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Topic: Oroville Dam

Overview April 24, 2014

Oroville Dam

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.

  • Read more
Aquafornia news March 22, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

Lake Oroville inflows double in 24 hours, near 45,000 cfs outflows

Lake Oroville continues to drop, but inflows to the reservoir are beginning to catch up to the amount of water sent down the broken spillway and through the Hyatt Powerhouse.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 22, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

Oroville Dam builders share insight on original construction

In their 70s and 80s now, some men who built the Oroville Dam still remember those tough days well, some 50-odd years later. Most of the people they worked with have since passed on, but some of the former construction workers who are living in Oroville have continued to meet up over the years.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 22, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

Bigger walls, thicker concrete, more rebar: How a 21st-century spillway compares to Oroville’s 1968 structure

In the nearly 50 years since the Oroville Dam was completed, construction methods have changed. Chico State University construction management professor Chris Souder consulted on the Folsom Dam auxiliary spillway project which began construction in 2008 and is on pace to be completed in October.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 20, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

Department of Water Resources says cost of crisis at Oroville Dam tops $100 million; spillway gates reopened

The state Department of Water Resources Friday said the cost associated with the ongoing crisis at Oroville Dam totaled about $100 million through the end of February. … Meanwhile, dam operators Friday began releasing water down the damaged main spillway for the first time since flows were halted there Feb. 27.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 20, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

River running high as DWR opens space in Lake Oroville

Lake Oroville is dropping about 4 feet a day and the Feather River is running high, as the Department of Water Resources empties space in the lake to absorb storm runoff and snowmelt.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 20, 2017 San Francisco Chronicle

Monday’s Top of the Scroll: Governor requests 4th federal disaster declaration for California storms

Gov. Jerry Brown asked the federal government Sunday to provide additional help for California’s storm recovery, including repairs at the damaged Oroville Dam.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 17, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

Asbestos found in spillway rock; dust controls increased

Naturally-occurring asbestos has been found in the rock formations and in the air near the damaged Oroville Dam main spillway, according to a press release. Although California Department of Water Resources said risk to workers and the surrounding community is minimal, dust-control operations are being increased.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 17, 2017 Los Angeles Times

For farmers below the Oroville Reservoir, water still poses a threat

Marysville, Calif., farmer Brad Foster stood at the eroded edge of the Feather River recently and contemplated how he was going to pull his water pumps out of the soggy, collapsed river bank.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 16, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

Oroville residents ready for use of spillway again

With water soon set to flow down the damaged spillway at Oroville Dam, some residents are cautiously confident in repairs and haven’t checked the newly minted evacuation plans yet.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 14, 2017 Capital Public Radio

More water releases planned at Oroville Dam

The Department of Water Resources plans to open the gates to the main spillway at Lake Oroville on Friday.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 14, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

Tuesday’s Top of the Scroll: Oroville Dam spillway flows to resume this week

The Department of Water Resources is planning to resume flows this week through Oroville Dam’s damaged main spillway, and warns that Feather River flows will increase to 40,000-50,000 cubic feet per second.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 13, 2017 Appeal-Democrat

Fate of Feather River fish undetermined

The condition of fish species in the Feather River is still to be determined a week after the Department of Water Resources halted flows from the flood control spillway at Lake Oroville.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 13, 2017 Sacramento Bee

Monday’s Top of the Scroll: Is there too much water behind Oroville Dam? Critics say Army Corps standards unsafe

Long before a fractured spillway plunged Oroville Dam into the gravest crisis in its 48-year history, officials at a handful of downstream government agencies devised a plan they believed would make the dam safer: Store less water there.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 10, 2017 Los Angeles Times

Friday’s Top of the Scroll: Damaged Oroville Dam spillway may need to be used by next week, state officials say

A damaged flood control spillway at the Oroville Dam may have to be used as early as next week as storm runoff and snowmelt continue to fill the massive reservoir on the Feather River, state water officials said.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 10, 2017 San Francisco Chronicle

