Page - 59 - in Book of Full Papers - Symposium Hydro Engineering

Transparency was also an important concern to the local agencies and the public. DWR took many actions to improve transparency via its communication and outreach procedures. DWR also ensured that the regulatory agencies, the Independent Board of Consultants, the Independent Forensic Team, and the Butte County Sheriff had full access to the facility and its records. Special tours were provided to Federal, State, and local elected officials on a regular basis. Transparency will remain a critical element toward improving communication with regulatory agencies and the public. Dam owners and operators should review their plans, policies, and procedures in advance of an incident to address transparency in such communications. Transparency was often in conflict with security concerns and the need to protect Critical Energy and Electric Infrastructure Information (CEII). Any time information was held back due to security concerns, there was potential for the public and media to become uncomfortable or alarmed by the lack of full disclosure. 7. EMERGENCY RECOVERY As is standard practice in emergency management, immediately after the initial incident, DWR began pulling together the Oroville Emergency Recovery (OER) team. It was critical for DWR and its partners to recognize OER had to be quickly mobilized even as conditions and risks to the facility were changing. DWR maintained an emergency management approach during recovery to successfully meet its primary and secondary objectives: an operational FCO Spillway structure by November 1, 2017, and full recovery of the FCO Spillway chute and the Emergency Spillway by January 1, 2019, respectively. Additional discussion and figures regarding various aspects of the Oroville Emergency Recovery efforts are provided in the accompanying DWR papers. 8. LESSONS LEARNED There have been many valuable lessons learned during this incident. Emergency management systems, polices, and procedures need to be in place and are an essential part of risk reduction programs. Integrating external emergency management partners into the response and recovery efforts under a unified command organization proved very successful. Partnering in advance of an incident with strategic emergency experts would improve response and recovery efforts. It is also critical to have State and Federal emergency management agencies fully onboard and engaged with a project’s EAP with annual training as well as functional exercises on a regular basis. Having facility experts available and on-site during this incident was invaluable. Understanding details of siting, permitting, construction, maintenance, 59