The Climate
Being located in such a dry climate, the spillway was very rarely necessary. The spillway was only ever in use if there was a high level of water in the area, and that rarely happened. Most of the time, the area was so hot and dry that there was never a problem with the water levels in this dam. In the last decade, the state of California had already been experiencing record droughts. The spillway had no work to do.
Hardly Any Water
The Spillway Exposed
During the record droughts, the spillway was actually completely exposed for a time. No one really thought anything of it; obviously, it was an integral part of the dam that was nothing to worry about. Skateboarders would actually skateboard on the spillway when it was exposed, since it was a giant, concrete structure that was great for practicing tricks. Of course, no one ever went close to the edge, since it dropped so far down.
Exposed
