Putting Public Safety First – The Oroville Dam Spillways Emergency Recovery

Ted Craddock is the Acting Deputy Director for the State Water Project (SWP) with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR).  Ted has been with the California DWR for over 25 years and has worked on a number of critical projects for the SWP. In 2017, Ted was asked to lead DWR's $1.1 billion fast-tracked project to reconstruct the Oroville Dam spillways to ensure public safety. Prior to this assignment, Ted served as Chief of DWR’s Hydropower License Office and also led other DWR efforts including managing the East Branch Extension (EBX) program, design and construction of Crafton Hills Dam and Dyer Reservoir, and the engineering feasibility studies of the Sites Reservoir dams.  Mr. Craddock holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil and Materials Engineering from the University of California, Davis.

Steve Verigin is a Senior Vice President and a Senior Consulting Geotechnical Engineer and leader in GEI’s water resources design and construction engineering practice. Mr. Verigin’s expertise is within the geotechnical water resources engineering sector which includes dams, levees and other appurtenant structures.

Prior to joining GEI, Mr. Verigin worked at numerous engineering and management levels for the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) including Chief of the Division of Safety of Dams, Deputy Director and Acting Chief Deputy Director.  
He is recognized nationally as an expert and leader in levee and dam safety engineering with extensive project, program, and executive management experience. He is a former president of ASDSO, served as a member of the National Committee on Levee Safety and Chaired the U.S. Levee Safety Coalition. He presently serves on the Board of Consultants for several California dam projects.
Since February 2017 he has been a consultant to the California Department of Water Resources serving as Deputy Project Manager for the Oroville Emergency Recovery – Spillways Project and as a member of the Project Management Team for the Oroville Dam Comprehensive Needs Assessment Project.

Paul has been with Gannett Fleming for 35 years. During that time, he has provided engineering consulting services for more than 500 dams throughout the United States and Canada. Paul is an approved Federal Energy Regulatory Commission facilitator and Independent Consultant for conducting potential failure modes analysis exercises, Emergency Action Plan exercises, and Part 12 dam assessments. He regularly serves as an expert hydrology and hydraulics engineer on Independent External Peer Review panels for United States Army Corps of Engineers dam and flood control projects and has served on the National Dam Safety Review Board as the Private Sector Representative. Paul is a frequent instructor of Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) engineering seminars. He served on the Board of Consultants for the Oroville Spillway Emergency Recovery Project and is currently serving on several boards of consultants for dam projects throughout the United States.