The repairs of the Oroville & Anderson Dams the Pfieffer Bridge, Wildfires and the Mud Creek slide read all about it!

                             There are over 2,000 dams in the state of California. 

 Oroville Dam: November 1st, 2017 is the original date set for completion of the first phase of repairs, that date was set to repair the most critical parts of the compromised dam. The rains typically start around that date, the goal is to ensure that the spillway, which is the highest priority component to be repaired, be able to sustain a flow of 100,000 cubic feet per second.

Six month's later, the repairs on the Oroville Dam are being
completed, mostly on time.

The California Department of Water Resources claims the capacity will be much higher upon completion of the entire re-design of the Dam. To meet that goal the upper stretch of approximately 750 feet will be lined with structural concrete, the middle section of 1050 feet will be filled with roller-compacted structural concrete. 100,000 cubic yards of RCC (roller compacted concrete) has been deposited into the huge void, it needs 200,000 cubic yards more to complete. The repairs to the damaged hillsides on each side of the destroyed spillway is not a priority, they will be backfilled upon completion of the most critical path tasks. 350 feet of the bottom spillway was removed and replaced, the upper 730 feet was left in place with minor repairs being made.   There were three goals made to be completed by November 1st.
  1)  Replace the lower spillway and
  2)  middle spillway sections, both appear to be on schedule for the Nov. 1 deadline. (Click this Link for information on what has been involved in the repairs.)
  3)  installing a cutoff wall at the bottom of the chute, it will not be completed by the deadline, the goal is now for completion in January 2018.
  It's a big job, it's not been without criticism, of course, I'm not informed or possess the knowledge to determine how well repairs are going, or what the problems are or were. But from my viewpoint, it appears the Dam will be ready for the rain, and that's what really matters. Looking back on the evacuations and the way the response was handled, I am OK with all of that, the people in the decision making positions made a good call, they got the people out even though the Dam did not burst.
  Anderson Dam: Creating a large reservoir by the containment of Coyote Creek, the dam overflowed during the heavy rains of the past winter. The excessive water rose to a level that caused it to overflow and spill into the river and community on the banks of the Creek. Prior to the excessive rain season, seismic upgrades were approved and ready for work to commence after the water level was reduced to 68%. This cap will not be lifted until the retrofitting is completed, it's scheduled to begin in 2020 with completion in 2024, it was in the works prior to the overflow. The river has been dredged and the levees have been improved as well as all of the debris removed that was in the riverbed.

The Anderson Dam on Coyote Creek, this photo was taken
February 19, 2017. 

The overflow was caused by an extreme amount of rain after suffering a long drought, we don't think about clearing waterways prior to the rainy season. Santa Clara is dealing with this infrastructure repair well, and have addressed the flooding issues as well. I am sure litigation is ongoing between the residents and City, State, and Government entities. It does appear new methods of alerting people to evacuate have been enacted, one is a reverse 911 system, it's not perfect, some residents will be alerted in the middle of the night, not in the disaster zone. The alert system will work fine, a few minor inconveniences to unaffected areas may just save lives where the flooding is occurring, the Government agencies are concerned about the people, and that's good.
  Pfieffer Canyon Bridge: The bridge had a full opening October 13, 2017, the collapsed bridge was completely torn down and replaced in a time period of 7 months. Typically a construction job of this size would take around 6-7 years to complete, to build a single-span steel girder structure of that size and where it was located is just short of amazing. The completed construction including repair of the canyon and the surrounding hillsides came in at an estimated cost of $24 million, The Pfieffer Canyon Bridge on Highway 1 is North of the Mud Creek landslide at the southern end of the highway. Highway 1 remains closed due to the landslide and is scheduled to open at the end of summer 2018. A bridge is being constructed over the slide, so much material ended up on the highway and beach it made clearing the road impractical. A bridge is estimated to be much more cost-effective, on that stretch of highway landslides are common. Work on these projects is coming along very well, the Pfieffer Bridge is complete, the Mud Creek slide bridge needs more time, but it's coming along well.

Pfieffer Canyon Bridge, a big job in a very tough and
challenging environment, it is completely finished.

  California Wild Fires: Still in the digging out phase, reconstruction will take many years until completion. There are 6,000 homes in need of being totally built from the ground up, that is not including the many businesses and unoccupied infrastructure buildings. I heard on the news channel this morning the final flames have been extinguished, October 29, 2017,
  In Sonoma County 1485 missing person reports were issued, 1250 have been found, the whereabouts concerning the remaining 235 is still unknown. Some are out of touch due to power failures and cell tower problems. My neighbors have a friend that has been isolated on a mountaintop since the fires, she is a retired firefighter. This lady cleared the land around her cabin, about 200 feet all around it, she weathered the firestorm well and survived, she was unable to communicate until Thursday of this week. (October 26, 17') So if that's an indication there are more people in their homes far up in the isolated mountains and valleys. (CalFire has suggestions for clearing to prepare for wildfire Link.) Sonoma County had 22 deaths reported, that number may change. Authorities are now in the discovery phase, beginning to figure out what the causes were as well as reviewing their response to the disasters. There is a lot of work to be done from all angles, and the most important issues are making sure the residents are being addressed which it appears is happening.  To second guess the people faced with evacuating and notifying people to evacuate is out of place, especially now knowing it was the worst disaster to ever occur in California. Much like Hurricane Harvey in Houston the unpredictable size of the Catastrophic emergency is certain to set the most experienced and most educated response personnel on their heels, which these disasters seceded in doing.
  For now, the victims of the Wildfires are sifting through ashes, clearing lots and searching for loved ones, they will be living in temporary housing for several years at least. FEMA is concentrating on building a list of survivors and getting them registered, there is no tally yet on the amount of help or temporary housing that will be needed. As it is right now, there is no direction to go but up, and they are rising to the occasion.
  I'm not sure how the budget for disaster relief is holding up, the combined events surely are taxing the system, this may be the beginning of an entirely new priority in the Federal Governments funding of FEMA. There is no way the Federal Government will be able to make all of the victims "whole", new ideas and philosophies will need to be implemented or we may risk breaking the treasury if these Catastrophic events continue at this alarming pace. The National Flood Insurance program will be looked at for sure, I keep reading how the insurance payments should be raised to realistic levels, the last time it was looked at my flood insurance would rise to around $20,000.00 a year. It is estimated 45% of the population of the United States live in a flood zone, many don't know they do. I read about a Lady in Los Angelos who's house was on a levee, she did not know she lived on a levee let alone in a flood zone. The bill to increase the cost of flood insurance was rescinded before the increase was imposed. We can expect a political battle over flood and hazard insurance.

A photo of the Mud Creek landslide on Highway 1, the
plan is to build a bridge over and around the large amount
of debris.

  There will be more Catastrophic events this year, it would be nice if they were spread out a little bit more, especially the areas that were hit with two or more events. Winter is coming, my sister lives near Lake Superior in Duluth Minnesota, she told me they woke to 50 miles an hour winds, and a blizzard, it sounds like a recipe for a big spring flooding season in the north.
  Thanks for reading and sharing, this is meant as a short update of California's recent disasters, leave a comment on what you have experienced or are preparing for, or just say Hi! thanks.
jacquesandkate  emergencykitsplus.com