Oroville overflow...

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[Image by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]

[edited for typos] The picture to the left was Lake Oroville in California - one of the state's key water sources - towards the end of 2015. The El Niño storms helped alleviate things early last year. years of 'drought' hadn't helped.

This year things are very different, with more storms expected and the 'wet season' only half done, the main and emergency spillways are coping but damaged; evacuations are ongoing.

Thing is, if you look at the pictures on the BBC, the whole hill beneath the spillway seems to be being eroded away. All sources say the dam is safe...but what about the infill and earthwork, the hill? Updates on Zero Hedge of this "Never-Happened-Before Event" have a lot covered and various videos and pictures of the damage.

Apparently "California spent $25 billion on entitlements for illegals last year, and only budgeted $730 million for water infrastructure. I don't think that is what caused Oroville to fail, but it really is something to consider..." [quote from Jim Stone info from FAIR, 2014]