State legislators aren’t getting answers about the Lake Oroville spillway. Neither is the federal government. Or the county government. Or journalists. Or interested citizens.

It’s all coming to a head as two north state legislators whose districts include Lake Oroville are demanding answers.

Well it’s about time.

It all came to a head last week. On Thursday, Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, admitted at a public appearance in Chico that he had a lot of questions about the broken spillway — more questions than answers.

Later that afternoon, this newspaper ran another story that showed a lack of transparency. We had been trying for weeks to clarify with the state Department of Water Resources what the agency means when it says the Hyatt Powerplant under the dam is operating at maximum capacity.

Our understanding — certainly not helped along by DWR’s press releases — was that one of the six turbines at the power plant was not functioning, and water couldn’t run through it, thus reducing flow through the powerplant.

Yes, the DWR eventually admitted through a spokeswoman, one turbine has been out of commission for nearly two years.

When we requested to speak with a supervisor familiar with dam operations who could answer our many follow-up questions, we were told that wasn’t going to happen.

That’s no surprise with DWR.

Then, the next day, the Sacramento Bee reported DWR wouldn’t release documents from an independent panel of experts that the newspaper said “could shed light on repair plans and safety issues at crippled Oroville Dam.”

A DWR spokeswoman cited security concerns and declined interview requests on behalf of agency officials.

Again, it’s all par for the course. Ask Butte County, which has been arguing with DWR for nearly 20 years over the ongoing relicensing saga of the hydroelectric project.

But this time, at least, the obstinate agency has the attention of Gallagher and state Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber.

They issued a statement in response to the Bee article that said written communication between the federal government and DWR should be made public in the interest of “full transparency.”

“Any attempt to withhold reports or documents of this nature will be viewed by our constituents as an attempt to cover up the truth. And that simply will not be tolerated,” they said. “This lack of transparency only elevates the concern. This emphasizes the need for legislative oversight hearings.”

We’re glad the legislators are finally on board with the obvious conclusion. Might we remind them that back on Feb. 11, the day before the sudden evacuation of 188,000 people forced by the crumbling spillway, we wrote this:

“When the crisis passes, (DWR) owes the public answers. Based on experience with DWR — stonewalling on what really happened with the Hyatt Powerhouse accident at the base of the dam nine years ago, for example — we don’t expect anything short of an audit ordered by the Legislature will pry those answers out. We encourage state Sen. Jim Nielsen and Assemblyman James Gallagher to lead the charge.”

Nearly two months later, we hope their patience has run out. Ours did a long time ago.

When even the people charged with oversight can’t get answers, the rest of us are in trouble.