California Reservoir Dam Release Update as Water Levels Rise

California water officials are releasing water from Oroville Dam as the lake's water levels continue to rise with more rain on the way.

California's Department of Water Resources (DWR) opened the main spillway at Oroville Dam to provide flood protection for downstream communities in advance of more rain forecast for California. Lake Oroville's water levels had jumped significantly over the past few months as several atmospheric rivers battered the state with torrential rain and heavy snow.

Lake Oroville reached concerningly low levels in 2022, as did many of California's other reservoirs, as severe drought gripped the region. More than a dozen atmospheric rivers last winter helped bolster the reservoirs' water levels, and a similarly wet winter this year has improved lake levels as well. Lake Oroville's levels are so high that the DWR is releasing water in advance of more rain.

"DWR is continuing water releases from Lake Oroville using the main spillway and Hyatt Powerplant," the DWR posted on X, formerly Twitter, last Friday. "Lake Oroville is at 861 feet elevation and storage is approximately 2.96 million acre-feet, which is 83 percent of its total capacity and 136 percent of the historical average."

"Water releases from Lake Oroville were increased in advance of a series of storms and provide flood protection to downstream communities by maintaining storage capacity in the reservoir for additional rain capture," a DWR spokesperson told Newsweek.

"DWR coordinates releases closely with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and other water operators and adjusts releases as needed to account for continuing runoff."

The lake has risen 20 feet since the start of the month and 40 feet since the beginning of the year. It is nearly 40 feet higher than it was during this time last year.

The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Sacramento shared an updated forecast map on Saturday that shows more rain is on the way for California, prolonging the state's wet-weather pattern into early March. Lake Oroville is in a part of California that is predicted to have an up to 70 percent chance for above-average rainfall through early March.

Lake Oroville's levels could continue rising well into the spring, as could many of California's other reservoirs, as the average snowpack throughout the state has skyrocketed since January. The state relies on snowmelt to supplement as much as a third of its water supply.

As of last week, California's snowpack was 86 percent of average. An incoming storm is bringing up to 8 feet of heavy snow to the Sierra Nevada mountains this week, which will continue to improve the snowpack levels.

Michael Anderson, a state climatologist with the DWR, previously told Newsweek that March would be a critical transition month as California "moves out of the wettest months of the year."

"Recent storms over the past month helped provide a boost to the snowpack, but overall, we have not caught up from the deficit caused by a dry fall and early winter," Anderson said.

Update 02/27/24, 11:31 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from the DWR.