No, humans cannot make it rain, stop the rain, or produce real rainbows in the sky. But we can do things that protect ourselves from the rain and get it to work for our agriculture and overall economy. And it’s clearer than ever that Californians have simply failed to do those things as the Oroville Dam crisis continues to force massive evacuations and raises fears of a potential disaster.

When we talk about America’s need for an improved and repaired infrastructure, we usually focus on roads, airports, and innovative new projects like the Hyperloop. But we often forget the crucial role dams play in our infrastructure grid. When built and used properly, dams provide crucial clean water resources for commercial and private use, ease the effects and threats of flooding, and also provide a massive source of power via hydroelectricity.

The Oroville Dam in Northern California was built to do all those things, and it has. But there’s one problem: It’s old. The dam was first put into operation in May of 1968, making the nearly 50-year-old facility basically "geriatric" by civil engineering standards. And even if it weren’t as old, California’s environmental special interest groups have effectively frozen the construction of new dams and reservoirs in the state since the mid-1970s. That’s overtaxed the system of existing dams and made the Oroville situation all the more dangerous.

Before this year, the discussion in California about dams was dominated by the fact that the state was experiencing a drought, as opposed to the continued storms and flooding its facing now. Conservatives rightly pointed out that had California built more dams over the last 40 years, there would have been more water stored throughout the state to alleviate the worst conditions of its recent long term and severe drought. Governor Jerry Brown helped put an effective moratorium on dam construction during his first stint as governor from 1975-83.

Yes, there are some real concerns about fish and other wildlife that must be addressed whenever new dams or reservoirs are built. But with California’s human population swelling to 40 million, (up from 23 million in 1980), the lack of any significant new dam or reservoir projects in the more rain-heavy northern part of the state is beyond unconscionable.

Brown and the greens were correct that dams don’t stop droughts or make it rain, but they can help make conditions less severe and avoid some economic and environmental disasters. Now the problem is the massive rain coming all at once. But the lack of enough dams is again making the problem worse. The Oroville Dam has simply been doing too much of the work for too long. More dams and reservoirs as well as systems to recharge depleted underground aquifers "might have retained some of those heavy flows on the Sacramento and other rivers this month. Even a tiny percentage would make a huge difference when drought once again hits," said opinion writer Dan Walters in an articlefor the Sacramento Bee.