Lake Oroville crisis: An in-depth look at an unprecedented disaster

A wet winter brought to light problems at the nation’s tallest dam, which controls water delivered across California.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 9, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

Thursday’s Top of the Scroll: DWR tells assemblyman dam repair cost estimated daily average of $4.7 million

Just how many people are out working at Oroville Dam in response to the spillway emergency and how much is it going to cost? Both reporters and elected representatives have struggled to get an answer to that question.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 9, 2017 Capital Public Radio

Lake Oroville at highest level in nearly 3 weeks, spillway work continues

The water level at Lake Oroville is rising to its highest level in nearly three weeks.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 9, 2017 Sacramento Bee

Damaged main spillway of Oroville Dam to reopen next week

Oroville Dam’s heavily damaged main spillway is expected to resume releasing water a little more than a week from now as levels continue to rise in the reservoir.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 7, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

Tuesday’s Top of the Scroll: Water flowing through Oroville Dam powerhouse again

As of deadline Monday, water was running again through the Hyatt Powerhouse beneath Oroville Dam.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 6, 2017 San Francisco Chronicle

Monday’s Top of the Scroll: Riverbanks collapse after Oroville Dam spillway shut off

When state water officials scaled back their mass dumping of water from the damaged Oroville Dam this week, they knew the riverbed below would dry up enough to allow the removal of vast piles of debris from the fractured main spillway.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 6, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

Hyatt Powerplant, spillway flows off again after test

The Hyatt Powerplant at Oroville Dam was turned off again Saturday after a successful test Friday.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 3, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

‘Spoil sites’ for Oroville Dam spillway debris, Hyatt Powerplant starting up soon

There are 1.7 million cubic yards of rubble at the bottom of the Diversion Pool, effectively splitting it into two bodies of water. The plan with the spillway shut off, according to the California Department of Water Resources, is to remove enough of it to clear a channel and get the water that is backed up on one side of the rubble to flow between the two sides.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 3, 2017 Sacramento Bee

Oroville Dam: Power plant may be operational Friday

In a development that would ease pressure on Oroville Dam’s badly damaged concrete spillway, state officials say the dam’s power plant may be operational by midday Friday.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 2, 2017 McClatchy Washington, D.C., Bureau

California flood control called a life and death crisis, but federal funding is uncertain

California Natural Resources Secretary John Laird told the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Wednesday that further deterioration of the nation’s aging flood control and water infrastructure systems will put lives at risk.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 1, 2017 Associated Press

Massive debris pile emerges from water near troubled dam

Crews worked Tuesday to clean up dirt and debris from the base of Oroville Dam and biologists rush to save stranded fish after state officials shut off the flow of water from a damaged spillway at the Northern California lake.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 1, 2017 San Francisco Chronicle

Dramatic new images show scale of damage to Oroville Dam spillway

Geologists attempted for the first time Tuesday to figure out what to do about the vast, yawning canyon dug out of the earth after a crater opened up in the Oroville Dam’s concrete spillway and diverted water at high speed into the adjacent hillside.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 1, 2017 Sacramento Bee

Massive fish rescue plays out on Feather River after state closes damaged Oroville Dam spillway

When California state biologists crested a sandbar along the Feather River on Tuesday morning, they expected to find at least some of the water that just a day before had raged through the channel, too deep to stand in – and plenty of fish needing to be rescued.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 28, 2017 Sacramento Bee

Tuesday’s Top of the Scroll: Giant chasm revealed as water stops flowing at Oroville Dam

[Oroville] Dam operators gradually scaled back water releases to zero over a six-hour period, providing breathing room for construction crews trying to clear debris from a badly choked Feather River channel and restart the dam’s critically needed hydroelectric plant.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 27, 2017 Associated Press

Oroville Dam’s outflow to be stopped to clear debris

California water authorities will stop the outflow from the Oroville Dam’s crippled spillway to allow workers to remove debris blocking a hydroelectric plant from working, officials said Sunday.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 27, 2017 Sacramento Bee

Can Oroville Dam’s badly damaged spillway hold up through the rainy season?

