Earlier this week the eyes of the nation were on the Oroville Dam in north-central California. Quickly rising waters and erosion on the dam’s main spillway forced dam officials to use the dam’s emergency spillway for the first time in the dam’s history. The flood of water prompted an evacuationof over 180,000 people from the valley below.
Could a situation like that ever happen to the McPhee dam on the Dolores River? Dolores Water Conservancy District Chief Engineer Ken Curtis says the volume of water and the structure of the dam are two of the main differences that keep that happening from the Dolores river.
Note: the Dolores Water Conservancy District is an underwriter of KSJD.
