Lake Oroville levels continue to drop

Lake Oroville levels continue to drop even though the main spillway was shut down two weeks ago. Officials say that’s just to balance safety and recreation with storage for runoff.

Erin Mellon, communications and outreach adviser for the California Natural Resources Agency, said the Department of Water Resources wants to be absolutely sure there’s enough space in the reservoir for the snowmelt from a drought-busting winter.

“It’s normal procedure to manage lake levels during all seasons,” Mellon said Thursday. “With a record snow year, we need to have that extra

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space.”

With outflows to the main spillway shut down and the gates closed May 19, Mellon said DWR is ensuring there’s ample space in the reservoir so it doesn’t have to rely on the spillway this summer and into fall. DWR’s construction on the spillway is expected to be complete by Nov. 1.

She said the lowering of the lake has nothing to do with inspections of the inside of the dam, though the reservoir is regularly inspected by state, federal and independent inspection groups. And though, like any large construction projects, there are unexpected challenges, Mellon said DWR has a backup plan for its backup plans.

“We’re very confident we’re going to be able to reach our Nov. 1 deadline,” she said. “We want to assure the public that the dam is sound... there are no issues and no public safety concerns.”

Mellon said DWR is about a week ahead of the construction schedule and expects the bottom part of the spillway to be fully demolished in the next 10 days. DWR has been conducting controlled blasts nearly every day and sometimes multiple times a day.

Mellon said DWR is also confi-

dent that Lake Oroville will be able to withstand the incoming snowmelt.

“We have studied the snowpack extensively and use forecasting techniques to predict future inflows and are confident that we can continue managing inflows and outflows through the summer as the snowpack continues to melt,” she said.

Sutter County Public Information Officer Chuck Smith said the county receives daily updates from DWR, and two representatives from Development Services have visited the construction site.

“It looks like the reservoir level is low, so we have the presumption (that) there isn’t any immediate concern,” Smith said.