800\" height=\"863\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"> California has been so unseasonably wet that its deserts are experiencing a “super bloom.” After years of drought, the desert is lush. \u003ccite>(Nina Gregory/NPR )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m looking at a whole field of this bluish-purple phacelia. And in this foreground of the Coyote Mountains, that’s nothing but poppies going 5, 6 miles up canyon,” says park ranger Steve Bier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says this is a really big deal; there are flowers in places where you usually don’t see them, like in the badlands that are home to snakes and bobcats and coyotes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11363738\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11363738 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/2017-03-17_superbloom_ngregory-1-of-1-c8a15daaf10f1e6ea3cacb9f53e9771b68d67b81-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Park Ranger Steve Bier says this year's conditions were perfect for such a phenomenon: long steady rain throughout the winter — a remarkable 6 inches in all here -- that soaked into the gro\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Park Ranger Steve Bier says this year’s conditions were perfect for such a phenomenon: long steady rain throughout the winter — a remarkable 6 inches in all here — that soaked into the ground. \u003ccite>(Nina Gregory/NPR )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There are desert sunflowers and dune evening primrose, sand verbena, ghost flowers, monkey flowers, and wild Canterbury bells. The Ocotillo and Beavertail cactus are beginning to bloom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bier says this year’s conditions were perfect for such a phenomenon: long steady rain throughout the winter — a remarkable 6 inches in all here — that soaked into the ground. And temperatures that were not too hot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of these seeds have been underground for maybe decades, if not a century or more. We just don’t know,” he says. “Some of these places have not seen water in 10, 15, 20 years, and now they’re a blanket of flowers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, they are survivors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have to be tough to be out in the desert. That’s for sure,” Bier says. “And these are an ephemeral resource, so what you’re looking at today could be gone tomorrow. It just depends on how hot we get today, and how hungry the caterpillars get.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11363741\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11363741\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-800x450.jpg\" alt='Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in Southern California is having a rare \"super bloom.\"' width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-520x292.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in Southern California is having a rare “super bloom.” \u003ccite>(Flickr user Kyle Magnuson/Flickr Creative Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bier says anyone who wants to see this super bloom had better get there before those sphinx moth caterpillars eat up all the flowers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Don’t forget your camera, sunscreen and water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lots of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "A rainy winter has brought an early spring to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in Southern California. Wildflowers are in bloom. How can seeds survive years of drought and then put on such a display?",
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"title": "California Deserts in 'Super Bloom' Thanks to a Wet Winter | KQED",
"description": "A rainy winter has brought an early spring to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in Southern California. Wildflowers are in bloom. How can seeds survive years of drought and then put on such a display?",
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"headline": "California Deserts in 'Super Bloom' Thanks to a Wet Winter",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In some parts of the country, cold weather is threatening crops. Meanwhile, California has been so unseasonably wet that its deserts are experiencing what’s called a “super bloom.” After years of drought, the normally arid desert is lush.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just looks like a sea of flowers,” says Janet Gordon, a geologist from Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11363737\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11363737\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/2017-03-17_superbloom_ngregory-5-of-5-3536f7f53c5b7ef4f6e081cf93775891c11c9a73-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Visitors have flocked from as far as Asia and Africa to see the rare floral bloom in the California desert.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Visitors have flocked from as far as Asia and Africa to see the rare floral bloom in the California desert. \u003ccite>(Nina Gregory/NPR )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You got purple, red, yellows and blues,” adds Joe Sheidness, visiting from San Diego.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s fantastic,” says Dennis Brian, from Reno, Nevada, who says he was a flower child in the 1960s. “You don’t see this very often. The little flowers look so delicate, but yet they’re prolific. They’re everywhere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s neat to see so much color on something that’s usually so tan and stone color with all the rocks,” says Andrea Smith, who brought her 16-month-old baby here in the 90-degree heat at high noon on Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These were just a few of the many people flocking to see the colors blanketing the hills and valleys of Anza-Borrego. It is California’s largest state park, in the desert south of Palm Springs, a nearly four-hour car drive from Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Visitors are coming from as far as Europe, Africa and Asia. This super bloom is so rare, so special, that looky-loos are causing traffic jams, getting lost in the hillsides and fainting from dehydration — just to take in the beauty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11363739\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11363739 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/triptych-layout-03_custom-1a5f360e18886782bcd8d9cb89a044a4142d89da-800x863.jpg\" alt=' California has been so unseasonably wet, its deserts are experiencing a \"super bloom.