For three weeks, Oroville Dam’s fractured main spillway and the surrounding hillsides have taken a nearly nonstop pounding. The stunning waterfall crashing down what’s left of the 3,000-foot concrete span has split the spillway in two and carved massive canyons on either side.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 27, 2017 Sacramento Bee

Water releases from Oroville Dam’s banged up spillway to stop

Oroville Dam operators plan to halt water releases from the dam’s battered spillway Monday in order to ramp up efforts to remove a debris pile that’s preventing them from restarting a hydroelectric plant.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 24, 2017 North State Public Radio

Oroville residents frustrated over chaos during dam evacuations

Frustration and tales of harrowing escape dominated a public forum held in the aftermath of the Oroville Dam evacuations on Thursday.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 24, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

US Sen. Kamala Harris tours damaged spillways at Oroville Dam

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris on Thursday toured the damaged spillways at Oroville Dam and was briefed by local, state and federal officials on the ongoing crisis at the lake.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 23, 2017 Associated Press

Governor tours Oroville Dam, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris to visit Thursday

Gov. Jerry Brown has visited crews responding to damaged spillways at Lake Oroville in Northern California.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 23, 2017 Sacramento Bee

Thursday’s Top of the Scroll: Amid Oroville emergency, California Legislature moves to make flood-control fixes

As heavy winter storms continue to hammer California, the Legislature is launching a review of dam and levee safety and bracing for major investments necessary to shore up flood control throughout the state.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 23, 2017 Sacramento Bee

Gov. Jerry Brown makes surprise visit to Oroville Dam

Nine days ago, with the Oroville Dam under stress and battered by more harsh weather, Gov. Jerry Brown said he had no immediate plans to visit the site, suggesting “I don’t think they need politicians fluttering around.”

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 22, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

Lake Oroville will partially re-open Thursday as boat owners eager to return to water

Lake Oroville will partially reopen on Thursday, nearly two weeks after more than 180,000 Northern California residents evacuated their homes and the lake area closed due to fears that the emergency spillway at Oroville Dam could fail.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 22, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

DWR wants to stop Oroville spillway flow, doesn’t know when it can

The Department of Water Resources plans to remove at least some of the debris at the bottom of the Oroville Dam spillway and study the structure, but just aren’t sure when they’ll have a chance to do that.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 22, 2017 San Francisco Chronicle

Not just Oroville: More Northern California infrastructure that needs fixes

The Oroville Dam crisis reminded many Californians of something we only associate with earthquakes: Our crumbling state infrastructure.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 22, 2017 Los Angeles Times

Oroville hoping to turn dam crisis into a tourism opportunity

Not far from the main drag through Oroville, a dozen local business owners and city officials faced each other in a hotel lunchroom Tuesday. They sought to begin developing an advertising campaign to transform a barrage of negative images and news reports about frantic efforts to prevent catastrophic flooding into a lucrative tourist attraction, albeit after the Feather River Basin’s rainy season ends in April.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 21, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

Lake Oroville levels expected to fluctuate with rains

After the state Department of Water Resources reached its goal early Monday morning of lowering the water level at Lake Oroville by 50 feet, officials said heavy rains would likely cause lake levels to rise several feet.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 21, 2017 Sacramento Bee

Continued erosion of Oroville Dam’s main spillway part of ‘normal process,’ state officials say

Oroville Dam’s badly damaged main spillway is still deteriorating from an onslaught of fast-paced water, but state officials insist that it is “stable” as they make repairs.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 21, 2017 Sacramento Bee

Reservoirs feeding Lake Oroville are filled to brim as more rain rolls in

Lake Almanor is full. So is Antelope Lake. In fact, all of the nine reservoirs in the Feather River watershed that feed directly into Lake Oroville are brimming with water from recent storms.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 21, 2017 Associated Press

