November 27, 2019Lake Oroville Community UpdateDWR Installation of New Lighting on Main Spillway
Following manufacturer’s instructions, new lighting installed on Oroville Dam’s main spillway will remain on for a continuous 72-hour period as part of activation testing. It’s anticipated this testing period will now take place in mid-December. The public’s patience is appreciated as DWR complies with the light’s activation requirements. After testing is complete, the lights will then be used intermittently based on operational needs.
California Natural Resources Agency’s Oroville Dam Citizens Advisory Commission Public Meeting
Thank you to everyone who participated in the second Oroville Dam Citizens Advisory Commission meeting, which took place on Wednesday, Nov. 20 in Oroville. A summary and transcript of the meeting will be uploaded to the Oroville Dam Citizens Advisory Commission webpage in the coming weeks. Details about the Commission’s next meeting and information about the Commission is also available on the webpage.
During the site visit at Oroville Dam as part of last week’s Commission meeting, DWR referenced a briefing held in May with a team of experts known as the Board of Consultants on how the main spillway performed when it was used in April 2019. A link to the recap of that briefing can found here.  
Spillway Boat Ramp Area Holiday and Winter Access Hours
The winter access schedule for Lake Oroville’s Spillway Boat Ramp provides daily public access to the area from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Motorists are urged to turn on headlights and pay attention to pedestrian and bicyclist safety.
Walkers, joggers and bicyclists may continue to enjoy daily access on the pedestrian lane on the lakeside of Dam Crest/Oroville Dam Road from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., as well as parking at the Upper Overlook. These access hours for Dam Crest/Oroville Dam Road will remain the same through the winter months.
Current Lake Operations
The elevation of Oroville reservoir is 775 feet and storage is about 1.9 million acre-feet. Daily average inflows to the lake have ranged between 1,950 cfs to 2,100 cfs over the past week.
Precipitation is expected for the week of Dec. 2 in the Feather River watershed. A change in the weather is expected to begin on Monday night through Tuesday with the basin expecting between five and six inches of precipitation over the next six days. Freezing elevations will range from 4,000 to 6,500 feet enabling snow to accumulate. Beyond this week, the unsettled pattern continues with possible additional systems dropping down from the Gulf of Alaska.
Water demands from Lake Oroville are about 1,700 cfs and actual releases will vary throughout the day and week based upon power generation schedules. Water from the reservoir continues to be used locally for rice decomposition and waterfowl habitat and released to meet environmental and flow requirements in the Feather River, as well as downstream in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Releases for local diversions are approximately 1,500 cfs and the scheduled releases to the high flow channel of the Feather River, downstream of the Thermalito Afterbay River Outlet, are 2,450 cfs.
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November 15, 2019Lake Oroville Community UpdateUPDATE: The Lake Oroville Community Updates will be distributed bi-weekly beginning Friday, November 22.
California Natural Resources Agency to Host Second Oroville Dam Citizens Advisory Commission Public Meeting
The California Natural Resources Agency is hosting its second Citizens Advisory Commission meeting on Wednesday, November 20, 2019. The meeting will begin with a site visit to Oroville Dam followed by a public meeting with presentations and the opportunity for public comment. The site visit and meeting are both open to members of the community.
The site visit will convene at the Oroville Dam Overlook Parking Area at the north end of Oroville Dam Crest/Oroville Dam Road from 8:45 a.m. to 10 a.m. Department of Water Resources staff will provide an overview of Oroville Dam facilities and answer questions from Commission members and the public. The Commission meeting will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the Southside Community Center, 2959 Lower Wyandotte Road, Oroville and end at 1 p.m. Additional information and directions can be found here.
The Oroville Dam Citizens Advisory Commission, created by Senate Bill 955 (Nielsen) in 2018, established a new public forum for discussing issues related to Oroville Dam facilities. The Commission, housed within the California Natural Resources Agency, represents the communities surrounding Oroville Dam for the purposes of providing public input and receiving information from state agencies related to the Oroville Dam, including its appurtenant structures, the Feather River Fish Hatchery, and the Oroville-Thermalito Complex.
