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Intensifying drought conditions in California and historically low water levels at the Oroville Dam on Aug. 5 forced the state’s Department of Water Resources (CDWR) to shut down the 644-MW Edward Hyatt Power Plant—the fourth largest energy producer of all California’s hydroelectric facilities. Similar conditions across the West are prompting a careful watch over hydropower facilities.

The Edward Hyatt hydroelectric plant at the damaged Oroville Dam in northern California, shut down earlier this month after its spillway nearly collapsed, may reopen soon, officials with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) said on March 1. The plant was forced to shut down after severe erosion from the dam’s spillway deposited large […]