AGENDA 21 RADIO

BY PAUL PRESTON

Officials are hiding real numbers from Oroville Dam flows. For those of us in the flood plane of the Oroville Dam we watch the inflows and outflows from the dam like hawks. People are waking up this morning and realizing the California Department of Water Resources is hiding the real facts from the public. It’s 2:21 am Monday March 13, 2017 and the “live” figures that are provided from Oroville Dam from the DWR have all stopped. DWR stopped reporting the flows at 3:00 pm March 12, 2017 as indicated from the March 13, 2017 2:20 am report in the picture. Officials Have stated they would open the main spillway when the flows brought the lake level to 860 feet. People have been watching for days as the lake level has been rising to the 860 level. The last report from March 12, 2017 at 3:00 pm shows the dam level at 861.06.

Of concern Saturday March 11, 2017 were the inflows as they started to go up due to the warm weather and the snow melt occurring up the Feather River. Temperatures reached as high as 80 degrees on the valley floor under the Oroville Dam on Sunday March 12, 2017 which were preceded by several days of rising temperatures. the rising temperatures were expected and almost on cue the snow in the upper reaches of the Oroville Dam water shed began to melt. Temperatures in Chester, CA which is where the Lake Almanor dam (long troubled by leaks) sends water down the Feather river reached into the mid 60s. Inflows were exceeding outflows by 5,000 cf/s.

It’s clear the DWR and Jerry Brown administration is hiding data from the public and now from the press as the press are being limited from where they can go and what pictures they can take. As reported from David Little from the ChicoER in his most recent commentary regarding press access:

“Our reporters and photographers have worked hard to cover many different angles. The photos have been incredible. The stories have been frequently stupefying.

Those reporters and photographers have done it frequently in spite of, not with the help of, the state Department of Water Resources.

The DWR manages the lake, which is the cornerstone in the State Water Project. Though DWR is a state agency, its allegiance seems to be to water and power customers first, the taxpaying public second.

When this story (and the spillway) broke, DWR first tried to manage it from its offices in Sacramento rather than on the ground in Oroville. It was clumsy. The problem was treated almost whimsically. Watch the first press conference if DWR hasn’t deleted it.

After that, there were too many assurances that everything would be fine. The potential danger was downplayed”. You can read David’s entire article here: David Little: In Oroville, big story has big obstacles for journalists

David Little’s article is very timely as Saturday March 11, 2017 I went to the Oroville Dam for the eighth time to report on the situation. It was February 11, 2017 that I first went to report on the failing dam and the actions of the DWR and the Brown administration. but on the March 11, 2017 visit I was confronted on 2 occasions by dam personnel and advised on the second contact that they are arresting people without the proper hard hat and press credentials. Obviously staff are on edge.

Only DWR are allowed to take the pictures they want you to see. The public and the press are NOT allowed to see or understand what is going on at the dam. Anyway you look at it the fact the DWR and the Jerry Brown administration are responsible for the lack of public disclosure. The dam is reaching it’s maximum tolerances and at high risk of failure yet Jerry Brown and the DWR would rather risk the lives of 2.5 million Californians, the loss of some of the worlds most valuable farm land and the infrastructure of the entire State of California just to save face. With a face like Brown’s who needs saving? All Californians and the world need saving from the face of a totalitarian!