\" After years of drought, the desert is lush.' width=\"800\" height=\"863\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"> California has been so unseasonably wet that its deserts are experiencing a “super bloom.” After years of drought, the desert is lush. \u003ccite>(Nina Gregory/NPR )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m looking at a whole field of this bluish-purple phacelia. And in this foreground of the Coyote Mountains, that’s nothing but poppies going 5, 6 miles up canyon,” says park ranger Steve Bier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says this is a really big deal; there are flowers in places where you usually don’t see them, like in the badlands that are home to snakes and bobcats and coyotes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11363738\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11363738 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/2017-03-17_superbloom_ngregory-1-of-1-c8a15daaf10f1e6ea3cacb9f53e9771b68d67b81-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Park Ranger Steve Bier says this year's conditions were perfect for such a phenomenon: long steady rain throughout the winter — a remarkable 6 inches in all here -- that soaked into the gro\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Park Ranger Steve Bier says this year’s conditions were perfect for such a phenomenon: long steady rain throughout the winter — a remarkable 6 inches in all here — that soaked into the ground. \u003ccite>(Nina Gregory/NPR )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There are desert sunflowers and dune evening primrose, sand verbena, ghost flowers, monkey flowers, and wild Canterbury bells. The Ocotillo and Beavertail cactus are beginning to bloom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bier says this year’s conditions were perfect for such a phenomenon: long steady rain throughout the winter — a remarkable 6 inches in all here — that soaked into the ground. And temperatures that were not too hot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of these seeds have been underground for maybe decades, if not a century or more. We just don’t know,” he says. “Some of these places have not seen water in 10, 15, 20 years, and now they’re a blanket of flowers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, they are survivors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have to be tough to be out in the desert. That’s for sure,” Bier says. “And these are an ephemeral resource, so what you’re looking at today could be gone tomorrow. It just depends on how hot we get today, and how hungry the caterpillars get.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11363741\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11363741\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-800x450.jpg\" alt='Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in Southern California is having a rare \"super bloom.\"' width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/03/33273416002_5b4801fa38_o_wide-e2b3e421e2f9cf3db750139b3afc7cfcff0dd48d-520x292.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in Southern California is having a rare “super bloom.” \u003ccite>(Flickr user Kyle Magnuson/Flickr Creative Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bier says anyone who wants to see this super bloom had better get there before those sphinx moth caterpillars eat up all the flowers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Don’t forget your camera, sunscreen and water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lots of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Bay Area Lawmakers Outraged Over Trump's Push to Eliminate Federal Refinery Regulator",
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"content": "\u003cp>Local leaders and health officials in Contra Costa County, home to four oil refineries, are blasting a part of President Trump's budget that calls for cutting all money for the federal agency that investigates chemical accidents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump's spending plan aims to eliminate funding for the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), which has conducted hundreds of probes, including one into the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency gained prominent attention in the Bay Area when it investigated the 2012 fire at Chevron's Richmond refinery that prompted 15,000 people to seek medical treatment for breathing problems. The Chevron incident prompted the board to \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/16/chevron-fire-report/\" target=\"_blank\">call for changes\u003c/a> in how California oversees its oil refineries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year the agency \u003ca href=\"http://www.csb.gov/csb-releases-final-report-on-facility-safety-culture-following-a-series-of-sulfuric-acid-releases-at-the-tesoro-martinez-refinery-in-california/\" target=\"_blank\">blamed Tesoro\u003c/a> for two major acid releases that injured four workers at the company's Martinez refinery in 2014.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's just crazy, like the rest of the budget,\" said Contra Costa County congressman Mark DeSaulnier in an interview Friday. \"It's counterproductive to public health, to the environment and to business.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chemical safety board's annual budget is about $12 million. It's among a number of independent agencies the president is looking to kill. \"The budget eliminates hundreds of programs and focuses funding to redefine the proper role of the federal government,\" Trump's budget \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/2017/03/16/520379061/read-president-trumps-budget-blueprint\">blueprint \u003c/a>states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DeSaulnier was among a number of federal legislators who pressured former CSB chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso to resign in 2015 amid management problems at the agency. Since then, DeSaulnier said, the board had made significant strides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>House Democrats and Republicans will work to save the agency, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If they don't, the region will be in trouble, according to Contra Costa County's chief environmental health and hazardous materials officer, Randy Sawyer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"If Congress approves the defunding of the Chemical Safety Board, the public and the workers at the refining and chemical facilities will lose,\" said Sawyer, whose office audits local refineries and responds to facility malfunctions, in an email. \"I also believe the chemical industry will be the biggest loser.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry group that represents oil refineries in California is taking a wait-and-see approach to the president's proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"These are issues that we are monitoring closely,\" said Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association in an emailed statement. \"Our member companies believe in transparency and operate in an environment that is highly regulated by federal, state and local agencies.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked for reaction to the proposal, a Chevron spokesman deferred to the American Petroleum Institute, which has yet to respond to requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a Tesoro official rejected the idea of eliminating the board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The industry does not support the abolition of the agency,\" Stephen Brown, vice president of federal affairs at the company, told \u003ca href=\"https://www.bna.com/cutting-chemical-safety-n57982085347/\" target=\"_blank\">Bloomberg\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the chemical board goes away, local and state regulators will have to fill a void in regulation, according to Contra Costa Supervisor John Gioia, who represents the area of Chevron's Richmond refinery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We will step up our own investigations if the U.S. Chemical Safety Board is not around,\" Gioia said in an interview Friday. \"It will mean greater resources spent by local and state agencies to replace the work that the board has done.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The critique from environmentalists is more harsh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The Chemical Safety Board saves lives and holds dangerous facilities accountable,\" said Maya Golden-Krasner, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Millions of Californians live near refineries where life-threatening explosions and chemical releases are not uncommon,\" Golden-Krasner said. \"Without the board's oversight, the root causes and full extent of accidents that we've seen at Chevron and other refineries most likely would never be known.