FILE - This Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017, file aerial photo released by the California Department of Water Resources shows the damaged spillway with eroded hillside in Oroville, Calif. California water authorities will cut the outflow from the dam to allow workers to remove debris piled at the base of its main spillway. The Department of Water Resources said Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017 it will start gradually reducing outflows from the Oroville Dam in Northern California starting Monday morning and completely stop them by the afternoon. (William Croyle/California Department of Water Resources via AP, File) (The Associated Press)
OROVILLE, Calif. – The Latest on the damaged Oroville Dam in Northern California (all times local):
7:30 a.m.
California water authorities have started slowing the release of water from the Oroville Dam's crippled spillway.
Department of Water Resources spokeswoman Lauren Bisnett said Monday that the slowdown started at 6:45 a.m. and will continue throughout the day.
She says the amount of water released will go from 50,000 cubic feet per second to zero.
The outflow from behind the 770-foot-tall dam will be stopped for several days to give workers time to clear debris from a pool at the bottom of the spillway.
The debris needs to be removed in order to restart the underground Hyatt Power Plant. The plant helps manage reservoir levels.
Potential failure of the dam's emergency spillway earlier this month prompted authorities to evacuate nearly 200,000 people Feb. 12. They lifted the evacuation order Feb. 14.
___
2 a.m.
California water authorities will stop the outflow from the Oroville Dam's crippled spillway on Monday to allow workers to remove debris that's blocking a hydroelectric plant from working, officials said Sunday.
The outflow from behind the 770-foot-tall dam will be stopped for several days to allow workers to clear concrete and other debris from a pool at the bottom of the spillway.
Removing the debris will protect a shuttered underground plant, allowing it to resume operations, the Department of Water Resources said.
On Feb. 11, water managers used the emergency spillway for the first time in the dam's history after a chunk of concrete tore out the main spillway.
But the water ripped through a road below, leading authorities to order a two-day evacuation of 188,000 people for fear the emergency spillway could fail.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
