Despite Hole In Spillway, Officials Will Release More Water From Oroville Dam If Necessary

OROVILLE (CBS13) — There's big trouble on the Oroville Dam spillway as the path for water release has crumbled.

The Department of Water Resources closed the gates on Tuesday and stopped the water releases while it scrambles to find a fix.

Video recorded by eyewitnesses shows the scene. As concrete broke off the spillway, the water gushing from the open gates of the Oroville Dam sent the giant chunks flying some 40 feet In the air, leaving a gaping hole estimated at 180 feet wide and 30 feet deep.

"The most important thing to say about this problem we're having with the spillway is that that the dam itself is not in danger," Department of Water Resources spokesman Doug Carlson said.

Teams of engineers are only starting to investigate what went wrong.

"Maybe it was a soft spot under the spillway that wasn't known," Department of Water Resources biologist Eric See said. "There could have been a pocket of material they didn't know about."

The dam gates will not be opened for at least several days while engineers inspect the spillway.

As water continues to pour into the reservoir, small releases are being made through a power plant. If the reservoir's water levels reach near capacity state regulators say they will open the dam again, releasing water over the damaged spillway, to avoid the reservoir overflowing.

"It'll probably take out more concrete, but thats a better option then actually allowing the dam to become too full," Carlson said.

Gary Leese and Beth Bello recorded the video showing the spillway failure while they were on a hike nearby

"We noticed a lot of water shooting up in the air where it shouldn't be," Leese said. "And so as we got closer we saw there was definitely a real problem."

The spillway structure failure has left state engineers working on what will be a big fix.