Oroville Dam sees some water releases ahead of atmospheric river headed to California
OROVILLE – Water is flowing again on the Oroville Dam's main spillway on Wednesday.
The operation comes as a strong atmospheric river sets its sights on Northern California.
According to the California Department of Water Resources, about 6,000 cubic feet per second of water will be released from the Oroville-Thermalito Complex.
It will be the first time since March 2023 that water releases will be done at Oroville Dam. The releases that winter were prompted by the abundant rainfall California saw, leaving Lake Oroville at 75% capacity – above average for that time of year.
As of Wednesday, Lake Oroville is at 76% capacity.
Further north in Shasta County, water releases were already increased Tuesday at the Shasta and Keswick dams from 5,000 to 15,000 feet per second to make way for forecasted inflows from the atmospheric river, the Bureau of Reclamation said.
There have not been any increased releases at the Folsom Dam in Sacramento County.
The Oroville Dam rose to national prominence after the February 2017 crisis that saw its main spillway damaged. The newly rebuilt spillway was first used in 2019 without incident.