\"\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Local leaders and health officials in Contra Costa County, home to four oil refineries, are blasting a part of President Trump's budget that calls for cutting all money for the federal agency that investigates chemical accidents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump's spending plan aims to eliminate funding for the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), which has conducted hundreds of probes, including one into the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency gained prominent attention in the Bay Area when it investigated the 2012 fire at Chevron's Richmond refinery that prompted 15,000 people to seek medical treatment for breathing problems. The Chevron incident prompted the board to \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2013/12/16/chevron-fire-report/\" target=\"_blank\">call for changes\u003c/a> in how California oversees its oil refineries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year the agency \u003ca href=\"http://www.csb.gov/csb-releases-final-report-on-facility-safety-culture-following-a-series-of-sulfuric-acid-releases-at-the-tesoro-martinez-refinery-in-california/\" target=\"_blank\">blamed Tesoro\u003c/a> for two major acid releases that injured four workers at the company's Martinez refinery in 2014.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's just crazy, like the rest of the budget,\" said Contra Costa County congressman Mark DeSaulnier in an interview Friday. \"It's counterproductive to public health, to the environment and to business.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chemical safety board's annual budget is about $12 million. It's among a number of independent agencies the president is looking to kill. \"The budget eliminates hundreds of programs and focuses funding to redefine the proper role of the federal government,\" Trump's budget \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/2017/03/16/520379061/read-president-trumps-budget-blueprint\">blueprint \u003c/a>states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DeSaulnier was among a number of federal legislators who pressured former CSB chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso to resign in 2015 amid management problems at the agency. Since then, DeSaulnier said, the board had made significant strides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>House Democrats and Republicans will work to save the agency, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If they don't, the region will be in trouble, according to Contra Costa County's chief environmental health and hazardous materials officer, Randy Sawyer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"If Congress approves the defunding of the Chemical Safety Board, the public and the workers at the refining and chemical facilities will lose,\" said Sawyer, whose office audits local refineries and responds to facility malfunctions, in an email. \"I also believe the chemical industry will be the biggest loser.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The industry group that represents oil refineries in California is taking a wait-and-see approach to the president's proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"These are issues that we are monitoring closely,\" said Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association in an emailed statement. \"Our member companies believe in transparency and operate in an environment that is highly regulated by federal, state and local agencies.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked for reaction to the proposal, a Chevron spokesman deferred to the American Petroleum Institute, which has yet to respond to requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a Tesoro official rejected the idea of eliminating the board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The industry does not support the abolition of the agency,\" Stephen Brown, vice president of federal affairs at the company, told \u003ca href=\"https://www.bna.com/cutting-chemical-safety-n57982085347/\" target=\"_blank\">Bloomberg\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the chemical board goes away, local and state regulators will have to fill a void in regulation, according to Contra Costa Supervisor John Gioia, who represents the area of Chevron's Richmond refinery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We will step up our own investigations if the U.S. Chemical Safety Board is not around,\" Gioia said in an interview Friday. \"It will mean greater resources spent by local and state agencies to replace the work that the board has done.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The critique from environmentalists is more harsh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The Chemical Safety Board saves lives and holds dangerous facilities accountable,\" said Maya Golden-Krasner, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Millions of Californians live near refineries where life-threatening explosions and chemical releases are not uncommon,\" Golden-Krasner said. \"Without the board's oversight, the root causes and full extent of accidents that we've seen at Chevron and other refineries most likely would never be known.\"\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>State regulators are moving to bar from working in California the private contractor that employed a bulldozer operator killed in the costliest wildfire in U.S. history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Contractors State License Board (CSLB) announced Wednesday that Czirban Concrete Construction violated \u003ca href=\"https://www2.cslb.ca.gov/OnlineServices/CheckLicenseII/ComplaintViolationDisclosure.aspx?LicType=LIC&LicNum=943528&LmfPre=&Region=H&District=T&FiscalYear=2016&SeqNbr=1700&ActionCde=&StatusDt=03/15/2017&Status=INVEST%20OF%20PROBABLE%20VIOLATION&LicName=CZIRBAN+CONCRETE+CONSTRUCTION&CaseRegion=&CaseFiscalYear=0&CaseSeqNbr=0\" target=\"_blank\">three state regulations\u003c/a> in connection with its work on the Soberanes Fire in Monterey County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Czirban lied about whether it had employees, the board alleges, getting around a requirement that it offer workers' compensation insurance. The company was not permitted to be involved in firefighting, according to CSLB. Its license was solely for concrete work, not bulldozing fire lines, the agency said. And the death of the bulldozer operator, Robert Reagan, constitutes a cause for disciplinary action, CSLB spokesman Rick Lopes said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This is the first step toward revoking the company's license,\" Lopes said in an interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board's announcement came a day after KQED reported that California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/03/14/calosha-cites-contractors-over-soberanes-fire-casualties/\" target=\"_blank\">handed down five citations\u003c/a> to the Madera County firm that employed Reagan, who was killed on July 26, 2016, after the bulldozer he was driving near Big Sur tipped over and pinned him to the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA's investigation laid blame on Czirban for not ensuring that Reagan wear a seat belt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Monterey County District Attorney's Office is investigating Czirban as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We're investigating a possible workers' comp insurance violation against Czirban,\" said Berkley Brannon, the office's chief assistant district attorney, in an interview Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Czirban could face criminal charges, Brannon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reagan left behind a wife and two young children who could be hurt by the lack of workers' compensation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The fact that there's a potential that the family wouldn't have remedy, that's a very serious concern to us,\" Brannon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In its defense the company is arguing that Reagan was an employee of Cal Fire, according to Brannon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Czirban had its \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2016/08/02/employer-of-worker-killed-in-soberanes-fire-under-scrutiny/\" target=\"_blank\">license suspended eight times by the CSLB\u003c/a> in four years for a set of violations, many of them tied to workers' comp problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's particularly troubling that these people had been warned and actually been caught,\" Lopes said. \"That's particularly disturbing.