Engineers and environmentalists saw issues coming. Now a "nightmare scenario" is in play.
"It worked fine until it had to be used, in which case it didn't work so well."
Regarding the Oroville disaster, California water districts refused to pay the cost it would take to pave the spillway; now flooded, it is quickly eroding, which is what engineers and environmentalists have been warning would happen for decades.
With the water pooling beneath the weir holding the dam back, a "nightmare scenario" is in play: 23 million people and the entire San Joaquin Valley could lose water if the thing breaks.