PATERNO et al. vs. STATE OF CALIFORNIA
LINDA-OLIVEHURST
LEVEE FAILURE
LOWER YUBA RIVER
FEBRUARY 1986
MARYSVILLE, CALIFORNIA

J. David Rogers, Ph.D., P.E., R.G., C.E.G.

J. David Rogers was selected as the principal engineering geologic expert by a consortium of 16 law firms representing plaintiff's in a flood damages case emanating from a major levee failure in February 1986. They worked with a team of other experts in allied fields. Our portion of the work centered on a geotechnical and engineering geologic study of the Yuba River levee, just above its confluence with the Feather River. J. David Rogers was retained from 1989 through 1991 to investigate and provide expert witness testimony relating to the role of subsurface geologic conditions on the failure of the levee, which inundated the towns of Linda and Olivehurst, causing well over $400 million in damages.  J. David Rogers compiled an extensive historical database that traced the developmental history of the Yuba Basin, including past flooding problems, four generations of levees, circumstances surrounding past levee failures, geomorphic processes shaping the channel, excavation permits and maintenance activities by the local reclamation district. Our geologists supervised the drilling of both conventional flight auger and cone penetrometer soundings (CPT) of subsurface soils in key areas. These samples were tested and stratigraphic correlations performed which shed light on why the levee failed at the precise location it did. Dr. Rogers testified about his findings related to the failure in a special court set up in Sacramento to hear the case. It was our opinion that special circumstances fostered the failure, which occurred when the river level had subsided to a position 9 feet below the levee crest.

Levee failures commonly occur in northern Calfioirnia during extreme flow events.
The February 1986 levee failure at Linda occurred after the flood had crested
and the water surface was 9 feet below crest, after 9 days at flood stage.