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Czirban Concrete Construction has not responded to several requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Soberanes Fire burned more than 132,000 acres last summer and fall. Investigators say it was caused by an illegal campfire.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>State regulators are moving to bar from working in California the private contractor that employed a bulldozer operator killed in the costliest wildfire in U.S. history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Contractors State License Board (CSLB) announced Wednesday that Czirban Concrete Construction violated \u003ca href=\"https://www2.cslb.ca.gov/OnlineServices/CheckLicenseII/ComplaintViolationDisclosure.aspx?LicType=LIC&LicNum=943528&LmfPre=&Region=H&District=T&FiscalYear=2016&SeqNbr=1700&ActionCde=&StatusDt=03/15/2017&Status=INVEST%20OF%20PROBABLE%20VIOLATION&LicName=CZIRBAN+CONCRETE+CONSTRUCTION&CaseRegion=&CaseFiscalYear=0&CaseSeqNbr=0\" target=\"_blank\">three state regulations\u003c/a> in connection with its work on the Soberanes Fire in Monterey County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Czirban lied about whether it had employees, the board alleges, getting around a requirement that it offer workers' compensation insurance. The company was not permitted to be involved in firefighting, according to CSLB. Its license was solely for concrete work, not bulldozing fire lines, the agency said. And the death of the bulldozer operator, Robert Reagan, constitutes a cause for disciplinary action, CSLB spokesman Rick Lopes said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This is the first step toward revoking the company's license,\" Lopes said in an interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board's announcement came a day after KQED reported that California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/03/14/calosha-cites-contractors-over-soberanes-fire-casualties/\" target=\"_blank\">handed down five citations\u003c/a> to the Madera County firm that employed Reagan, who was killed on July 26, 2016, after the bulldozer he was driving near Big Sur tipped over and pinned him to the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA's investigation laid blame on Czirban for not ensuring that Reagan wear a seat belt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Monterey County District Attorney's Office is investigating Czirban as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We're investigating a possible workers' comp insurance violation against Czirban,\" said Berkley Brannon, the office's chief assistant district attorney, in an interview Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Czirban could face criminal charges, Brannon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reagan left behind a wife and two young children who could be hurt by the lack of workers' compensation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The fact that there's a potential that the family wouldn't have remedy, that's a very serious concern to us,\" Brannon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In its defense the company is arguing that Reagan was an employee of Cal Fire, according to Brannon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Czirban had its \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2016/08/02/employer-of-worker-killed-in-soberanes-fire-under-scrutiny/\" target=\"_blank\">license suspended eight times by the CSLB\u003c/a> in four years for a set of violations, many of them tied to workers' comp problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's particularly troubling that these people had been warned and actually been caught,\" Lopes said. \"That's particularly disturbing.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Czirban Concrete Construction has not responded to several requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Soberanes Fire burned more than 132,000 acres last summer and fall. Investigators say it was caused by an illegal campfire.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Standing outside the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, the president of the California Public Utilities Commission and staff held signs with a clear message for embattled climate scientists: “Fight Climate Change. Work for California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Picker, the CPUC president, made his appeal in the nation’s capital as President Trump \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/2017/03/16/520305293/trump-to-unveil-hard-power-budget-that-boosts-military-spending\">released his budget proposal\u003c/a> in which the EPA would face a 31 percent cut — from $8.2 billion in fiscal year 2017 to $5.7 billion in fiscal year 2018. It’s the largest cut among all Cabinet departments and major agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On climate action, there’s a dark cloud hanging over Washington right now,” Picker said in a statement. “If climate scientists and experts want the opportunity to continue doing important work for the good of our planet, my message is simple: Come West, California is hiring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The commission, plus the California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission, \u003ca href=\"http://cpuc.ca.gov/Picker/workforCA/\">are hiring\u003c/a> dozens of staff for jobs focusing on climate change, renewable energy, air quality and clean energy research and development, Picker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/PickerCPUC/status/841388679738273792\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cp>As state regulators weigh the immediate question about whether the \u003ca href=\"https://www.socalgas.com/stay-safe/pipeline-and-storage-safety/aliso-canyon-storage-facility1\">Aliso Canyon gas field \u003c/a>is safe to reopen, a longer-term debate is also emerging: Is the storage field even necessary to power the grid and keep the lights on?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Engineers plugged the largest gas leak and methane release in U.S. history about a year ago, after evacuations forced thousands of people from their homes in nearby Porter Ranch in north Los Angeles County. Citing health concerns, some of those residents say the field remains too risky to reopen. Their cries of protest echo at every public meeting: “Shut it all down, forever! Shut it all down, forever!”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘It’s not worth the risk of reopening the facility, based on the fact that we don’t need the capacity.’\u003ccite>Liza Tucker, Consumer Watchdog\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles County has backed the residents. Its lawyers have sued to keep Aliso Canyon closed until a fuller investigation of the leak’s cause is complete. And a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB57\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bill\u003c/a> now moving in Sacramento aims to require that root-cause analysis before gas is again pumped into the field.