Officials cheered improving weather that made it less likely they would have to use the emergency spillway. Rescue efforts also continued for millions of hatchery-raised fish imperiled by muddy water flowing downstream alongside the damaged spillway after sections of its concrete walls collapsed earlier this week. Engineers don't know what caused what state Department of Water Resources spokesman Eric See called a "massive" cave-in that is expected to keep growing until it reaches bedrock. The torrent chewed up trees and soil alongside the concrete spillway before rejoining the main channel below. Water flows through break in the wall of the Oroville Dam spillway, Thursday, Feb. They were reinforcing part of the overflow area with rocks stabilized with concrete and using helicopters to relocate power lines out of harm's way. They were still preparing for the possibility by clearing trees and brush from the emergency spillway down a steep ravine to minimize the debris that would flow into the Feather River. That could save them from having to use an emergency spillway for the first time in the reservoir's 48-year history. We know we're going to have erosion going on but it's in the best interest of the lake right now to be able to keep using the spillway to evacuate water," said department spokesman Eric See. "Basically it's going to be a triage situation. State engineers expect that water flowing out of the dam will catch up with the torrent flowing in from recent storms by sometime Saturday if they can continue the higher flows. The California Department of Water Resources significantly increased releases from Lake Oroville even though unexpected erosion chewed through the spillway earlier this week, sending chunks of concrete flying and creating a 200-foot-long, 30-foot-deep hole that continues growing.
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