Groundwater may be out of sight, but it doesn’t have to be out of mind. Groundwater provides 30 to 60 percent of the state’s water supply and is an important drought buffer.

If you’re like most Californians, you turn on the faucet and probably don’t think about where your water comes from.

This past December, DWR reconnected electricity from Pacific Gas & Electric’s Table Mountain Substation to the Ronald B. Robie Thermalito Pumping-Generating Plant in Oroville, a major step towards returning the plant to full operation.

Many of us are familiar with the category system that ranks the severity of hurricanes and tornadoes. A similar system is now being rolled out for atmospheric rivers (AR) -- those long, transient corridors of water vapor that fuel major rain events each winter in the west, especially California.

While the devastating Camp Fire roared for several weeks in Butte County last November, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) was on high alert, monitoring the extent of the fire as it approached the northwest shoreline of Lake Oroville. Ensuring the safety of impacted employees and protecting the Oroville facilities from fire were onl ...

DWR and our main contractor Kiewit are pushing forward to wrap up construction of the Oroville main spillway and emergency spillway.

Local community groups and residents are playing a key role in the design of the Morrison Creek Revitalization Project, a multi-benefit project in south Sacramento that seeks to improve the natural habitat around the creek while creating a safe, recreational environment for the community. DWR is assisting with project design and technical and envir ...

DWR is once again participating in a successful partnership to recycle used Christmas trees into prime habitat for fish and other wildlife at Lake Oroville and the Thermalito Afterbay.

The Sacramento River moves water from Mt. Shasta to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, gathering runoff from the Coastal Range and Sierra Nevada before turning toward Sacramento and joining with the American River. In wetter years, the Sacramento River swells to flood levels and releases water into the Yolo Bypass, a major flood control feature for ...

DWR engineers Trevor Morgan and Scott Kennedy were recognized by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) for their work as part of the Watershed Emergency Response Team following the 2017 Thomas Fire.