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CapitalPress.com
October 27, 2017
California
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Flood control plan calls for further drawdown
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
OROVILLE, Calif. —
State water officials are stick-
ing with their plan to lower
Lake Oroville to below 700
feet in elevation this winter to
accommodate reconstruction
of the dam.
A flood operations plan for
the winter and spring calls for
the lake to be drawn down to
700 feet by Nov. 1 and for re-
leases to continue thereafter
so that crews can complete an
underground cut-off wall for
the emergency spillway by
January, officials said.
The lake’s surface was at
701 feet on Oct. 18, compared
to the average 780 feet ele-
vation maintained in mid-au-
tumn in previous years, ac-
cording to the Department of
Water Resources.
Releases will continue
“at a much slower rate,” said
John Leahigh, the State Water
Project’s chief of water opera-
tions. But he said nature usu-
ally takes over in determining
Albert Madrid/CDWR via AP
This Feb. 11, 2017, photo shows the main spillway, bottom, and an
auxiliary spillway of the Oroville Dam. The spillways were damaged
as managers released excess water from rainfall.
lake levels.
“If we continue to see dry
conditions, we’ll see the lake
be drafted down,” Leahigh
told the Capital Press during
a conference call with report-
ers. “As soon as we get some
significant rains, the first sev-
eral inches of rain is absorbed
into soil. But at a certain point
when we get enough rain,
we’ll start to see inflows.”
The flood plan will al-
low for inflows up to a cer-
tain point, depending on
the time of year, before the
DWR boosts releases into the
Feather River. For instance, if
storms push the lake to 848.5
feet at any point during the
winter, water will be released
at the rate of up to 100,000
cubic feet per second to bring
the surface down to 800 feet,
according to the plan.
The plan is consistent with
one the agency publicized
last summer to lower the lake
level to as low as 640 feet by
Dec. 31, raising the eyebrows
of Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Ca-
lif., whose district includes
the Oroville area.
LaMalfa argued that drain-
ing the lake that low would
leave only 850,000 acre-feet
in the lake with only about
100 days left in the winter to
fill it. The spillway gates ar-
en’t touched by water until
it reaches 813 feet, which is
2.35 million acre-feet of wa-
ter, he said.
But the lower level will
provide more than 2.2 million
acre-feet of flood reserve
storage to accommodate in-
flows during the rainy sea-
son and enable officials to
keep lake levels well below
901 feet, the level that would
require use of an emergency
spillway that is still under
construction, DWR spokes-
woman Erin Mellon said.
Lake Oroville is the main
reservoir for the State Water
Project, which irrigates more
than 600,000 acres of Central
Valley farmland and serves
20 million urban customers
in the San Francisco Bay area
and Southern California.
Asked if it would be possi-
ble for SWP contractors to re-
ceive a 100 percent allocation
next spring under the current
plan, Leahigh said full de-
liveries would be difficult to
achieve in any event.
“It’s too difficult to say at
this time” what the allocation
could be, he said. “It’s going
to depend on what kind of
snowpack we do see this win-
ter.”
He said the DWR’s No. 1
task will be to tailor its opera-
tion to the restoration work on
the spillway.
Crews are on track to
meet their self-imposed Nov.
1 deadline to finish the first
phase of a $275.4 million ef-
fort to repair and rebuild the
nation’s tallest dam’s spill-
ways, which were damaged
in February. The project is
expected to take two years to
complete.
The flood control plan
comes as a survey of down-
river residents by Assembly-
man James Gallagher, R-Yuba
City, found most are skeptical
of state water regulators’ abil-
ity to inspect and maintain the
earthen dam.
Most said they were more
concerned about potential
flaws in dam management
than they were about the pros-
pect of a terrorist strike on
the dam, which the DWR has
cited as a reason for withhold-
ing some information about
inspections.
More than 85 percent of
the 3,322 respondents said the
DWR should not be issued a
new 50-year Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission li-
cense to operate the dam until
the cause of the spillway col-
lapse has been identified and
safety concerns and down-
stream impacts are addressed,
according to the survey.
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY
RECRUITS “REAL MEN” TO
WEAR PINK AND FIGHT BACK
AGAINST BREAST CANCER
Real Men Wear Pink participant Danny Dwyer
with a young friend
Across the nation, and here in Oregon and SW Washington, we’ve
recruited men to fight breast cancer through our Real Men Wear Pink
campaign. These distinguished community leaders are determined to
raise awareness and money to support the American Cancer Society’s
mission and save more lives than ever before from breast cancer.
The 13 prominent men have taken a stand against breast cancer by
supporting the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against
Breast Cancer of Portland through participation in the campaign.
Throughout the month of October, Real Men Wear Pink candidates
have encouraged women in their lives and in the community to take
action in the fight for a world without breast cancer.
“In addition to wearing pink and raising awareness about breast
cancer, these men are raising funds to help the American Cancer
Society save more lives from breast cancer,” said Neah Jackson,
Community Development Manager for the American Cancer Society.
“Funds raised allow the Society to help save lives from breast cancer
through early detection and prevention, innovative breast cancer
research, and patient support.”
Each Real Men Wear Pink candidate is competing to be the top
fundraiser among the other candidates by the end of the year.
“No one should have to face a breast cancer diagnosis alone,” said
Danny Dwyer, Radio Host and Music Director for 98.7 The Bull.
“That’s why I joined the American Cancer Society in support of their
lifesaving work by becoming a candidate in the Real Men Wear Pink
campaign. This is a cause I personally believe in, and I’m committed to
Real Men Wear Pink participants Mitch Elliott &
Connor Laubenstein with Corey Foley
raising awareness and funds for the Society’s Making Strides Against
Breast Cancer efforts.”
The 2017 Real Men Wear Pink Oregon/SW Washington candidates
are: Connor Laubenstein, Veracity; Danny Dwyer, 98.7 The Bull; Dave
Rogers, American Cancer Society; David Carroll, Willamette
University; Keith Fuller, Fred Meyer Jewelers; Kelvin Woods, Kaiser
Permanente; Kris Dozier, Kaiser Permanente; Mitch Elliott, KINK FM;
Peter Engel, Fred Meyer Jewelers; Phil Taggart, Pacific Coast Medical
Care; Ritchie Metzler, Urban Pacific Real Estate; Steve Dunn, KATU;
Will Roth, SW Office Supply.
According to the American Cancer Society Cancer Facts & Figures
2017, an estimated 252,710 women in the United States will be
diagnosed with breast cancer and an estimated 40,610 will die from
the disease this year. In Oregon, 3,450 women will be diagnosed this
year and 520 will die from the disease. Breast cancer is the second
leading cause of cancer death in women, and it is the most common
cancer diagnosed in women other than skin cancer.
“Our community can make a huge impact in the fight against breast
cancer,” said Jackson. “We are grateful to our Real Men Wear Pink
candidates for lending their voices to our cause and fighting for
everyone touched by breast cancer.”
For more information about Real Men Wear Pink of Portland, visit
MakingStridesWalk.org/RealMenPDX or call 503.795.3958.
43-1/HOU
Throughout October, the American Cancer Society hosts Making
Strides Against Breast Cancer walks nationwide to raise awareness
and funds to save lives from breast cancer. Each event brings people
together to make a difference for everyone who has been touched by
breast cancer, raising money to fund innovative research, provide free
information and support, and to help people reduce their breast
cancer risk or find it early when it’s most treatable.
43-1/HOU