The Latest: California empties hatchery as spillway crumbles

OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on storms crumbling the spillway of California's second-largest dam (all times local):

1:20 p.m.

California state workers are using tanker trucks to evacuate millions of baby native salmon from a fish hatchery threatened by the crumbling spillway of a major dam.

California Department of Water Resources officials say the torrents of mud, concrete and other debris from the Oroville Dam spillway on Thursday is threatening survival of the young salmon at the Feather River hatchery.

Hatchery managers plan to truck the hatchery's young salmon to another holding point farther away from the dam.

The latest in a series of heavy storms in California is crumbling the concrete spillway at the Oroville dam, the state's second-largest reservoir. Authorities say there is no immediate threat from the dam itself.

The Feather River hatchery is vital for California's native Chinook salmon, whose numbers have declined during what had been a five-year drought in the state.

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12:23 p.m.

State engineers have discovered new damage to the Oroville Dam spillway in Northern California, the tallest in the United States.

Earlier this week, chunks of concrete went flying off the emergency spillway, creating a 200-foot-long, 30-foot-deep hole.

Department of Water Resources spokesman Doug Carlson says officials will ramp up the outflow from the damaged site Thursday so officials can drain Lake Oroville.

Meanwhile, reservoir levels continued to climb behind the critical flood-control structure. Officials say it is currently at 90 percent of its capacity.

They say the dam is still safe and doesn't threaten communities downstream.

Lake Oroville, in Butte County, is a central piece of California's government-run water delivery network. It is used to supply water, generate electricity and for flood control.