Dozens of California dams need repair as El Niño winter draws closer

With an El Niño winter threatening heavy rain, the State Auditor warns that California’s aging dams “continue to pose a risk to public safety,” especially in the Bay Area, San Diego, and Los Angeles areas.

Lawmakers gave the state the power to penalize dam owners that violate safety requirements in 2017, after the Oroville spillway failure forced the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people. Water managers have yet to use that power, the audit found.

Even if state water managers had wielded their enforcement powers, dam owners likely couldn’t have afforded the fixes.

An audit released Monday found 57 dams in poor or unsatisfactory condition as of May, up from previous counts. That number is likely to keep rising, as state water officials reevaluate aging dams.

The 40 riskiest dams — rated high or extremely high hazard — are located throughout the state, but cluster near densely populated coastal cities.

Should these dams fail, the auditor reported, “they could collectively endanger as many as 1.5 million people and cause more than $265 billion in economic damage.”

Almost a decade ago, lawmakers strengthened the California Department of Water Resources’ authority to impose penalties such as reservoir restrictions, property liens, and fines when…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health