After sitting near capacity for almost a month, Lake Oroville is beginning to slowly creep back down in water elevation as the California Department of Water Resources steadily increases outflows. Lake Oroville was reported at 896.35 feet in elevation Monday and will likely lower more in the weeks to come. DWR spokesperson Raquel Borrayo said the lake was once again bolstered by a wet and snowy winter. “Thanks to above-average precipitation and average snowpack levels in the northern Sierra for the last three years, water levels at Lake Oroville have been peaking in May and June and then slowly declining to their low point around November,” Borrayo said. Borrayo said the higher releases are sent into the Feather River, though some of the water remains local. … On Monday, inflows into Lake Oroville were estimated at 3,000 cubic feet per second.

Other reservoir and snowpack news around the West:

• Newsweek: California reservoir update as water levels start to fall
• California Department of Water Resources: News release: Lake Oroville Update – June 13, 2025
• Summit Daily (Frisco, Colo.): Summit County is nearing when its snowpack measuring sites hit 0. How’s the melt off this year as a heat wave nears?
• Colorado Public Radio: Audio: A new 20,000-foot view for measuring snowpack