The spillway connection

DWR ups outflows to 20,000 cfs

“With recent storms, we have been seeing higher inflows into Lake Oroville and DWR did begin increasing our releases last week in preparation for these storms.”

— Molly White, State Water Project operations manager

OROVILLE >> The California Department of Water Resources made the jump from 15,000 cubic feet per second to 20,000 cfs Wednesday as part of its ongoing plan to keep up with storm-related inflows.

DWR made the announcement Tuesday afternoon stating that the increase was in response to additional runoff caused by snowmelt and recent heavy rainfall.

Since Friday, the rebuilt Oroville Dam spillway has been consistently releasing water for the second time since April 2019 when the spillway was utilized to release 25,000. According to information from DWR, the spillway, which was rebuilt in 2018 following 2017’s failure, is capable of releasing outflows of up to 270,000.

The department works under guidelines provided by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to determine what outflow levels can be pending storm activity. So far, this year has seen considerable storm impacts both in terms of rain and snow since the beginning of January. Because of the inflows, Lake Oroville sits at a water elevation of 844 feet, according to DWR’s data. Some censors at the lake showed up to 852 feet

as of Wednesday morning, though it’s noted on DWR’s website that the data is preliminary.

According to LakesOnline.com, on March 15, 2022, Lake Oroville was at about 742 feet.

Lake Oroville is the largest reservoir in the State Water Project. The lake provides water to about 27 million California residents and also acts as a flood control point, hence why a portion of the lake is left open in anticipation of storm inflows.

DWR hosted a Zoom press conference Wednesday at which point State Water Project Operations Manager Molly White spoke on the dam and the spillway.

“With recent storms, we have been seeing higher inflows into Lake Oroville and DWR did begin increasing our releases last week in preparation for these storms,” White said. “To continue to manage lake levels today we did increase the releases to the Feather River.”

White said an additional increase to 25,000 cfs is planned for Thursday.

JAKE HUTCHISON — ENTERPRISE-RECORD Water from Lake Oroville crashes into the Feather River via the spillway Wednesday in Butte County. The California Department of Water Resources raised the outflows to 20,000cfs at noon Wednesday.

JAKE HUTCHISON — ENTERPRISE-RECORD Lake Oroville’s surface sits at 844feet elevation on Wednesday in Butte County.