Access to Spillway Boat Ramp Area Closed Monday Morning for Lighting Work
Work to install new main spillway lighting will require closure of the access road to the Spillway Boat Ramp area on Monday, November 18, from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  The temporary closure will help insure worker safety. Dam Crest/Oroville Dam Road will remain open to vehicles as well as pedestrians and bicyclists from the south end of Oroville Dam to the Overlook Parking Lot. Vehicle access to the Spillway Boat Ramp area will resume at 1 p.m. Monday, returning to the winter access hours of 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Noteworthy News
~~ This week, KCRA Sacramento produced a feature highlighting the lessons learned from the Oroville spillways incident and the current safety status of the reconstructed Oroville spillways. The feature discussed new safety measures implemented since the incident, including Oroville Dam’s compliance with requirements for additional emergency action safety plans as well as new, different sounding sirens on Butte County Sheriff’s Office vehicles to signal evacuation alerts to the public.
~~ Residents in Butte, Yuba, Sutter and Sacramento counties received an insert titled “Oroville Dam: Part of our Community” in their Sacramento Valley newspapers as part of DWR’s ongoing effort to educate and inform the public about the role Oroville Dam and the State Water Project play in managing and protecting our state’s water systems. The informational insert provides information about the history of Oroville Dam, the benefits it provides for the Oroville community and surrounding region, how the facility is operated and maintained, and the reconstruction efforts on the main and emergency spillways. Copies of the insert are available at the Oroville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Spillway Boat Ramp Area Holiday and Winter Access Hours
The new winter access schedule for Lake Oroville’s Spillway Boat Ramp Area allows the public daily access to the area from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Motorists are urged to turn on headlights and pay attention to pedestrian and bicyclist safety.
Walkers, joggers and bicyclists continue to enjoy daily access on the pedestrian lane on the lakeside of Dam Crest/Oroville Dam Road from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., as well as parking at the Upper Overlook. These access hours for the Dam Crest/Oroville Dam Road will remain the same through the winter months.
Current Lake Operations
The elevation of Oroville reservoir is 780 feet and storage is just under 2 million acre-feet. There is no rainfall in the 5-day forecast for the Feather River watershed and daily average inflows to the lake have ranged between 1,700 cfs to 2,100 cfs over the past week. Water releases from Lake Oroville are about 3,650 cfs and will vary throughout the day and week based upon power generation schedules.  Water from the lake continues to be used locally for rice decomposition and waterfowl habitat and released to meet environmental and flow requirements in the Feather River, as well as downstream in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The scheduled releases to the high flow channel of the Feather River, downstream of the Thermalito Afterbay River Outlet, are 2,450 cfs.
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November 8, 2019Lake Oroville Community UpdateCalifornia Natural Resources Agency to Host Second Oroville Dam Citizens Advisory Commission Public Meeting
The California Natural Resources Agency is hosting its second Citizens Advisory Commission meeting on Wednesday, November 20, 2019. The meeting will begin with a site visit followed by a public meeting with presentations and the opportunity for public comment. The site visit and meeting are both open to members of the community.
The site visit will convene at the Oroville Dam Overlook Parking Area at the north end of Oroville Dam Crest Road from 8:45 a.m. to 10 a.m. Department of Water Resources staff will be available to provide information and answer questions from Commission members and the public. The Commission meeting will end at 1 p.m. Additional information can be found here.
The Oroville Dam Citizens Advisory Commission, created by Senate Bill 955 (Nielsen) in 2018, established a new public forum for discussing issues related to the Oroville Dam facilities. The Commission, housed within the California Natural Resources Agency, represents the communities surrounding Oroville Dam for the purposes of providing public input and receiving information from state agencies related to the Oroville Dam, including its appurtenant structures, the Feather River Fish Hatchery, and the Oroville-Thermalito Complex.
Spillway Boat Ramp Area Holiday and Winter Access Hours
Weekend Spillway Boat Ramp area access Friday through Sunday from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. will be extended through the Veteran’s Day holiday Monday, November 11. On Tuesday, November 12, the new winter access schedule will begin, providing daily access for motorists and the public to the Spillway Boat Ramp area from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. As daylight hours decrease, motorists are urged to turn on headlights and pay attention to pedestrian and bicyclist safety.
