Lake Oroville Update - January 17, 2025

Feather River Hatchery Steelhead Planting

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has begun planting Central Valley steelhead raised at the Feather River Fish Hatchery at sites along the Feather and Sacramento rivers. A total of 540,222 yearling-size steelhead were raised in 2024 for release in local waterways between Jan. 10 and Jan. 30.

• Feather River at Boyd’s Pump Boat Launch: 348,917
• Sacramento River at Verona Boat Launch: 116,305
• Thermalito Afterbay at Wilbur Road Boat Launch: 75,000

 

Steelhead spawning operations are also underway at the Hatchery and will continue through early February. These fish enter the Hatchery via the fish ladder that leads up from the Feather River Fish Barrier Dam and can be seen at the viewing windows and facility. Once the spawned fish eggs have hatched, the juvenile fish will be reared at the hatchery for a full year and then released next winter into the Feather River.

 

Like the salmon that populate the Feather River, steelhead trout migrate from the river to the ocean, returning to the river as adults to spawn. Unlike salmon, they can spawn several times during their lifetime. The name “steelhead” comes from their appearance, a more streamlined shape than Chinook salmon with a silvery or brassy color as an adult.

 

The Feather River Fish Hatchery is a California State Water Project (SWP) facility built in the late 1960s by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to mitigate impacts on fish migration resulting from the construction of Oroville Dam. DWR owns and maintains the facility and provides funding to CDFW to perform spawning, rearing, and stocking operations.

 

Snow Goose Festival

Celebrate one of the greatest migratory bird pathways in the world at the Snow Goose Festival of the Pacific Flyway happening Jan. 23 to Jan. 26. The festival hosts a variety of activities throughout the four-day event, including guided field trips to view the waterfowl, raptors, and Snow Geese that migrate through the Northern Sacramento Valley during the winter months.

 

DWR’s Lake Oroville Visitor Center Guides will host a free educational booth featuring kids’ activities between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25 and Sunday, Jan. 26 at the Patrick Ranch Museum in Durham. Join festival attendees with visits to the Thermalito Forebay and Afterbay, and Oroville Wildlife Area offering possible sightings of rough-legged hawk, ferruginous hawk, merlin, bald eagle, golden eagle, red-tailed hawk, burrowing owl, ducks, grebes, and other deep-water birds. Check out the Snow Goose Festival website for more details about activities, an avian art exhibit, and guided field trips during the four-day event.

 

Floating Classroom Program Highlights Chinook Salmon Lifecycle

During the autumn months, the Feather River in Oroville is home to adult Chinook salmon that have returned to their natural spawning grounds to complete their lifecycle and start the next generation. This infusion of thousands of salmon offers a prime opportunity for public education, with classes held on the river instead of within the four walls of a school. Through the Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) Feather River Floating Classroom Program, people of all ages are learning about the salmon lifecycle and critical ongoing conservation efforts and research in the Feather River. 

 

Developed by environmental scientists within DWR’s Division of Integrated Science and Engineering (DISE), the Feather River Floating Classroom Program has held various forms over the last decade. For many years public tours were offered solely during the City of Oroville’s Salmon Festival, celebrating the return of Chinook salmon. With the program’s growing popularity, DWR is now supporting dozens of free tours for local schools and public members during the fall spawning season.

 

“The floating classroom program is so important because it gives people an opportunity to have a connection to their local environment,” said Michelle Pepping, environmental scientist with DISE. “We’re building that bridge from the environment directly to the community and sharing information about the salmon’s life history and the work DWR does on the river to benefit salmon.”

 

The 2024 fall-run spawning season marked the first year in which DWR sponsored dozens of free tours to local schools and members of the public, with support from the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Thermalito Union Elementary School District. While the Feather River Floating Classroom program has concluded for the season, DWR’s efforts continue year-round to study salmon and enhance the Feather River habitat and help Chinook Salmon populations thrive. The Feather River Floating Classroom program will resume with the return of fall-run Chinook salmon.

 

Read more about the Feather River Floating Classroom program on DWR’s website and watch our YouTube video.

 

Oroville Recreation

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.

 

Lake Oroville is 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.

 

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 Jan. 14, 2025 are:  

• Fall-run Chinook salmon: 17
• Steelhead: 19
• To see previous year data, visit CalFish.org.

 

Current Lake Operations

Lake Oroville is at 835 feet elevation and storage is approximately 2.52 million acre-feet (MAF), which is 74 percent of its total capacity and 129 percent of the historical average.

 

Feather River flows are at 650 cubic feet per second (cfs) through the City of Oroville with 1,100 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 1/16/2025.

 

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