As I have been reporting, the main spillway at Oroville Dam (the nation's tallest, and California's 2nd largest reservoir) did NOT "perform admirably" during the recent 11-day "test" as the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has been reporting. The truth is they never even really gave it a real rest, only ever ramping up the flow to HALF of the flow that blew the spillway apart two years ago.
Additionally, as of last night, there is still scaffolding INSIDE the main spillway to the left side (looking down from the gates) about a third of the way down at the same spot where photos previously posted clearly showed a very dark spot at the joint between the left-side wall and the spillway surface, indicating serious leakage at that point. There is also concern that the previously smooth seams between the various cement panels in the spillway are no longer smooth, and are already slightly popped, which would definitely lead to dangerous turbulence in the water when the spillway is being used at high water flows.
(The main spillway...just before the failed "test." Courtesy of actionnewsnow.com.)
Also, the main gates are obviously also in a state of partial failure, as even with the gates closed, there is a RIVER's worth of water still flowing down the spillway--estimated at around 500 cubic feet per second. Then there is all the chipping of the concrete surface of the spillway also clearly visible in a straight line down the left side of the spillway surface--the side that failed two years ago, suggesting there may also be the beginnings of some "tilting" of the cement panels toward that edge--not far from where the canyon was carved back in 2017.
Also, the visitor's center camera that citizens could/should use to confirm (by eyesight) the water level claims of DWR is still out two months after they promised to repair it. The reported water levels and total storage levels DWR is providing from the following website, are now gobbledegook and not usable for that purpose:
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/dynamicapp/QueryF?s=ORO
(Recent photo after the test...)
Now...if you go here...the storage levels do look accurate...though they still aren't giving the actual water elevation for recent days:
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/dynamicapp/QueryDaily?end=2019-04-14&s=ORO
A 25,000 AF increase equates to about 1.9 feet of increased water levels, so we can guesstimate that the water level in Oroville Reservoir is now approaching 864'...and still rising at almost two feet per day.
DWR says they will allow the dam to fill to 870' this month...i.e. 31 feet short of overtopping the emergency spillway at 901'. However, with the main spillway apparently damaged, they are going to have to open those gates there again anyway soon, as we are only three days from 870' at current inflow-over-outflow levels.
No one really knows how that main spillway will perform should the snow melt suddenly correspond with heavy rains and the main spillway suddenly be required to run well above the failed test last week of 25,000 cubic feet per second.
We will keep reporting anything we find... Please do refer back to earlier articles for more information.
There is also this website, but their data is old, and may be being drawn directly from DWR rather than on-sight measurements:
http://oroville.lakesonline.com/Level/
The graph is interesting though...and shows we are approaching the same levels we were at two years ago...