Lake Oroville Update - December 6, 2024

Snow-Cember at the Visitor Center

Stop by the Lake Oroville Visitor Center each weekend in December for free winter-themed craft activities for kids three-years-old and up! Located at 917 Kelly Ridge Road in Oroville, the Visitor Center is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Snow-cember weekend craft activities include:

• Dec. 7-8: Shaving cream ornaments
• Dec. 14-15: Snowman countdown garland
• Dec. 21-22: Paper plate snow globes
• Dec. 28-29: Snowman yarn puppets

 

Staffed by knowledgeable guides, the Lake Oroville Visitor Center features interpretive displays on Oroville Dam, area geology, wildlife and habitat, hydroelectric power, and cultural and historical artifacts. View videos in the theater about the construction of Oroville Dam, walk or hike along nearby trails, and visit the 47-foot-tall observation tower that provides unsurpassed panoramic views of surrounding areas. Free guided tours for school and community groups are available by reservation. Parking and admission to the Visitor Center are free.

 

Lakeside Access Road Closed

Rising reservoir levels at Lake Oroville from recent storms have required the closure of Lakeside Access Road at Oroville Dam. While Lakeside Access Road is closed, vehicle access to the Spillway Boat Ramp and Day Use Area is available daily between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m., with all vehicles and trailers subject to inspection by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) for security purposes. There are three other boat ramps at Lake Oroville that are open 24 hours/day and do not entail CHP inspections: Bidwell Canyon, Loafer Point, and Lime Saddle.

 

Oroville Dam Citizens Advisory Commission

The California Natural Resources Agency hosted its 18th Oroville Dam Citizens Advisory Commission meeting on Dec. 6. In addition to public comment, the Commission received an update on winter forecasts and operations preparation from the Department of Water Resources (DWR); an overview of a recent joint State-local Oroville Dam emergency response training exercise led by DWR; a presentation from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on its process to update the Water Control Manual, which prescribes day-to-day water flood control management for the Oroville Reservoir; and a commissioner-led presentation on how the Water Control Manual relates to public safety, including perspectives on public safety-focused objectives for the update.

 

The Citizens Advisory Commission is a forum for questions and feedback from the communities surrounding Oroville Dam. For information on the meeting, please visit the Oroville Dam Citizens Advisory Commission website. A transcript of the virtual meeting will be available on the webpage in the coming weeks.

 

DWR Announces Initial State Water Project Allocation for 2025

DWR announced an initial State Water Project (SWP) allocation forecast of five percent of requested supplies for 2025. The SWP provides water to 29 public water agencies that serve 27 million Californians.

 

The December initial water supply forecast is the first allocation of the new water year and is based on current reservoir storage and conservative assumptions for precipitation to come. For comparison, last year, the initial allocation for Water Year 2024 was 10 percent of requested supplies and it eventually increased to 40 percent by the end of the season.

 

The initial allocation forecast announced today does not take into account the series of strong storms that brought precipitation to above average across Northern California in the last two weeks of November. These storms will be taken into account along with other variables for future allocation updates. Prior to these storms, the start of the water year had been dry and warm.

 

More information about the allocation announcement may be found in DWR’s press release.

 

Feather River Fishing Opportunities

Like Chinook salmon that migrate from the Pacific Ocean to the Feather River to spawn, steelhead trout have similar migratory practices, with most returning in the fall and winter months. With more than 1,300 steelhead trout migrating upstream from DWR’s fish monitoring station this year, the cooler months offer prime steelhead fishing opportunities in the Feather River. These fish have typically spent a year or two in the ocean and range in size from 2 to 8 pounds. The Oroville Wildlife Area (OWA) provides walk-in access to several miles of the Feather River for fishing, along with multiple locations for launching fishing boats (4-wheel-drive vehicles recommended). In addition, the Thermalito Afterbay offers excellent fishing opportunities for steelhead that were raised at the Feather River Fish Hatchery and range in size from 2 to 4 pounds.

 

Lake Oroville is also one of the State Water Project’s premier recreational destinations and one of California’s best fishing spots. The lake provides both warm-water and cold-water fisheries, with excellent bass fishing opportunities during the fall and winter months. Be sure to check California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) fishing regulations before fishing. The marinas at Bidwell Canyon and Lime Saddle are open daily and provide a variety of services including a convenience store, gas, boat rentals, and more.

 

Oroville Recreation

DWR, the California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks), and CDFW maintain over 92 miles of trails in the Oroville area. An interactive map of recreation facilities, including open trails and their permitted uses (hike, bike, horse, multi), is available on DWR’s Lake Oroville Recreation webpage. A paper trail map is available at various locations, including most entrance kiosks and the Lake Oroville Visitor Center.  

 

Upstream migrating fish totals through the Feather River Fish Monitoring Station between Jan. 1 and Nov. 1 are:  

• Spring-run Chinook salmon (March 1 through June 30): 7,152
• Fall-run Chinook salmon (July 1 through present): 37,136        
• Steelhead: 1,314

 

Current Lake Operations

Lake Oroville is at 783 feet elevation and storage is approximately 1.92 million acre-feet (MAF), which is 56 percent of its total capacity and 108 percent of the historical average.

 

Feather River flows are at 800 cubic feet per second (cfs) through the City of Oroville with 950 cfs being released from the Thermalito Afterbay River Outlet (Outlet) for a total Feather River release of 1,750 cfs downstream. DWR continues to assess Feather River releases daily. 

 

The public can track precipitation, snow, reservoir levels, and more at the California Data Exchange Center. The Lake Oroville gage station is identified as “ORO.”

 

All data as of midnight 12/5/2024.

 

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Know someone who would like to receive Community Updates? They can email their request to oroville@water.ca.gov.