2 dams illustrate challenge of maintaining older designs

Twelve years ago, widespread destruction from Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast helped compel federal engineers 2,000 miles away in California to remake a 1950s-era dam by constructing a massive steel-and-concrete gutter that would manage surging waters in times of torrential storms.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 21, 2017 Los Angeles Times

Damage to Oroville’s main spillway ‘was an accident waiting to happen’

The badly damaged main concrete spillway at Oroville Dam was pounded by massive volumes of stormwater this month, but its failures occurred well short of the maximum flow that engineers designed the system to handle.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 21, 2017 Los Angeles Times

Government severely misjudged strength of Oroville emergency spillway, sparking a crisis

Bill Croyle stood in front of an aerial photo of Lake Oroville and swept his hand across the top of the emergency spillway that was helping drain water out of the brimming reservoir.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 17, 2017 Associated Press

If California dam failed, people likely stuck

Communities just downstream of California’s Lake Oroville dam would not receive adequate warning or time for evacuations if the 770-foot-tall dam itself – rather than its spillways – were to abruptly fail, the state water agency that operates the nation’s tallest dam repeatedly advised federal regulators a half-decade ago.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 17, 2017 San Jose Mercury News

Oroville Dam: What made the spillway collapse?

Dam experts around the country are focusing on a leading suspect: Tiny bubbles. The prospect is simple, yet terrifying and has been the culprit in a number of near disasters at dams across the globe since engineers discovered about 50 years ago.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 17, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

Oroville Dam spillway releases being reduced

Water releases through the damaged main spillway at Oroville Dam were scaled back Thursday to allow crews to reach and remove a pile of debris that has built up at the bottom of that chute, officials said.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 17, 2017 Sacramento Bee

Oroville Dam: ‘The threat level – it is much, much, much lower’

Feeling confident they’ve created sufficient empty space in Lake Oroville for the time being, state Department of Water Resources officials said they reduced spillway outflows so they could address another looming challenge: restarting the dam’s hydroelectric plant, which can release additional water when operational.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 17, 2017 Associated Press

What we know so far about problems at the tallest US dam

Officials said Thursday that they are confident the lake behind Oroville Dam will keep draining despite storms expected to dump several inches of rain in the coming days.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 17, 2017 Los Angeles Times

Will the crisis at Oroville Dam become a catalyst for change?

Jeffrey Mount, a leading expert on California water policy, remembers the last time a crisis at the Oroville Dam seemed likely to prompt reform. It was 1997 and the lake risked overflowing, while levees further downstream failed and several people died.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 17, 2017 Los Angeles Times

Rain runoff may have undermined Oroville Dam’s concrete spillway, report says

Rainwater erosion alongside the Oroville Dam’s main spillway appears to have contributed to the heavy damage that prompted a crisis, forcing more than 100,000 to be evacuated from their homes, a report reviewed by The Times showed. 

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 16, 2017 Water Deeply

Endangered fish among the evacuees of Oroville Dam crisis

Days before nearly 200,000 people downstream of Lake Oroville were ordered to evacuate because of problems with two spillways at the dam, there were millions of other evacuees – residents of the Feather River Fish Hatchery. … Why all the trouble for some fish? Spring-run Chinook salmon and steelhead are both listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 16, 2017 Associated Press

California officials rush to drain lake as new storms begin

Officials raced to drain more water from a lake behind battered Oroville Dam as new storms began rolling into Northern California on Wednesday and tested the quick repairs made to damaged spillways that raised flood fears.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 16, 2017 Sacramento Bee

Oroville Dam’s flood-control manual hasn’t been updated for half a century

The critical document that determines how much space should be left in Lake Oroville for flood control during the rainy season hasn’t been updated since 1970, and it uses climatological data and runoff projections so old they don’t account for two of the biggest floods ever to strike the region. … Most recently, the issue of outdated dam manuals came up in the context of California’s five-year drought.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 16, 2017 McClatchy Washington, D.C., Bureau

Oroville puts focus on dam spillways – aging and some never tested

When operators of Oroville Dam suddenly ordered evacuations on Sunday, it focused a big spotlight on a crucial piece of California’s flood-control infrastructure – spillways. … Some of these dams are getting upgrades, albeit slowly.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Western Water February 15, 2017 Gary Pitzer Gary Pitzer

Crews Race to Stabilize Vulnerable Oroville Dam Spillway
Crews dumping "super" sand bags, filling four gouges in the hillside as storm expected tonight

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.

