More rain in forecast as workers struggle to lower water level at Oroville Dam
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An approaching storm has added new urgency to the Department of Water Resources’ frantic efforts to reduce water levels at Oroville Dam by 50 feet.
Rain is expected to begin falling late Wednesday and continue through the weekend, according to Tom Dang, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Sacramento.
At least 3 inches of rain is expected to fall on Oroville, while the surrounding mountains and foothills could get up to 8 inches of rain by Monday.
“Obviously any rain this week is not helpful at all,” Dang said.
Lake Oroville is located amid a massive watershed that includes the snow-packed Sierra Nevada. As a result, water continues to drain into the reservoir long after rainfall ends.
It’s due partly to this runoff that water began flowing down the dam’s emergency spillway for the first time ever this weekend.
Though temperatures will be above average for this time of year, there is so much snow piled high in the mountains that there isn’t much concern of the storms melting it all, Dang said. The greater concern is rain runoff because the ground is so saturated, he said.
“If everything goes well — and there’s a lot of ifs — if they continue to release water, it sounds like levels will be down appreciably by the midweek storm,” said Dang. “We do have at least a few days of dry weather here to hopefully get a few things patched up.”
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