Oroville Dam is the centerpiece and largest water storage
facility of the State Water Project. Located about 70 miles north
of Sacramento at the Feather River confluence, Oroville Dam
creates a reservoir that can hold 3.5 million acre-feet of water.
Features such as a fish barrier dam and pool at Oroville Dam made
the SWP one of the first major water projects built with
environmental protections as a major consideration.
Besides storing water, the dam also protects downstream residents
from the floodprone Feather River—the main feeder of the SWP— and
provides major water recreation facilities such as boating,
fishing and camping.
When the operator of the nation’s tallest dam applied for a new
federal permit in 2005, few expected the process to drag on for
more than a decade. It’s still not done. California’s Oroville
Dam is among a dozen major hydroelectric projects that have
been waiting over 10 years to receive a long-term permit from
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The sluggish process
is fueling uncertainty about the future of a key source of
clean power that has bipartisan support in Congress — but that
faces new challenges as the climate warms.
Officials with the Department of Water Resources (DWR) said
maintenance work on Oroville Dam’s main spillway was expected
to start this week as construction staging equipment and
materials make their way to the worksite. Maintenance work is
expected to be performed on localized sections of the spillway
to address areas of deteriorated concrete and sealant
identified during annual inspections, DWR officials said. …
Other planned work includes the replacement of a “joint sealant
at select chute slab and wall joints that degrade over time due
to the spillway’s environment.” Officials also will inspect
51,000 feet of piping that supports the spillway’s drainage
system.
As the final days of summer near, California’s reservoirs are
in a position they have not been in for some time, they still
have a significant amount of water in them. As of Thursday, all
but Trinity Reservoir near Redding and Casitas near Ventura are
at or above their historic average levels, according to the
California Department of Water data exchange. … Most
reservoirs are also still well above 70 percent of their total
capacity, with Lake Cachuma having the highest total capacity
percentage of 95 percent. The Department of Water Resource told
FOX40.com that not since 2019 has California seen most of the
major state reservoirs above their average level for the given
time of year. Just a year ago, California’s two largest
reservoirs Shasta and Oroville were at 34 percent and 36
percent of their total capacity respectively.
This summer’s unprecedented floods across the U.S. highlight
how a massive piece of infrastructure — the nation’s
90,000-plus dams — can play the role of hero or villain in
these climate-enhanced calamities. … [I]n 2017, 200,000
people were evacuated downstream of California’s massive
Oroville Dam when flood waters, combined with design and
construction weaknesses, resulted in a $1 billion repair bill.
In the arid western states, drought rather than floods often
causes dams to make the news. Colorado River reservoirs supply
drinking water to 40 million people in seven states but face
increasing challenges — and decreasing water levels — with a
multi-year drought across the region. And dams serve other
roles — navigation, irrigation, recreation and, of course,
electricity generation. -Written by Dan Reicher, a Senior Scholar at
Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability; and Tom
Kiernan, CEO of American Rivers; and Malcolm Woolf,
CEO of the National Hydropower Association.
Lake Oroville is down 40 feet from the start of the summer when
the water level was at capacity thanks to a string of heavy
winter storms. The storms also boosted the snowpack, allowing
for consistent and often substantial runoff into the lake.
Earlier this year, the California Department of Water
Resources, which oversees the lake as well as the Oroville Dam,
began releasing water from the reservoir’s main spillway in an
effort to keep up with the inflows.
Explore the Sacramento River and its tributaries through a scenic landscape while learning about the issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.
Water Education Foundation
2151 River Plaza Drive, Suite 205
Sacramento, CA 95833
This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries
through a scenic landscape while learning about the issues
associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of
California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State
Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.
Water Education Foundation
2151 River Plaza Drive, Suite 205
Sacramento, CA 95833
Land and waterway managers labored
hard over the course of a century to control California’s unruly
rivers by building dams and levees to slow and contain their
water. Now, farmers, environmentalists and agencies are undoing
some of that work as part of an accelerating campaign to restore
the state’s major floodplains.
This tour guided participants on a virtual exploration of the Sacramento River and its tributaries and learn about the issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.
