Rising water filling up Santa Clara County's Anderson Reservoir, which was 99.3 percent full as of Wednesday, is expected to flow over the dam's spillway as a result of this week's impending storms.
Unlike the potentially catastrophic situation with Lake Oroville's emergency spillway, the Anderson Reservoir's operational spillway is not at risk of failure, according to Santa Clara Valley Water District officials.
VideoDark Drive! Lights Go Out on Lower Deck of Bay Bridge
Despite that good news, officials in Santa Clara County are warning residents living along Coyote Creek and near Kelley Park to be on the lookout for potential flooding.
Water officials for the past month have been releasing water from the reservoir at 400 cubic feet per second, but that rate is not fast enough to create enough room for the incoming rain.
Video'Patch and Pray' Crack Repairs on Oroville Dam
Approaching storms are not the only reason why officials are trying to drain the reservoir. Per government regulations, the body of water is not supposed to exceed 68 percent capacity. That's because the reservoir sits in an earthquake zone and the dam, which was built in 1950 when seismic standards were not as strict as they are today, could be damaged by a 7.25 magnitude or greated earthquake, according to water district spokesperson Marty Grimes
Officials have been developing a plan to retrofit the dam since 2009, but the soonest the water district would commence construction would be in 2020.
More plus autoplaying video:
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Flooding-Concerns-South-Bay-Morgan-Hill-Anderson-Reservoir-Emergency-Spillway-413859483.htmlSomeone suggested on the thread about the other dam that a possible contributor to the problem was an urge to keep the reservoir full after the droughts. This supports that idea.
