NOT GOOD!!

Water is going to back up QUICKLY ... and could lead to some major dam issues if they can't start releasing again:

from link:

"...The operators of Lake Oroville dam planned to increase the release of water at the dam to 70,000 cubic feet per second to make room in the lake for runoff from the current storm.

The peak release began around noon Tuesday. That’s when witnesses said they began to see chunks of concrete coming off the spillway..."

To put that into perspective the NORMAL release that the Hoover Dam does into the Grand Canyon is 12,500 cubic feet per second!!


From Wikipedia:

"...Known as the second-largest reservoir in California, Lake Oroville is treated as a keystone facility within the California State Water Project by storing water, providing flood control, recreation..."

"...Oroville Dam is an earthen dam and is the tallest dam located in the United States, measuring over 770 feet (235 m) high and 6,920 feet (2109 m) across. The dam was the largest earth-fill dam in the world until succeeded by Aswan High Dam in Egypt. It was built by the California Department of Water Resources as part of the California State Water Project. The dam houses the Edward Hyatt Powerplant, an underground hydro-electric plant that was completed in 1967.[8] Six generators are used to provide a maximum generating capacity of 819 MW.///"

"...Storing over 3,500,000 acre feet (4.3 km3), it is the second-largest reservoir in California, after Shasta Lake..."