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Author: Tom Conning, Public Affairs Specialist
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  • January

    A Dam Safety Program inspector dangles from the face of a Willamette Valley dam as he assesses the condition of spillway gates, June 6, 2009. The dam safety assessment concluded gates could fail to open or could stick, which could affect how the dams released water. In 2010, the District began rehabilitating the gates.

    Dam: that’s a lot of work - Corps completes spillway gate repair

    In 2009, dam safety inspectors dangled from ropes to inspect the spillway gates at federal dams throughout Oregon. The team, in their top-to-bottom inspection, determined that the aging spillway gates might malfunction when the water levels were high.

  • June

    Water from spring runoff fills Green Peter Reservoir near Sweet Home, Oregon, Apr. 12. Portland District reservoirs don’t depend on snowpack to fill. Instead, the reservoirs depend on spring and early summer rain. (Corps of Engineers photo)

    Good snowpack doesn’t ensure good water levels

    This past winter, Oregon received plenty of precipitation and snowpack was more than 170 percent of its average in some areas, according to the National Resources Conservation Service. Many people may believe this is cause for celebration in a state that has seen drought conditions during much of the past few years. And although it is good news, snowpack doesn’t mean Portland District’s reservoirs will be full throughout the summer.

  • May

    Richard Benoit, Portland District dive team proponent and program manager, has been deployed for more than a year, first to Afghanistan and now to Iraq to inspect underwater tunnels and steel structures at Mosul Dam. (Corps of Engineers Photo)

    ISIS, potential dam collapse make deployment memorable

    Richard Benoit, Portland District dive team proponent and program manager, has been deployed for more than a year, first to Afghanistan and now to Iraq. This is his seventh overseas deployment, but his first to the Middle East, where he is serving as the Corps’ dive safety officer and dive safety inspector for the Mosul Dam rehabilitation and repair project.