Congressman John Garamendi's Statement on the Independent Forensic Team's Report of the Oroville Dam Spillway Incident

Statement

Today, Congressman John Garamendi (D-Fairfield, Davis, Yuba City, CA), who represents many communities that were evacuated in February owing to the Oroville Dam Spillway Incident, issued the following statement in response to the final report issued on event by the Independent Forensic Team:

"The Independent Forensic Team's final report of the Oroville Dam spillway incident confirms the obvious: the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should not relicense the Dam without requiring DWR to thoroughly address the suite of factors that led to the erosion of the spillway. Further, this report underscores the importance of robust long-term funding for our aging water infrastructure, both in California and across the nation.

The amendment that Representative LaMalfa and I authored to require a supplemental environmental review of the Dam and its facilities prior to the issuance of a new license is now more important than ever. We know that snow and rainfall patterns are being dramatically altered as a result of climate change and therefore our reservoir operations must take these changes into account.

The spillway incident opened the nation's eyes to the safety threats that aging infrastructure poses. As a country, we should be investing in water, transportation, and power infrastructure needs, rather than giving trillions of dollars in tax cuts to billionaires."

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