Friday March 31, 2023
Chico Enterprise-Record —
The California Department of Water Resources could keep the Oroville Dam spillway open through spring as snowmelt and the potential for storms continues.
On March 8, the spillway opened for its second time since it was built in 2018 to allow for some relief from Lake Oroville as storms piled on Northern California causing waves of heavy rain and low snow levels.
Since the opening of the spillway, DWR has released just short of 800,000 acre-feet of water, said DWR State Water Operations Manager Molly White.
“DWR has released a total of 787,417 acre-feet of water for storage management and flood control required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between March 8 and March 29,” White said.
The spillway, as of Thursday, was releasing 12,500 cfs into the Feather River but will be reduced to 10,000 on Friday. White added that the spillway will likely see use until runoff has slowed.