Infrastructure: Risks Soar, Bills Come Due As 20th-Century Dams Crumble

"OROVILLE, Calif. — For nearly 50 years, Oroville Dam has been the linchpin of a sprawling state plumbing system that draws water from wet Northern California to 25 million people and thousands of acres of farmland in the arid south.

That changed Feb. 7 when a crater as large as a football field dropped out of the dam's concrete-lined spillway.

Catastrophe loomed. It appeared the earthen barrier restraining the state's second-largest reservoir might fail, unleashing a deadly 30-foot wave on communities downstream. Officials ordered nearly 200,00 people to evacuate.

While disaster was averted, dam experts and savvy observers of the West's aging water infrastructure weren't shocked."

Jeremy P. Jacobs reports for Greenwire March 6, 2017.