(TNS) - Oroville Dam’s massive flood-control spillway will be deployed Tuesday for the first time since it was rebuilt for $1.1 billion after a near-catastrophe forced the evacuation of 188,000 people in 2017.

In a brief statement Sunday, the California Department of Water Resources’ deputy director Joel Ledesma said the agency has “restored full functionality to the Oroville main spillway and is operating the reservoir to ensure public safety of those downstream. The Oroville main spillway was designed and constructed using 21st century engineering practices and under the oversight and guidance from state and federal regulators and independent experts.”

The state has been hinting for weeks that the spillway could be reused soon as a wet winter starts to give way to the spring snowmelt season in the Sierra. The lake level, deliberately kept low as repairs wound down, has risen to 853 feet, or about 50 feet from the top.

The initial releases of water down the spillway will be relatively gentle, no more than 20,000 cubic feet per second. But later this week, as more water rolls into the lake, DWR said releases could rise to as much as 60,000 cfs. Rain is forecast for the Oroville area Monday and Tuesday.

The dam was releasing water at around 50,000 cfs in February 2017 when a giant crater erupted in the main spillway. Dam operators dialed back water releases to minimize the damage, causing lake levels to rise so high that water spilled over the adjacent emergency spillway several days later for the first time since the dam opened in 1968.

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