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One argument deployed frequently in battles among policymakers, regulators, the company and the public is that the field may not even be needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s time to let it rest,” says \u003ca href=\"http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Consumer Watchdog’s \u003c/a>Liza Tucker. “All of the indications so far demonstrate that it’s not critical. We’ve been able to meet demand with no problem by using the mitigation measures that the regulator has put into place. There are a number of them, and they were working beautifully.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”BmPSty2Rc75T9UnPaI5dWU9GWv56SyOy”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tucker points out that \u003ca href=\"https://www.socalgas.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SoCalGas\u003c/a> has balanced supply and demand through cold and warm weather, even as the company has reduced the amount of gas stored in the field to less than one-fifth the total capacity. “It’s not worth the risk of reopening the facility, based on the fact that we don’t need the capacity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But SoCalGas’s operations manager, Rodger Schwecke, asserts that the bigger risk is in keeping the gas field closed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It keeps me up at night wondering because a single day, a single incident could have a problem,” he told state legislators last month. “When you live on the edge, one small step and you can fall.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SoCalGas says that happened during a cold snap in January, when the company withdrew small amounts of gas from Aliso Canyon on two days. The company has said it couldn’t schedule enough gas through pipelines fast enough to meet peak demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An adviser to L.A. County is skeptical about that claim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was more gas scheduled [for delivery] on the prior two days than there were on those two days,“ says \u003ca href=\"http://www.eesconsulting.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">EES Consulting \u003c/a>project manager Steve Andersen, who has reviewed reports and data related to the field. “We don’t know why that is. We’d need more information from them to figure out that and to figure out if there was some hourly issues, something that happened within the day, that caused them to need to withdraw gas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental and watchdog groups have pressed the PUC for more information about that January cold snap. Hourly demand information is confidential, according to SoCalGas and its regulator. They won’t release it, though the California Public Utilities Commission says it is looking into the incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics also argue that SoCalGas can do more to reduce demand for gas, even on very hot and very cold days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the gas company isn’t alone in counseling caution: Regulators do, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”GRCM1qzytFAcdHHRa9ug2CQIFdvzQOye”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a hearing in Sacramento, the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/\">CPUC’\u003c/a>s energy division chief, Ed Randolph, pointed out that the small amount of gas at Aliso Canyon is under less pressure in the storage field, meaning, “You can withdraw less gas at any moment in time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Randolph suggested that, too, raises risks of brownouts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The other fear is if you have an extended heat wave and you’re withdrawing day after day after day, there’s no ability to reinject in the field, and then use that for a heat wave later in the summer,” Randolph says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With hot summer days looming, the CPUC is expected to once again weigh in on the risks for meeting weather-related energy demands — as it has this past winter and summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the state’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.conservation.ca.gov/dog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Department of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources\u003c/a>, in consultation with the CPUC, is considering whether it is safe for SoCalGas to reopen and operate about a third of the wells at the Aliso Canyon field.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The first decision we have to make is, based on the facts and the investments and the repairs that have been done, is the facility safe enough to open?” says CPUC Executive Director Tim Sullivan. “The second question is, does it make sense to have this facility here in the long run? And decisions in the short run have nothing to do with decisions in the long run.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CPUC is just beginning an investigation on whether Aliso Canyon is necessary, and if so, at what capacity. No answer is expected on that second question until at least the middle of next year.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"nprByline": "\u003cstrong>Molly Peterson\u003c/strong> ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As state regulators weigh the immediate question about whether the \u003ca href=\"https://www.socalgas.com/stay-safe/pipeline-and-storage-safety/aliso-canyon-storage-facility1\">Aliso Canyon gas field \u003c/a>is safe to reopen, a longer-term debate is also emerging: Is the storage field even necessary to power the grid and keep the lights on?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Engineers plugged the largest gas leak and methane release in U.S. history about a year ago, after evacuations forced thousands of people from their homes in nearby Porter Ranch in north Los Angeles County. Citing health concerns, some of those residents say the field remains too risky to reopen. Their cries of protest echo at every public meeting: “Shut it all down, forever! Shut it all down, forever!”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘It’s not worth the risk of reopening the facility, based on the fact that we don’t need the capacity.’\u003ccite>Liza Tucker, Consumer Watchdog\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles County has backed the residents. Its lawyers have sued to keep Aliso Canyon closed until a fuller investigation of the leak’s cause is complete. And a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB57\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bill\u003c/a> now moving in Sacramento aims to require that root-cause analysis before gas is again pumped into the field.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One argument deployed frequently in battles among policymakers, regulators, the company and the public is that the field may not even be needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s time to let it rest,” says \u003ca href=\"http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Consumer Watchdog’s \u003c/a>Liza Tucker. “All of the indications so far demonstrate that it’s not critical. We’ve been able to meet demand with no problem by using the mitigation measures that the regulator has put into place. There are a number of them, and they were working beautifully.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tucker points out that \u003ca href=\"https://www.socalgas.