Wednesday October 29, 2025
Action News Now —
OROVILLE, Calif. – The original 50-year license for facilities at the Oroville Dam expired in 2007, leaving operations running on a year-to-year basis.
Butte County Supervisor Bill Connelly expressed frustration over the situation.
“It’s really patently unfair because they build a dam in our backyard, they provide water for over 27 million people, some of the richest corporate farms in America get water from this dam, yet they don’t make us whole,” Connelly said.
Connelly criticized the Department of Water Resources for failing to fulfill promises made in the original deal back in the 1950s. “They promised visitation to the dam and now you can’t hardly get in to see it, they make it a matter of security,” Connelly said. “They promised 1500 parking places in town, they promised hourly tours of the dam.”
Those promises were not fulfilled, but were built in to a more official draft of a new 50-year agreement that was ready to be signed in 2007. But, that deal never made it across the finish line, and right now the Department of Water Resources is operating on a year-by-year basis.
Oroville Mayor David Pittman explained that under that annual, temporary agreement, the state’s ability to run the Oroville Dam facilities brings in about $200,000 annually to the local community. However, the pending 50-year deal could bring a billion dollars in recreational investments and additional annual benefits to local communities downstream.
“We’ve got to improve the fish in the Feather River. We have about $50 million that will go through a special committee that will go toward economic and recreational projects along the Feather River,” Pittman said.
The delay in re-signing the license lies with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or FERC, according to Pittman. “There are five FERC commissioners and I’ll give credit to our city administrator Brian Ring, he emails them every Friday,” Pittman said.
A representative for FERC told Action News Now:
“Commission staff is currently engaged in Endangered Species Act consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding potential project effects on federally listed species associated with the Feather River Hydro Project (Oroville). Once the consultation process concludes, the Commission will consider the relicense application and the entire record in this proceeding before making a final decision.”
Despite the hold-up, Congressman Doug LaMalfa defended FERC’s actions. “The legislative officials are supposed to provide oversight, but it changes with the political winds,” LaMalfa said.
California Assemblyman James Gallagher pointed out that with two new conservative FERC commissioners just confirmed by the U.S. Senate, this could expedite the process. “I do think with the change at FERC, it’s an opportunity to move things faster and get something done,” Gallagher said.
Gallagher emphasized the importance of ensuring that the 18-year-old agreement still benefits the Oroville community. “Obviously people want to get the funding now, with a FERC relicensing but it’s also about getting commitments from all the agencies involved to really do right by the community of Oroville and downstream communities that are really affected by what happens at the dam,” Gallagher said.
While there is no clear plan to finalize the deal, local leaders remain committed to resolving the issue.
“I want to get this to fruition, I want to be able to look my grandkids in the eye and say hey look they didn’t build what they promised… but at least I tried” Connelly said.
Community members can participate in the Oroville Dam Citizens Advisory Commission, which meets quarterly at the Southside Oroville Community Center.
Another way to get involved is through the Oroville Recreation Advisory Committee (ORAC) which was created in 1994 by FERC, in response to the DWR not completing the agreed upon recreation plans in the original license.
ORAC’s next meeting is at the Southside center in Oroville at 10 a.m. on Friday November 7th.