Lake Oroville Update - July 31, 2026
An image of a grove of oak trees that have been cleared of overgrown vegetation showing the results of fuel load management work.
Fuel Load Reduction Projects
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the Butte County Fire Safe Council have completed a 140-acre project to reduce wildfire risk in the Loafer Creek area at the Lake Oroville State Recreation Area. Over the last 10 months, crews reduced overgrown, dead, and dying vegetation using hand and mechanical thinning, pile burning, and grazing.
The project was funded by a CAL FIRE Forest Health Grant with support from Mooretown Rancheria’s Forestry Crew, Hanski Family Farms, CAL FIRE, and the California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks).
In addition, DWR began the first phase of a new 20-acre vegetation management project on Thursday, July 30 in the Thompson Fire burn scar along a portion of Oro Dam Boulevard East near Oro Powerhouse Road and a section of the Dan Beebe Trail near the Palermo Canal. Crews with the Butte County Sheriff’s Office will be cutting and piling dead and downed material and promoting the growth of live vegetation, creating a 50-foot buffer downslope of the trail. CAL FIRE will burn vegetation piles when weather conditions permit. Vegetation work is expected to continue through the rest of the year.
Paving Work Completed along Thermalito Afterbay Dam Crest
DWR has completed paving and sealing work on sections of the Thermalito Afterbay Dam Crest Road, which is also part of the Brad Freeman trail system. The Afterbay Dam Crest Road/Brad Freeman Trail south of State Route 162 to the East Hamilton Road Trail Access will be open to the public again starting Saturday, Aug. 2.
The dam crest work was a continuation of a larger project started in August 2025 to rehabilitate several locations owned and maintained by the department that are heavily used by maintenance staff and the public. Previous paving, sealing, and guardrail improvement locations included: the Feather River Fish Hatchery, Thermalito Powerplant Access Roads, Thermalito Diversion Dam Powerplant, Thermalito Power Canal Access Road, Canyon Drive from the intersection of Oroville Dam Blvd. E./Royal Oaks Drive heading north to the dam and upper overlook, and Oroville Dam Boulevard East near Oro Powerhouse Road.
Paving work is also ongoing at the Oroville Field Division Operations and Maintenance Center on Glen Drive. Vintage Paving Company, Inc. of Winters, Calif. is the contractor for the project.
California Natural Resources Agency Welcomes Public Comments
The California Natural Resources Agency welcomes public comments on the second Triennial Oroville Citizens Advisory Commission (OCAC) Legislative Report, which covers Commission activities between fall 2022 and fall 2025.
The report is mandated by Senate Bill 955, the 2018 legislation that formed the Commission, and is an important record of the information presented before the Commission about Oroville Dam and flood management-related progress and plans made by DWR at the Oroville facilities. The report provides the following information:
- An overview of ongoing maintenance and improvements made at the dam and its site.
- A register of communications received from the department and other parties to the commission.
- Notice of upcoming plans made by the department for the dam and its site.
- An overview of flood management projects on the Feather River affecting public safety and flood risk reduction.
Public comments must be submitted by noon on Tuesday, Aug. 11. All comments received during the public comment period will be included in the report's register of communications and considered before the report is finalized. Comments may be submitted via an online form. If you require assistance with submitting a comment, please contact Samantha Arthur at Samantha.Arthur@resources.ca.gov.
Feather River Fish Monitoring Station
DWR resumed operations of the Feather River fish monitoring station on March 4, 2026, to capture the return of spring-run Chinook salmon. Monitoring was temporarily suspended at the end of December 2025 due to anticipated high flows in the Feather River. Upstream migrating fish totals between March 4 and July 26, 2026, are:
- Spring-run Chinook salmon (March 4 through June 30): 8,512
- Fall-run Chinook salmon (July 1 through present): 1,347
- Steelhead: -11 (most likely kelts moving downstream)
- To see previous year data, visit CalFish.org.
Current Lake Operations
Lake Oroville is at 836 feet elevation and storage is approximately 2.53 million acre-feet (MAF), which is 74 percent of its total capacity and 107 percent of the historical average.
Feather River flows are at 850 cubic feet per second (cfs) through the City of Oroville with releases from the Thermalito Afterbay River Outlet at 7,650 cfs for a total Feather River release of 8,500 cfs downstream. WR 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 11:59 p.m. on 7/30/2026.