Senator Jim Nielsen (R-Tehama) issued the following statement regarding the interim status memo by the Oroville Dam Spillway Incident Independent Forensic Team:

“This memo outlines the deficiencies in the spillway and continues to confirm my observations, those of my father-in-law who worked as an electrician during the dam’s construction, and many who are familiar with the Oroville Dam Spillway.

“Decades of neglect have contributed greatly to the recent spillway failure and this can no longer continue.

“The Governor and Legislature must prioritize investment in the state’s critical water infrastructure, which includes allocating $100 million for our levees. The state must do more thorough inspections and invest in repairing damage that is found.

“The emergency evacuation of nearly 200,000 people and their pets should not have happened, and must not ever occur again!”