California IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Dam Gate Break Cause Disputed

The failure of a gate at Folsom Dam is a sign that California’s largest water system is starting to crumble because of federal neglect, water customers said. One of eight gates at the 40-year-old dam gave way as it was being raised Monday, and water from the filled reservoir gushed through the opening at 40,000 cubic feet per second. Water continued to pour through the opening Tuesday, and was not expected to stop until about 40% of the reservoir was drained later this week. “I’m not surprised this happened,” said Jean Sagouspe of the Central Valley Project Water Assn. He predicted during a speech in May that inadequate funding would cause the waterworks to suffer a massive failure with catastrophic effects on users. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation confirmed a multimillion-dollar backlog of maintenance work on the project. But they contended that was in no way responsible for the buckling of the spillway gate. Authorities have no explanation for the failure so far.