Again another Cali dam shows signs of weaknesses that have been documented for years by State officials – PB/TK
Another giant California dam has downstream residents worried –
By Jane Braxton Little August 29 2017
Deep in the Trinity Alps, 130 miles northwest of the troubled Oroville Dam, local officials are raising alarms about another earthen dam with documented weaknesses and limited capacity for releasing the water that has poured in from storms and melting snow.
Trinity Lake, the state’s third-largest reservoir, was filled to 97 percent of its storage capacity Tuesday, and a snowpack estimated at 150 percent of normal still looms over the watershed.
If the reservoir were to overtop the dam, the results would be catastrophic, said Keith Groves, a Trinity County supervisor representing the district that includes Trinity Dam.
“It would take out bridges … and a big section of (Trinity County) would be wiped off the face of the planet,” Groves said. He said 3,500 people live in the immediate pathway of potential flooding.
More than a month ago, on March 21, the Trinity County Board of Supervisors sent a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation asking for a public presentation about the safety of Trinity Dam, climate change and the possible need to build another spillway. This week, Groves said the bureau has agreed to make a presentation for the supervisors on June 6.
Continue to sacbee.com article: http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article147609839.html