Walkers, joggers and bicyclists continue to enjoy daily access on the pedestrian lane on the lakeside of Dam Crest Road from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., as well as parking at the Upper Overlook. These access hours for the Dam Crest Road will remain the same through the winter months.
Current Lake Operations
The elevation of Oroville reservoir is 782 feet and storage is just over 2 million acre-feet. There is no rainfall in the 5-day forecast for the Feather River watershed and daily average inflows to the lake have ranged between 980 cfs to 2,250 cfs over the past week. Water releases from Lake Oroville are about 3,600 cfs and will vary throughout the week based upon power generation schedules. Water from the lake continues to be used locally for rice decomposition and waterfowl habitat and released to meet environmental and flow requirements in the Feather River, as well as downstream in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The scheduled releases to the high flow channel of the Feather River, downstream of the Thermalito Afterbay River Outlet, are 2,450 cfs.
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November 1, 2019Lake Oroville Community UpdateSpillway Boat Ramp Area Holiday and Winter Access Hours
Weekend Spillway Boat Ramp area access Friday through Sunday from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. will be extended through the Veteran’s Day holiday Monday, November 11. On Tuesday, November 12, the new winter access schedule will begin, providing daily access to the Spillway Boat Ramp area from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. to accommodate the Nov. 3 transition from Daylight Savings Time. The Spillway Boat Ramp Area will remain closed Monday through Thursday, Nov. 4-7 to allow final construction activities to be completed.
Walkers, joggers and bicyclists continue to enjoy daily access to the pedestrian lane on the lakeside of Dam Crest Road from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., as well as parking at the Upper Overlook. These access hours for the Dam Crest Road will remain the same through the winter months. For safety considerations, the public can only drive across Dam Crest Road within the operating hours of the Spillway Boat Ramp, which are Friday through Sunday from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. including the Veteran’s Day holiday on November 11 and change to daily access 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on November 12. As daylight hours grow less, motorists are urged to turn on headlights and pay attention to pedestrian and bicyclist safety.
Spillway Construction Site Office Trailers to Remain at Upper Overlook        
The recent relocation of construction office trailers to a portion of the Upper Overlook parking lot has been extended. DWR is locating construction office trailers on DWR property at Oroville Dam’s Upper Overlook parking lot in an effort to provide staff with office accommodations in proximity to ongoing and future DWR projects, including the Oroville Dam Spillways Reconstruction project and future site rehabilitation activities, Lake Oroville recreation improvement projects and other area projects.
DWR Biologist Count Salmon Returning to the Feather River
DWR biologists wading or boating up and down the Feather River between the Fish Hatchery and the East Gridley Bridge will be visible over the next few months as they perform their annual estimate of Chinook Salmon returning to the river to spawn. The annual estimate, along with the other information collected on the survey, is vital for understanding the health of the Feather River salmon fishery and for understanding the health of the CA ocean fishery as well. Estimates of the number of salmon spawning in the Feather River are added to other spawning populations in the Central Valley to inform ocean harvest managers about the overall health of the Sacramento Valley Fall-run Chinook Salmon population.
DWR’s Feather River Program conducts many other types of fisheries research and monitoring throughout the year in the lower Feather River. The Program’s work provides understanding about the biology and life-history of Chinook Salmon and other listed species in the Feather River, helping DWR to operate Oroville Dam and associated facilities in a manner that will insure healthy fish populations for the long-term.
Current Lake Operations
The elevation of Oroville reservoir is 786 feet and storage is 2.04 million acre-feet. There is no rainfall in the 5-day forecast for the Feather River watershed and daily average inflows to the lake have ranged between 1,100 cfs to 2,200 cfs over the past week. Water releases from Lake Oroville are approximately 4,850 cfs and will vary throughout the week based upon power generation schedules. Water from the lake is being used locally for rice decomposition and waterfowl habitat and released to meet environmental and flow requirements in the Feather River as well as downstream in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The releases to the high flow channel of the Feather River, downstream of the Thermalito Afterbay River Outlet, are 2,490 cfs.
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Know someone who would like to receive Community Updates? They can email their request to [email protected].