The normal water exit from the dam is through the power plant. If either spillway is moving too much water, the level of the pool below rises, and the power plant turbines can't run because there's backpressure at their exit. That happened this time, which increased the load on the spillway.
Right now, the lake level has been dropped to 50 feet below the dam top, to provide some safety margin for later storms. The crisis is probably over, and there will be heavy construction this summer.
Right now, the lake level has been dropped to 50 feet below the dam top, to provide some safety margin for later storms. The crisis is probably over, and there will be heavy construction this summer.