DWR unlikely to use Oroville Dam’s spillway this week

Oroville Dam’s main spillway is unlikely to be used this week, as the weekend’s rainfall did not meet anticipated forecasts, the state’s Department of Water Resources announced on Sunday.

Erin Mellon, DWR assistant director of public affairs, said outflows from the Hyatt Powerplant will be sufficient enough to keep the reservoir at a stable level.

“We used an abundance of caution, because we wanted to give people as much notice as we could if the spillway were to be used,” Mellon said. “We are on the other side of the (weekend’s) big storm and we are well below that 830-foot trigger mark.”

Inflows into the reservoir peaked on Saturday at just over 54,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). A steady outflow of 13,000 cfs from Hyatt Powerplant kept the elevation of the reservoir below 800 feet, according to a DWR press release.

Hannah Chandler, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento, said the weekend’s rainfall topped out at 3 1/3 inches and was slightly less than the service had expected.

For the week ahead, a pair of weak storm systems are expected to bring no more than 1/2 inch of rain to the Mid-valley, Chandler said.

Today’s temperature will hit in the high 70s, but will drop back down to the mid 60s as overcast skies and rainfall is expected from Tuesday through Thursday.

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