The deadliest and most destructive
wildfire in California history had a severe impact on the water
system in the town of Paradise. Participants on our Oct. 2-4
Northern California
Tour will hear from Kevin Phillips, general manager of
Paradise Irrigation District, on the scope of the damages, the
obstacles to recovery and the future of the water district.
The Camp Fire destroyed 90 percent of the structures in Paradise,
and 90 percent of the irrigation district’s ratepayer base. The
fire did not destroy the irrigation district’s water storage or
treatment facilities, but it did melt plastic pipes, releasing
contaminants into parts of the system and prompting do-not-drink
advisories to water customers.
This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries
through a scenic landscape as participants learned about the
issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of
California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State
Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project. Tour
participants got an on-site update of Oroville Dam spillway
repairs.
This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries
through a scenic landscape as participants learned about the
issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of
California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State
Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project. Tour
participants got an on-site update of repair efforts on the
Oroville Dam spillway.
In 2017, it is likely that no other water story grabbed as many
headlines in California and across the country as the flood
incident at Oroville Dam, the centerpiece of the State Water Project and
its largest water storage facility.
On our upcoming Northern California
Tour, we will spend time at the Oroville Dam visitor’s
center and meet with California Department of Water Resources
staff. You’ll see drone footage from February’s flood
incident, learn the engineering background on what led to it, and
hear about plans to stabilize the spillway before the next winter
storms and to finalize repairs by 2018.
One of the wettest years in California history that ended a
record five-year drought has rejuvenated the call for new storage
to be built above and below ground.
In a state that depends on large surface water reservoirs to help
store water before moving it hundreds of miles to where it is
used, a wet year after a long drought has some people yearning
for a place to sock away some of those flood flows for when they
are needed.
California Natural Resources Agency Secretary John Laird said
Tuesday that the February crisis with the broken spillway at
Oroville Dam offers an “important opportunity” to assess the
safety of the more than 1,400 dams in the state.
“We really want to use the focus on this to look at the issue of
dam safety in California,” he said during a hearing of the Senate
Natural Resources and Water Committee. “We have the best
inspection program of the 50 states but it is clear we can do
better.”
Work crews repairing Oroville Dam’s damaged emergency spillway
are dumping 1,200 tons of rock each hour and using shotcrete to
stabilize the hillside slope, an official with the Department of
Water Resources told the California Water Commission today.
The pace of work is “round the clock,” said Kasey Schimke,
assistant director of DWR’s legislative affairs office.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
Water as a renewable resource is depicted in this 18×24 inch
poster. Water is renewed again and again by the natural
hydrologic cycle where water evaporates, transpires from plants,
rises to form clouds, and returns to the earth as precipitation.
Excellent for elementary school classroom use.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to California Water provides an
excellent overview of the history of water development and use in
California. It includes sections on flood management; the state,
federal and Colorado River delivery systems; Delta issues; water
rights; environmental issues; water quality; and options for
stretching the water supply such as water marketing and
conjunctive use. New in this 10th edition of the guide is a
section on the human need for water.
A new look for our most popular product! And it’s the perfect
gift for the water wonk in your life.
Our 24×36 inch California Water Map is widely known for being the
definitive poster that shows the integral role water plays in the
state. On this updated version, it is easier to see California’s
natural waterways and man-made reservoirs and aqueducts
– including federally, state and locally funded
projects – the wild and scenic rivers system, and
natural lakes. The map features beautiful photos of
California’s natural environment, rivers, water projects,
wildlife, and urban and agricultural uses and the
text focuses on key issues: water supply, water use, water
projects, the Delta, wild and scenic rivers and the Colorado
River.
Oroville Dam is the centerpiece of
the State Water
Project (SWP) and its largest water storage facility.
Located about 70 miles north of Sacramento at the confluence of
the three forks of the Feather River, Oroville Dam is an
earthfill dam (consisting of an impervious core surrounded by
sands, gravels and rockfill materials) that creates a
reservoir that can hold 3.5 million acre-feet of water.
This printed copy of Western Water examines California’s drought
– its impact on water users in the urban and agricultural sector
and the steps being taken to prepare for another dry year should
it arrive.