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SoCalGas\u003c/a> has balanced supply and demand through cold and warm weather, even as the company has reduced the amount of gas stored in the field to less than one-fifth the total capacity. “It’s not worth the risk of reopening the facility, based on the fact that we don’t need the capacity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But SoCalGas’s operations manager, Rodger Schwecke, asserts that the bigger risk is in keeping the gas field closed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It keeps me up at night wondering because a single day, a single incident could have a problem,” he told state legislators last month. “When you live on the edge, one small step and you can fall.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SoCalGas says that happened during a cold snap in January, when the company withdrew small amounts of gas from Aliso Canyon on two days. The company has said it couldn’t schedule enough gas through pipelines fast enough to meet peak demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An adviser to L.A. County is skeptical about that claim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was more gas scheduled [for delivery] on the prior two days than there were on those two days,“ says \u003ca href=\"http://www.eesconsulting.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">EES Consulting \u003c/a>project manager Steve Andersen, who has reviewed reports and data related to the field. “We don’t know why that is. We’d need more information from them to figure out that and to figure out if there was some hourly issues, something that happened within the day, that caused them to need to withdraw gas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental and watchdog groups have pressed the PUC for more information about that January cold snap. Hourly demand information is confidential, according to SoCalGas and its regulator. They won’t release it, though the California Public Utilities Commission says it is looking into the incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics also argue that SoCalGas can do more to reduce demand for gas, even on very hot and very cold days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the gas company isn’t alone in counseling caution: Regulators do, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a hearing in Sacramento, the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/\">CPUC’\u003c/a>s energy division chief, Ed Randolph, pointed out that the small amount of gas at Aliso Canyon is under less pressure in the storage field, meaning, “You can withdraw less gas at any moment in time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Randolph suggested that, too, raises risks of brownouts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The other fear is if you have an extended heat wave and you’re withdrawing day after day after day, there’s no ability to reinject in the field, and then use that for a heat wave later in the summer,” Randolph says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With hot summer days looming, the CPUC is expected to once again weigh in on the risks for meeting weather-related energy demands — as it has this past winter and summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the state’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.conservation.ca.gov/dog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Department of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources\u003c/a>, in consultation with the CPUC, is considering whether it is safe for SoCalGas to reopen and operate about a third of the wells at the Aliso Canyon field.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The first decision we have to make is, based on the facts and the investments and the repairs that have been done, is the facility safe enough to open?” says CPUC Executive Director Tim Sullivan. “The second question is, does it make sense to have this facility here in the long run? And decisions in the short run have nothing to do with decisions in the long run.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The CPUC is just beginning an investigation on whether Aliso Canyon is necessary, and if so, at what capacity. No answer is expected on that second question until at least the middle of next year.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>State officials say that it will take 30 to 45 days to repair damage detected this week at a key point in the state's system for shipping water from the Delta to farms in the San Joaquin Valley and to cities from Silicon Valley to Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Department of Water Resources says the damage, involving extensive underwater erosion around a concrete intake structure at Clifton Court Forebay in eastern Contra Costa County, should not result in an interruption of water deliveries to any of its many farm and city customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The forebay is a small reservoir that holds water to be pumped from the State Water Project's pumps into the California and South Bay aqueducts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem grows indirectly out of California's extraordinarily wet winter and resulting high flows down the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers into the Delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The State Water Project took the opportunity to run its Delta pumps full bore for weeks on end to ship water south. The resulting high flows are believed to have contributed to erosion around the concrete apron at the intake gates at the reservoir's southeastern corner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"What this erosion has done is undercut the apron where water flows across,\" said Doug Carlson, a DWR spokesman. \"We're going to be putting concrete into the area that's eroded over the next 30 to 45 days, hardening that and improving the apron.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That work won't begin until Thursday at the earliest, when the intake is completely shut down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carlson said because the State Water Project's reservoirs are close to full and demand for water is low because of the season's abundant rain, there should be no interruption of deliveries to the system's customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Luis Reservoir, shared by federal and state water projects, has reached its 2 million acre-foot capacity, in large part because of the aggressive earlier pumping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This is a perfect time to do this -- if you had to pick a time, it would be now,\" Carlson said. \"You don't like to have a problem like this, but when they do occur, it's convenient that they occur when demand is low and we can get in there and get the job done without any interruption to scheduled deliveries.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carlson also said that deliveries would continue through the South Bay Aqueduct, which supplies parts of Alameda and Santa Clara counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Clifton Court Forebay situation isn't as dire as the public safety emergency that arose last month at the State Water Project's Oroville Dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Damage to the dam's main spillway led to water flowing over an emergency weir. The resulting erosion triggered concerns that the emergency structure would collapse and unleash a wall of water down the Feather River. Those concerns led to a mass evacuation from the town of Oroville and other downstream communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Construction crews continue to do short-term reinforcement of Oroville Dam's spillway.