FEMA reverses itself on Oroville Dam funds, but still denies millions to California

The federal government, in an unusual reversal, has agreed to reimburse California officials for millions of dollars in additional costs from the 2017 Oroville Dam crisis — but is continuing to deny millions more.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency last spring rejected about $306 million sought by the California Department of Water Resources to fix the dam’s battered flood-control spillways after the 2017 near-disaster, which prompted the evacuations of thousands.

On Friday, FEMA said it was now approving $113 million that was originally denied. The money was spent repairing the dam’s main spillway.

But the federal agency said it was still withholding about $193 million the state wanted for fixing the adjacent emergency spillway. FEMA spokeswoman Brandi Richard Thompson said the agency would reimburse California for only $276,000 for those repairs.

Thompson said FEMA has approved a total of $477 million for the state’s response to the Oroville crisis, including debris removal and other expenses. “The final amount may differ,” she said in an email.

All costs not covered by FEMA are borne by the member agencies of the State Water Project, which runs Oroville Dam and delivers water to millions of Californians.

The crisis at Oroville began Feb. 7, 2017, when a giant crater appeared in the middle of the flood-control spillway during a massive rainstorm. DWR engineers curtailed water releases to limit the damage on the 3,000-foot-long concrete chute, but the lake level rose so high that water began pouring over the adjacent emergency spillway — a concrete lip sitting atop a natural hillside — for the first time since the dam opened in 1968. Within a day, the hillside eroded so badly officials feared much of it would crumble, sparking the evacuation of 188,000 downstream residents.

A team of forensic investigators later blamed “long-term systemic failure” by state and federal officials, citing defects in design, construction and maintenance going back to the 1960s.

The state spent months repairing both spillways. In particular, it partially lined the natural hillside with tons of concrete. FEMA decided the work at the emergency spillway “did not restore the damaged public facility,” Thompson said.

This story was originally published February 21, 2020 at 9:12 AM.