California's record breaking flooding rains are pushing reservoirs and the infrastructure holding that water to its limits.

RELATED: Storm Shield app provides life-saving weather alerts
RELATED: SnowCast tells how much snow will fall at your location

The Oroville Dam has gotten the most attention with a broken spillway, nearly overflowing and serious erosion from lots and lots of flowing water.

More recently, officials opened the Don Pedro spillway for the first time in 20 years, and water began pouring into Lake Berryessa's 'glory hole.'

While all the dams in Northern California appear to be holding for now, there were many instances throughout history when water won out.

Since 2000, eight dams in the United States broke down, resulting in disastrous flooding, and in one case, there were fatalities.

Most of these dam failures were from heavy rains, but some were the result of human error, poor maintenance and even a sinkhole.

Follow Storm Shield Meteorologist Jason Meyers via the Storm Shield app on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Download the Storm Shield Weather Radio App for your iPhone or Android device and get severe weather alerts wherever you are. Named by Time.com one of the best weather apps for your iPhone.