Oroville >> The Enterprise-Record/Oroville Mercury-Register got its closest look so far Wednesday at the Oroville Dam spillway work on a site visit hosted by the state Department of Water Resources.

The newspaper editorial board, along with a reporter and photographer, were invited to meet with acting DWR Director Bill Croyle; dam safety consultant David Gutierrez; communications and outreach adviser Erin Mellon from the Natural Resources Agency; Matt Notley, a senior account supervisor at Edelman; and Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea.

The visit included an hour-long meeting in a conference room at DWR’s Oroville headquarters, and a trip to catch a view of lower spillway blasting around 12:30 p.m. followed by access to the structure above the spillway. That area has been closed to the public and the press since February.

Throughout the nearly four-hour visit, the newspaper was able to get a lot of answers.

Croyle, who went into his position as acting director Jan. 1, six weeks before the gaping hole appeared Feb. 7, said he understands the contentious history between the community and the department.

“We’ve tried to be as transparent, under my watch, and tried to acknowledge some of those past perspectives and have some different perspectives,” he said.

Honea said the way Croyle paid attention to the local sheriff early in the emergency was unique. He recalled getting on the same page quickly as the situation escalated enormously in just a few days, leading to Honea and the Yuba and Sutter county sheriffs ordering the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people under the threat of a potential emergency spillway failure.

“There’s been long-standing tension and some animosity and feelings of broken promises in the community and I don’t discredit those,” he said. “There’s good reason for all of those. But what I’ve experienced is Bill (Croyle) came in as a change agent, at least in my view, and when I go around and meet the people who work for DWR — they’re all good people.”

Looking forward

Croyle said there have been multiple takeaways from the dam crisis, topped by reaching a new level of preparedness, including making sure the chain of command is set, all partners are present and the contact numbers are there.

“The other lesson learned is (helping) the dam safety industry get real with their infrastructure. Are we doing the best possible inspections, using the latest technology?”

Croyle said the main repair contractor, Kiewit, is currently about three weeks ahead of schedule on construction. The department is still confident it will meet the deadline for reconstructing the bottom and middle portions of the spillway and making repairs as needed to the top. However, there are contingency plans in case heavy rainfall comes early or an issue in the redesign arises, for example.

By Nov. 1, the spillway would be able to release flows of 100,000 cubic-feet per second, he said. As the department does not usually need to use the structure until January, Croyle said it should not be an issue.

“Meeting that deadline doesn’t mean we stop what we’re doing,” Croyle said.

If higher releases are required, a space can be made in a wall flanking the spillway, allowing up to 50,000 cfs to run down the ravine that eroded beside the spillway.

While it was emphasized the department is not planning on using the emergency spillway again, the hillside will be reinforced with a cutoff wall into bedrock, which would keep any erosion that might occur from cutting back to the emergency spillway weir. The area between the wall and weir will be lined with roller-compacted concrete.

Secrecy

On the drive to view the spillway, Gutierrez said he is aware of the allegation that information in board of consultants’ memos is redacted because DWR does not want to show mistakes made during original construction. He said that’s not true — DWR does want to learn from the past.

“If mistakes are made, let’s lay it out so we can learn (from them,)” he said.

Gutierrez explained the protocol comes from a shift following the 9/11 terror attacks. Before then, hardly any infrastructure design information was kept secret. The new guidelines are set by the Department of Homeland Security, researched by DWR staff, approved by Croyle and ultimately approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, he said.

Mellon said the department is working to continually review the information redacted and to publish portions when they no longer cause a national security threat. For instance, when the old spillway is completely remodeled, design details of the previous model will be made available to the public, they said.

“You don’t want to lay out vulnerabilities of infrastructure that’s in place,” Mellon said.

Construction work

Oro Dam Boulevard East offers a view of the spillway head on, at such a distance that workers look like ants. Several orange-shirted employees looked on, as some operated drones flying above, during the afternoon blast. Go Pro video cameras also captured close-up footage of the blow, which was first notified with sirens.

Heading up the hill and standing above the spillway, mostly the upper chute — not the focus for repairs this season — is visible, though people were at work there. Croyle said they were working to better anchor the top portion of the structure and also to place cameras in drains below the spillway to ensure they are all intact.

Gutierrez said the new spillway design will take care of all possible causes of failure outlined in the independent forensic team’s list published in May, as it will be built using modern techniques. He said the new spillway will be constructed in the footprint of the existing one mainly because DWR understands the geology there and the flood gates would be difficult and time-consuming to replace. Croyle added that a dual design spillway concept is being considered as a long-term design possibility, though it won’t be addressed this season.

Reach reporter Risa Johnson at 896-7763.