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>State officials say that it will take 30 to 45 days to repair damage detected this week at a key point in the state's system for shipping water from the Delta to farms in the San Joaquin Valley and to cities from Silicon Valley to Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Department of Water Resources says the damage, involving extensive underwater erosion around a concrete intake structure at Clifton Court Forebay in eastern Contra Costa County, should not result in an interruption of water deliveries to any of its many farm and city customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The forebay is a small reservoir that holds water to be pumped from the State Water Project's pumps into the California and South Bay aqueducts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem grows indirectly out of California's extraordinarily wet winter and resulting high flows down the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers into the Delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The State Water Project took the opportunity to run its Delta pumps full bore for weeks on end to ship water south. The resulting high flows are believed to have contributed to erosion around the concrete apron at the intake gates at the reservoir's southeastern corner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"What this erosion has done is undercut the apron where water flows across,\" said Doug Carlson, a DWR spokesman. \"We're going to be putting concrete into the area that's eroded over the next 30 to 45 days, hardening that and improving the apron.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That work won't begin until Thursday at the earliest, when the intake is completely shut down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carlson said because the State Water Project's reservoirs are close to full and demand for water is low because of the season's abundant rain, there should be no interruption of deliveries to the system's customers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Luis Reservoir, shared by federal and state water projects, has reached its 2 million acre-foot capacity, in large part because of the aggressive earlier pumping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This is a perfect time to do this -- if you had to pick a time, it would be now,\" Carlson said. \"You don't like to have a problem like this, but when they do occur, it's convenient that they occur when demand is low and we can get in there and get the job done without any interruption to scheduled deliveries.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carlson also said that deliveries would continue through the South Bay Aqueduct, which supplies parts of Alameda and Santa Clara counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Clifton Court Forebay situation isn't as dire as the public safety emergency that arose last month at the State Water Project's Oroville Dam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Damage to the dam's main spillway led to water flowing over an emergency weir. The resulting erosion triggered concerns that the emergency structure would collapse and unleash a wall of water down the Feather River. Those concerns led to a mass evacuation from the town of Oroville and other downstream communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Construction crews continue to do short-term reinforcement of Oroville Dam's spillway.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "EPA Reopens U.S. Rules Setting Vehicle Efficiency Standards for 2025",
"headTitle": "EPA Reopens U.S. Rules Setting Vehicle Efficiency Standards for 2025 | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>U.S. automakers may not have to reach fuel efficiency standards that were set during President Obama’s administration, as the Environmental Protection Agency says it’s reopening a review of the rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Trump is expected to make that announcement Wednesday in meetings with auto industry executives and workers in Michigan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”0JXYQUHsmhBDgJWC1p7eT7p6Y8aBopSz”]In Washington, a senior White House official said the president wants to “set standards that are technologically feasible, economically feasible and allow the auto industry to grow and create jobs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/regulations-greenhouse-gas-emissions-passenger-cars-and\">The Obama-era rules\u003c/a> stemmed from an agreement the government reached in the summer of 2011, setting carbon dioxide emissions targets for passenger cars and light trucks that were equivalent to the industry’s fleet of achieving an average of 54.5 miles per gallon by the 2025 model year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reopening of the rules review comes after a request from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, an industry group that represents both domestic and foreign automakers. The group’s request came last month, after the confirmation of Scott Pruitt as EPA administrator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Changing the standards isn’t expected to be a simple process. Noting that an agreement usually includes the EPA, the Department of Transportation and the state of California, NPR’s Sonari Glinton reports about the regulations on today’s \u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is a question in here about whether these regulations were ‘final-final.’ But the White House wants to review them in 2018, and so do the automakers. And essentially there’s going to be a battle every inch of the way. Many environmental groups are just waiting to file suit. But to be clear, this is just whether to review a regulation — we’re not necessarily at the point of changing the fuel standards quite yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA is expected to attempt to roll back rules that the Obama administration formally unveiled in 2012, when it mandated nearly doubling gas efficiency by 2025. \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/2012/08/29/160225740/white-house-unveils-new-fuel-efficiency-standards\">As NPR reported\u003c/a>, those requirements were seen as “a rare example of industry agreeing to tough environmental regulations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the deal, the EPA had been scheduled to conduct a midterm review of the efficiency standards. After Democrats lost the presidency in last November’s election, the agency moved ahead with that review, issuing a proposed determination on Nov. 30 that triggered a 30-day public comment period. On Jan. 12, then-EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/midterm-evaluation-light-duty-vehicle-greenhouse-gas-ghg\">signed off on her final determination\u003c/a> that maintained the 2025 targets. In its letter to the EPA, \u003ca href=\"http://www-s4.npr.org/templates/story/bypassed%20required%20procedures\">the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said\u003c/a> the EPA had rushed to complete the review process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The senior White House official characterized Trump’s move as an attempt “to get this mid-term review back on track.