Lake Oroville Community Update - April 26

April 26, 2019Oroville Operations and Main Spillway UpdateCORRECTION: In our earlier notification, we stated that repaving operations on area roadways will be underway Monday to Friday through May 29. Paving will also take place this Sunday April 29 and on Saturdays through the end of May.
Oroville’s current reservoir elevation is 877 feet, an increase of 10 feet from last week. Total releases to the Feather River have also increased slightly to 10,500 cubic feet per second (cfs). Oroville’s operations plan is designed to safely accommodate inflows from the above average snowpack, and DWR is aiming to keep lake levels high through spring and summer. Currently, releases from the Hyatt Powerplant are adequate to meet operational requirements of the reservoir and there is no need to use the main spillway at this time. However, we may need to use the main spillway again this year to manage inflows from increased snow melt. DWR will notify the public and media of any planned use of the main spillway.
The main spillway performed as designed when it was used April 2 through April 10, with releases topping out at 25,000 cfs. DWR engineers will continue to perform a thorough inspection of the main spillway to further evaluate its performance and will continue to be visible on the spillway structure. Water currently seen on the spillway results from normal seepage through the spillway radial gates, which are not designed to be watertight. Sandbags are used to direct the flow of water to one side of the spillway or the other to allow for safe access by DWR engineers.
DWR contractors have begun repaving operations on the Oroville Dam Crest Road, the Spillway Boat Launch facility and other area roadways. Paving construction vehicles will continue to use Hyatt Access Road through May 29. Motorists and residents should anticipate additional construction traffic on Canyon Drive and on Oro Dam Blvd. East to the Hyatt Access Road Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. We apologize for any inconvenience and will notify you if there are any changes. Thank you for your continued patience.
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