Evacuees might not go home until California dam is repaired

OROVILLE, Calif. — Nearly 200,000 people who were ordered to leave their homes out of fear that a spillway could collapse may not be able to return until the barrier at the nation’s tallest dam is repaired, a sheriff said Monday.

Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea did not say how long the fixes could take and offered no timetable for lifting the evacuation order. Officials from the California Department of Water Resources were considering using helicopters to drop loads of rock on the eroded spillway at Lake Oroville, about 150 miles northeast of San Francisco.

Meanwhile, the water level behind the 770-foottall Oroville Dam dropped, easing slightly the fears of a catastrophic spillway collapse. But with more rain expected later in the week, time was running short to fix the damage ahead of the storms.

Authorities ordered mass evacuations Sunday for everyone living below the lake out of concern that the spillway could fail and send a 30-foot wall of water roaring downstream.

Asked if the spillway was supposed to handle far more water, the acting head of California’s water agency said he was “not sure anything went wrong” on the damaged spillway.

Bill Croyle said sometimes low-flow water can be high energy and cause more damage than expected. His comments came after officials assured residents for days that the damage was nothing to be concerned about, then ordered everyone to get out in an hour.

The water level in the lake rose significantly in recent weeks after storms dumped rain and snow across California, particularly in the state’s north. The high water forced the use of the dam’s emergency spillway, or overflow, for the first time in its nearly 50-year history.

PETER DASILVA/EPA Law enforcement officers watch as water sprays from the damaged main spillway at the Oroville Dam. Officials aimed to fix the damage before the arrival of storms this week.