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also said the administration is not seeking to withdraw a waiver allowing California to set its own higher emission standards. But he indicated that this issue could come up in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Obama-era agreement followed the federal bailout of General Motors and Chrysler; it also came at a time of high U.S. gas prices, when the average price per gallon topped $4 in some states. But \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/2016/01/08/462306313/is-obamas-hope-for-better-fuel-economy-sputtering-out\">as gas prices fell\u003c/a>, both consumers and automakers put less focus on maximizing fuel efficiency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New guidelines could give automakers more reasons to focus on gas-powered, rather than electric or hybrid, vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Electric cars are still heavily dependent on external regulations,” electric car advocate and automaker adviser Chelsea Sexton \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/2017/03/07/518956871/how-administration-regs-could-affect-the-future-of-the-electric-car\">told Sonari last week\u003c/a>. “And therefore most car companies are still offering very few numbers, limited capacity and range, and all those things, and not even nationwide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without federal regulations leading the way, Sexton says, there’s no guarantee that work on electric cars will continue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But other experts caution that whatever changes come, they won’t have an immediate effect. The EPA will need to hold a public review process, for instance. And then there’s the promise of legal battles — with environmental groups, and perhaps with California and other states that have set their own standards for emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What it’s going to do is, it’s going to throw the auto industry into chaos,” Roland Hwang, the Natural Resources Defense Council’s director of energy and transportation, tells Sonari, “because to unwind these standards will be a years-long battle in the courts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=EPA+Reopens+U.S.+Rules+Setting+Vehicle+Efficiency+Standards+For+2025&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>U.S. automakers may not have to reach fuel efficiency standards that were set during President Obama’s administration, as the Environmental Protection Agency says it’s reopening a review of the rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Trump is expected to make that announcement Wednesday in meetings with auto industry executives and workers in Michigan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>In Washington, a senior White House official said the president wants to “set standards that are technologically feasible, economically feasible and allow the auto industry to grow and create jobs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/regulations-greenhouse-gas-emissions-passenger-cars-and\">The Obama-era rules\u003c/a> stemmed from an agreement the government reached in the summer of 2011, setting carbon dioxide emissions targets for passenger cars and light trucks that were equivalent to the industry’s fleet of achieving an average of 54.5 miles per gallon by the 2025 model year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reopening of the rules review comes after a request from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, an industry group that represents both domestic and foreign automakers. The group’s request came last month, after the confirmation of Scott Pruitt as EPA administrator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Changing the standards isn’t expected to be a simple process. Noting that an agreement usually includes the EPA, the Department of Transportation and the state of California, NPR’s Sonari Glinton reports about the regulations on today’s \u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is a question in here about whether these regulations were ‘final-final.’ But the White House wants to review them in 2018, and so do the automakers. And essentially there’s going to be a battle every inch of the way. Many environmental groups are just waiting to file suit. But to be clear, this is just whether to review a regulation — we’re not necessarily at the point of changing the fuel standards quite yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA is expected to attempt to roll back rules that the Obama administration formally unveiled in 2012, when it mandated nearly doubling gas efficiency by 2025. \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/2012/08/29/160225740/white-house-unveils-new-fuel-efficiency-standards\">As NPR reported\u003c/a>, those requirements were seen as “a rare example of industry agreeing to tough environmental regulations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the deal, the EPA had been scheduled to conduct a midterm review of the efficiency standards. After Democrats lost the presidency in last November’s election, the agency moved ahead with that review, issuing a proposed determination on Nov. 30 that triggered a 30-day public comment period. On Jan. 12, then-EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/midterm-evaluation-light-duty-vehicle-greenhouse-gas-ghg\">signed off on her final determination\u003c/a> that maintained the 2025 targets. In its letter to the EPA, \u003ca href=\"http://www-s4.npr.org/templates/story/bypassed%20required%20procedures\">the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said\u003c/a> the EPA had rushed to complete the review process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The senior White House official characterized Trump’s move as an attempt “to get this mid-term review back on track.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also said the administration is not seeking to withdraw a waiver allowing California to set its own higher emission standards. But he indicated that this issue could come up in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Obama-era agreement followed the federal bailout of General Motors and Chrysler; it also came at a time of high U.S. gas prices, when the average price per gallon topped $4 in some states. But \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/2016/01/08/462306313/is-obamas-hope-for-better-fuel-economy-sputtering-out\">as gas prices fell\u003c/a>, both consumers and automakers put less focus on maximizing fuel efficiency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New guidelines could give automakers more reasons to focus on gas-powered, rather than electric or hybrid, vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Electric cars are still heavily dependent on external regulations,” electric car advocate and automaker adviser Chelsea Sexton \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/2017/03/07/518956871/how-administration-regs-could-affect-the-future-of-the-electric-car\">told Sonari last week\u003c/a>. “And therefore most car companies are still offering very few numbers, limited capacity and range, and all those things, and not even nationwide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without federal regulations leading the way, Sexton says, there’s no guarantee that work on electric cars will continue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But other experts caution that whatever changes come, they won’t have an immediate effect. The EPA will need to hold a public review process, for instance. And then there’s the promise of legal battles — with environmental groups, and perhaps with California and other states that have set their own standards for emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What it’s going to do is, it’s going to throw the auto industry into chaos,” Roland Hwang, the Natural Resources Defense Council’s director of energy and transportation, tells Sonari, “because to unwind these standards will be a years-long battle in the courts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=EPA+Reopens+U.S.+Rules+Setting+Vehicle+Efficiency+Standards+For+2025&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"marketplace": {
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
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"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. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
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"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
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"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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"snap-judgment": {
"id": "snap-judgment",
"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
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},
"soldout": {
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