Californians have recently endured the dual hardships of wildfires and mass power outages meant to prevent them, not always effectively. Now comes word that desert communities in the Golden State could be at risk of flooding.
Dam, that seems odd. But it turns out that the underlying reason is because California's dams, much like their electrical infrastructure, are in really bad shape.
In February 2017, both spillways for the Oroville Dam in Northern California were damaged by floodwaters, resulting in a crisis that forced nearly 190,000 to flee their homes.
Now there are worries as well involving the Mojave River Dam, built in 1971. It's always something, down there. And although the Mojave is the driest place in North America, rain - when it occurs - often takes the form of a cloudburst. That generates flash-flooding events; hence the construction of the dam in the first place.
Now, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has switched the Dam Safety Action Classification of the Mojave River Dam from low to high urgency of action, meaning steps must be taken to safeguard communities close to the river – such as Hesperia, Apple Valley, Victorville and Barstow – from flood hazards.
A failure would affect downstream properties to the tune of about $1.5 billion.