Leak Develops At Auxiliary Dam Site

Construction crews at Folsom Lake's auxiliary dam spillway project had to stop working and evacuate this morning because of a leak.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is leading the project. And Katie Charan with the corps says the leak is not as serious as it sounds.

"To us, it's not that large of deal," says Charan. "We have it handled."

She explains the leak happened in a cofferdam. That's a temporary structure holding Folsom Lake back to give construction crews a small dry area to work in.

"What we had noticed around 4:30 this morning was that we had a small seepage leak in that cofferdam," says Charan. "And there was a little bit more water coming through that cofferdam than we had anticipated."

Charan says it's unclear if all the recent rains are to blame.

"We had a little, 30 feet I think rise over the past three weeks. But I can't answer if it's technically just the rain itself."

Charan says no one was hurt. And the leak will only delay the project by a few days.

The $900 million project is intended to bolster Folsom Dam by allowing water to be released earlier when the Lake gets too high.

CVP Fact Sheet w Map April 17 2015