There is a cycle to the conversation about infrastructure and how to pay for it. And it goes like this in California: A few politicians say that infrastructure – roads, bridges, tunnels, railways, dams and more – are the lifeblood of economic prosperity. Editorial boards point out that Gov. Pat Brown and the Legislature of […]

Federal and state lawmakers on Friday urged the need for infrastructure improvements, citing the Oroville Dam spillway and calling for increased water storage in California. Speaking at an Auburn symposium hosted by the Mountain Counties Water Resources Association, Republican legislators alternatively called for the construction of more dams and slammed environmental regulations they say stymie […]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) – California Governor Jerry Brown on Friday proposed spending $437 million for flood control and emergency response and preparedness, days after damage at the country’s tallest dam, located northeast of the state capital, led to the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people downstream. Damage to both the regular spillway and its emergency counterpart […]

How do reservoir sedimentation and appropriate management techniques affect operations of dams and hydroelectric facilities? The authors cover the topic and provide illustrative case studies, including the 2,100 MW Aswan High Dam in Egypt. By Greg Schellenberg, C. Richard Donnelly, Charles Holder and Rajib Ahsan Although sedimentation of the world’s reservoirs represents a serious threat […]

After two weeks that saw evacuations near Oroville, Calif., and flooding in Elko County, Nev., America’s dams are showing their age. Nearly 2,000 state-regulated high-hazard dams in the United States were listed as being in need of repair in 2015, according to the Association of State Dam Safety Officials. A dam is considered “high hazard” […]

By the Editorial Board – The Modesto Bee Floods are nothing new in California, but that doesn’t make them any less painful. A state better known for cyclical and serious drought actually suffers equal or greater pain when there’s too much water, not too little. Ask your neighbors in Waterford, along Dry Creek or in […]

This Aug. 23, 2016, satellite image released by DigitalGlobe and taken by DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-2 satellite shows an overview of the Oroville Dam in Oroville, Calif. On Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017, thousands of people were evacuated from counties downstream of the nation’s tallest dam amid concerns the spillway could fail and send water roaring downstream. WorldView-2 […]

President Trump has talked about a major federal plan to rebuild America’s infrastructure, and Democrats are receptive. Americans aren’t overly concerned about infrastructure problems, though, and see them primarily as a state responsibility. (To see survey question wording, click here.) The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on February 14-15, 2017 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin […]

USSD is proud to join hundreds of groups all across the nation in celebrating Engineers Week, February 19-24, 2017. This year’s theme for Engineer’s Week is “Engineers Dream Big!” The IMAX movie, “Dream Big, Engineering Our World,” is a magnificent celebration of the creativity and passion that embodies engineering beyond the math and science. The […]

This past week, heavy winter rain caused a 250-foot-long section of northern California’s Oroville Dam’s principal spillway to collapse. In response, state officials began releasing water from an adjacent emergency spillway, leading to the unexpected and rapid erosion of the ground below and the evacuation of 180,000 residents from their homes. What’s needed now is […]