  • Read more
Aquafornia news February 15, 2017 Desert Sun

‘Dangerously false’: Oroville Dam isn’t prepared for global warming, 2008 lawsuit says

For nearly nine years, two California counties have been waging a legal fight with the state’s Department of Water Resources over how the agency manages Oroville Dam.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 15, 2017 Associated Press

Dam evacuees relieved but frustrated as they head home

At churches, fairgrounds and other makeshift shelters, thousands of Californians packed what belongings they had into garbage bags and suitcases to return home Tuesday, two days after they were told to flee the threat of massive flooding from a dam’s damaged spillway.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 15, 2017 Associated Press

Cracks may offer clues to California dam’s troubles

Six months before rushing water ripped a huge hole in a channel that drains a Northern California reservoir, state inspectors said the concrete spillway was sound. As officials puzzle through how to repair Oroville Dam spillway, federal regulators have ordered the state to figure out what went wrong.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 15, 2017 Los Angeles Times

An ‘aggressive, proactive attack’ to prevent disaster at the Oroville Dam

With both spillways badly damaged and a new storm approaching, America’s tallest dam on Tuesday became the site of a desperate operation to fortify the massive structures before they face another major test. … In a sign of the progress made Tuesday, officials downgraded the evacuation order to a warning, allowing all evacuated residents to return home. 

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 15, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

Spillway repairs not only project underway at Oroville Dam

Although stabilizing the emergency spillway at Oroville Dam has been the first priority of the Department of Water Resources, several other initiatives are underway.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 15, 2017 San Francisco Chronicle

Wednesday’s Top of the Scroll: Trump approves California’s request for emergency aid

President Trump issued major disaster declarations to enable federal funding for California on two fronts — to aid with the Oroville Dam spillway damage and mass evacuations and to help the state deal with the widespread effects of January’s storms.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 15, 2017 Sacramento Bee

Oroville Dam operators say they’re ready for next key hurdle: Wednesday night’s storm

There’s another storm bearing down on troubled Oroville Dam, set to begin late Wednesday. But state officials say they believe the precipitation will be mild enough – and the reservoir empty enough – to handle this latest challenge.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 15, 2017 San Jose Mercury News

Oroville Dam brings California’s $65 billion infrastructure annual price tag into view

Shock over the emergency evacuation downriver from the Oroville Dam has given way to serious questions about how California is coping with its aging infrastructure — which the American Society of Civil Engineers says would cost the state a staggering $65 billion per year to fix and maintain after years of neglect.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 14, 2017 San Francisco Chronicle

Trump Today: White House ‘keeping close eye’ on Oroville crisis

The White House addressed the emergency at the Oroville Reservoir for the first time Tuesday since nearly 200,000 people were ordered to evacuate over the weekend.

  • Read more
  • Original Article
Aquafornia news February 14, 2017 Associated Press

Q&A: Wet winter, damage to dam combine to threaten cities

Here are answers to key questions about problems at Lake Oroville dam in Northern California:

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 14, 2017 Associated Press

Damaged dam system threatens Northern California towns

A huge Northern California reservoir, held in place by a massive dam, has always been central to the life of the towns around it. Now the lake that has brought them holiday fireworks and salmon festivals could bring disaster.

