With the Lake Oroville spillways making headlines this past week, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger successfully tasked local officials with evaluating the 14 dams and reservoirs in the county for safety.
Barger, a rookie supervisor from San Marino representing the fifth district, made the motion at the Feb. 14 board of supervisors meeting. The county Department of Public Works is expected to provide the report within 30 days from that meeting.
“The Oroville situation reminds us of the need to proactively evaluate our county’s risk with regard to dams and other facilities, which may be prone to failure from storms, earthquakes or other foreseeable events,” Barger said in a statement.
Damage to Lake Oroville’s spillways forced emergency evacuations in the Northern California community. The evacuation of the 100,000 residents was eventually lifted as the flood risk fell.
Public Works will itemize each of the 14 dams and reservoirs based on the priority level of its associated infrastructure projects. Barger’s motion was approved unanimously.
