AGENDA 21 RADIO

In 2011 Governor Brown was told we had a problem with the Oroville Dam. In 2014 he promoted a bond for water, in part to fix the Oroville Damn. He got the bond but refused to spend the money. Now we have a one billion bill for repairing private property and another one billion to fix the Dam—if done in a timely fashion it would have cost only $200 million.

“The agency has provided the department with about $139 million for emergency restoration work, including debris removal.

FEMA is currently considering DWR’s request of $500 million to repair the main spillway and $75 million to repair the emergency spillway.

The department is also seeking reimbursement for damages to Hyatt Powerplant, transmission lines and the Feather River Fish Hatchery.”

Why should the Federal taxpayers finance a dime—since the problem would not have happened if Guv Brown did his job—the people of California should pay for this—we elected Brown and he pontificated instead of doing his job.

Oroville Dam: FEMA still deciding whether to reimburse DWR for major repairs

By Risa Johnson, Chico Enterprise-Record, 5/7/18

Oakland >> The Federal Emergency Management Agency recently told north state congressmen Doug LaMalfa and John Garamendi that the agency is still reviewing whether the state Department of Water Resources is eligible for further reimbursement to fix the Oroville Dam spillway.

The letter from FEMA came in response to one from LaMalfa, R-Richvale, and Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, who sent a series of questions in February about DWR’s eligibility for further reimbursement for the bulk of repairs to Oroville Dam.

The agency has provided the department with about $139 million for emergency restoration work, including debris removal.

FEMA is currently considering DWR’s request of $500 million to repair the main spillway and $75 million to repair the emergency spillway.

The department is also seeking reimbursement for damages to Hyatt Powerplant, transmission lines and the Feather River Fish Hatchery.

One of the questions the congressmen posed in their letter was whether the agency would be relying on the independent forensic report released in January to make its decision or conducting its own review.

The agency said that under review were inspection, maintenance and repairs records the agency requested in September, the independent forensic report released in January and information obtained through California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services meetings.

Another question the congressmen asked was whether DWR would receive less than the maximum reimbursement of 75 percent or possibly none at all, if FEMA determined there was a problematic lack of maintenance.

“Work that addresses damage primarily resulting from a cause other than the designated incident, such as pre-disaster deterioration or deferred maintenance resulting from known design deficiencies, is not eligible for PA (public assistance) funding,” reads the letter from Robert Fenton, FEMA regional administrator.

The agency clarified that funds could, in fact, be used to improve facilities — not just bring them back to pre-disaster design — if the upgrades were required by “applicable codes or standards or constitute cost-effective hazard mitigation measures.” FEMA has the ability to issue funds under Section 406 of the Stafford Act.

The congressmen had also asked if the agency would provide reimbursement if a facility’s original design had been part of the cause of the disaster. The forensic report pointed out flaws in the original design of the Oroville Dam.

The agency said that its ability to restore or upgrade facilities may be affected by pre-disaster deficiencies in design.

LaMalfa said on Friday that he, along with Garamendi, would be seeking more information from the agency, including a timeline for FEMA to make its decision.

DWR has stated since the spillway crisis in February 2017 that the State Water Contractors would be on the hook for any repairs cost not covered by FEMA.

The department announced on Monday afternoon that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave permission for DWR and contractors to resume work on the main spillway on Tuesday.

The first project will be to remove the walls in the middle chute made of roller-compacted concrete. Those will be replaced with permanent structural concrete walls this year. Over the past week, crews have been grinding down the top layer of the middle spillway chute to create a uniform surface before steel-reinforced structural concrete slabs are placed on top.

Work is expected to complete in January 2019, when Kiewit Infrastructure West’s contract expires.