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  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 14, 2017 San Francisco Chronicle

Tuesday’s Top of the Scroll: California waits to hear from Trump on disaster aid request

Gov. Jerry Brown asked the Trump administration for a federal disaster declaration for the emergency at Oroville Dam on Monday evening, citing the impending arrival of more storms and the potential need to resort again to the dam’s emergency spillway, which has been severely eroded.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 14, 2017 McClatchy Washington, D.C., Bureau

Engineers have known for decades that Oroville’s backup spillway was unreliable

Congressional representatives said Monday they were stunned to learn that Oroville did not have a backup spillway paved with concrete that could be safely used if the main one was damaged.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 14, 2017 San Francisco Chronicle

As California waits on Trump, FEMA gets going around Oroville Dam

As California waited Monday night to see if President Donald Trump would grant Gov. Jerry Brown’s request for emergency funding for 10,000 evacuees who lived in the shadow of the Oroville Dam, FEMA began preparing for the worse.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 14, 2017 Sacramento Bee

‘We’re doing everything we can,’ Jerry Brown says of dam emergency

California Gov. Jerry Brown, appealing to the Trump administration for direct federal assistance on the Oroville Dam’s emergency spillway, said Monday that he remains encouraged that the state and federal government can work constructively.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 13, 2017 New York Times

Flood risk near Oroville Dam causes thousands to evacuate in California

The authorities in Northern California raced to evacuate tens of thousands of people on Sunday night in fear of the possible failure of an emergency spillway at the Oroville Dam.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 13, 2017 KRON4 News

Governor Brown issues emergency order for Oroville Dam emergency spillway

Governor Jerry Brown has issued an emergency order on Sunday night to increase California’s response to the Oroville Dam emergency spillway possibly on the verge of breaking.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 13, 2017 Associated Press

Monday’s Top of the Scroll: California dam water level drops after massive evacuation

Water levels dropped Monday at California’s Lake Oroville, stopping water from spilling over a massive dam’s potentially hazardous emergency spillway after authorities ordered the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people from towns lying below the lake. California Department of Water Resources officials are waiting for the light of dawn to inspect an erosion scar on the spillway at the Oroville Dam, the nation’s largest.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 13, 2017 Los Angeles Times

Too much water: How Oroville Dam problems became a crisis

The mass evacuations underway below the Oroville Dam capped a week of frantic efforts to prevent flooding as America’s tallest dam reached capacity and its main spillway was severely damaged.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 13, 2017 San Jose Mercury News

Oroville Dam — Feds and state officials ignored warnings 12 years ago

More than a decade ago, federal and state officials and some of California’s largest water agencies rejected concerns that the massive earthen spillway at Oroville Dam — at risk of collapse Sunday night and prompting the evacuation of 185,000 people — could erode during heavy winter rains and cause a catastrophe.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 10, 2017 Associated Press

Friday’s Top of the Scroll: Gaping hole in Oroville Dam spillway keeps growing

A gaping hole in the spillway for the tallest dam in the United States has grown and California authorities said they expect it will continue eroding as water washes over it but the Oroville Dam and the public are safe.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 10, 2017 Los Angeles Times

Damage to Oroville Dam’s spillway worsens as officials consider emergency measures

As storm runoff poured into fast rising Lake Oroville Thursday, the state resumed releases down the reservoir’s damaged spillway, creating dramatic scenes of muddy torrents gushing over the concrete chute. 

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 10, 2017 Sacramento Bee

Emergency release of water from Oroville Dam escalates from possible to likely, DWR says

With stormwater and snowmelt pouring into the reservoir faster than expected, the operator of the crippled Oroville Dam said it was likely water would have to be released from the facility’s emergency spillway as soon as Saturday – a last-ditch alternative that officials had been hoping to avoid.

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  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 9, 2017 Los Angeles Times

High water releases have eroded the base of Lake Oroville’s spillway

Faced with rising reservoir levels, state engineers on Wednesday were trying to figure out how much water they could send down Lake Oroville’s damaged spillway. 

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 9, 2017 Sacramento Bee

Crater in Oroville Dam spillway will continue to grow, officials warn, as reservoir levels climb

State engineers gingerly began releasing water again through the damaged Oroville Dam spillway Wednesday in a controlled test to see how much water the scarred facility could handle, as reservoir levels continued to climb behind the critical flood-control structure.

