Juan Browne is an enigma. He claims to be independent in his coverage of The Oroville Dam situation, but he calls everyone else "trolls" and other derogatory terms, and, to my knowledge, he has never countered or criticized the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) for anything.
Still his flyovers make good youtube, and his views--to the degree they are coming (secretly?) from DWR-- are an important part of the story.
You all should watch the most recent video:
Now, looking past all the derision for other researchers, he makes some points that we should consider. He claims everything is just fine, and speaks with authority as though he has inside information direct from DWR. If he doesn't that's fine too, and his views should, of course, still be considered.
However, it is odd, IMHO, that he has said nothing in the above about the REASON there has been scaffolding inside the main spillway since the test ended on the 11th, or why the water has been directed to the west side of the spillway away from what appeared to be leakage at the joint connecting the east wall to the spillway floor beneath the scaffolding, or why the engineers are just now (10 days late) doing an inspection of the main spillway after the test ended abruptly.
Of course, there could be perfectly benign explanations for all of those issues. But when you speak as an inside voice, and don't address major things that others are concerned about, your impact and effectiveness are limited. Of course, if he is a secret front man for DWR, his lack of answers to these pregnant questions would simply fall into the long tradition of lack of information and obfuscation from DWR.
His claim that DWR is letting the dam fill up, simply because "it's going to be dry," assumes that someone has a crystal ball with which they are willing to entrust the lives of millions. The fact we will pass the 872-foot elevation level TONIGHT...putting us UNDER 30-feet from a catastrophic over-topping of the emergency spillway is not comforting, because NO ONE TRULY HAS A CRYSTAL BALL, and because earlier predictions were for a La Nina summer, with lots of rain...(?!?!?)
(Lake Almanor flooding two years ago...Oroville's largest tributary reservoir. Image courtesy of youtube.com.)
If DWR (or Juan Browne) has some crystal ball that can guarantee there will be no "atmospheric rivers" over the catchment area like there was two years ago, and that the upstream dams are 100% beyond any risk of failure, OUT WITH IT. Otherwise, what is happening right now with the dam being filled TO THE BRIM without a completed engineering report on that "test" of the main spillway is, IMHO, foolhardy and dangerous.
Just my two cents, and I am NOT an engineer, so give my ramblings just the level of credence you feel comfortable with, and keep reading and listening to all the voices out there.
TRUST NO ONE, but your God and yourself.