Water level drops behind California dam, easing flood fears

OROVILLE, Calif. (AP) — The water level dropped Monday behind the nation’s tallest dam, reducing the risk of a catastrophic spillway collapse and easing fears that prompted the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people downstream.
As the day began, officials from the California Department of Water Resources prepared to inspect an erosion scar on the spillway at the dam on Lake Oroville, about 150 miles northeast of San Francisco.
Authorities ordered evacuations Sunday for everyone living b