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  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 8, 2017 San Jose Mercury News

Hole opens in Oroville Dam spillway amid heavy rains

Flows from one of California’s biggest supplies of drinking water were suspended Tuesday after a massive hole opened in the Oroville Dam spillway amid heavy rains.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 8, 2017 San Francisco Chronicle

Spillway crumbles as California reservoirs max out capacity

California’s recovery from drought has been so remarkably quick that reservoirs on the verge of record lows just a year ago are now too full to handle more rain, prompting dam operators across the state to unleash surpluses of water not seen in years.

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  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 8, 2017 Sacramento Bee

Wednesday’s Top of the Scroll: Oroville Dam releases are halted after huge hole is found in spillway

State engineers halted the release of water from Oroville Dam’s spillway Tuesday after a massive hole was discovered in its bottom half.

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  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 1, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

Feather River releases hiked to make room for new storm

After a few nice days, stormy weather is due to return Wednesday night and stick around into next week. In preparation for that, the Department of Water Resources kicked up releases from Oroville Dam by a third Tuesday afternoon, to make room for runoff in Lake Oroville.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news January 20, 2017 Chico Enterprise-Record

State increases estimate of amount of water it will deliver from Lake Oroville

State Water Project contractors will get 60 percent of the water they want this year due to the storms that have filled Lake Oroville and buffered the snowpack in the hills above.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news December 16, 2016 Chico Enterprise-Record

Lake Oroville up 20 feet in a week

Is this the storm that finally turns Lake Oroville’s long decline around? The early signs are encouraging.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news May 6, 2016 Chico Enterprise-Record

More thunderstorms due; Lake Oroville could keep rising

Thunder and lightning hit the north valley this week and flashing, booming skies could continue through Saturday evening. … Lake Oroville is 96 percent full.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news April 20, 2016 Chico Enterprise-Record

Lake Oroville within 18 feet of crest

With Lake Oroville at its highest level in nearly four years, state officials were cautiously optimistic that the reservoir will reach the crest this year. 

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news April 14, 2016 KCRA Sacramento

Lake Oroville boat businesses hope for busy summer (with video)

John Prieto runs the Lake Oroville Marina and says he knows the state’s second largest reservoir better than anyone.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 25, 2016 Chico Enterprise-Record

Oroville Dam spillway gates open for first time in years

Dozens of people made their way toward Oroville Dam to see water surge down the dam’s controlled spillway Thursday. … Over the past 10 years, the spillway has been open for flood control just twice.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 24, 2016 The Sacramento Bee

Thursday’s Top of the Scroll: Largest California reservoirs releasing water for flood safety

After years of drought, Northern California has so much water that the state’s two largest reservoirs are releasing water to maintain flood-control safety. … Shasta and Oroville are the twin anchors of California’s giant water-delivery networks. 

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 23, 2016 Chico Enterprise-Record

Lake Oroville hits flood control limit, may have to release water

With Lake Oroville rising more than 82 feet this month, the water level is now cutting into the buffer needed for flood control. … Other north state reservoirs have increased their outflows as they encroach on flood control limits.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news March 8, 2016 Chico Enterprise-Record

Storm pushes Lake Oroville to highest water level in nearly three years

The weekend storm bolstered Lake Oroville’s water level to its highest level in nearly three years. … Since Thursday, the lake has risen 20.5 feet.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news February 16, 2016 Chico Enterprise-Record

Lake Oroville nearly half full, boating access increases

With Lake Oroville nearly half full, California State Parks has announced more boat ramps are open.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news December 16, 2015 Chico Enterprise-Record

Lake Oroville water levels rising after missing record low; crews work on boat ramp

After coming within five feet of a record low last week, water levels on Lake Oroville are rising.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Tour October 19, 2016 - 7:30am - October 21, 2016 - 6:00pm

Northern California Tour 2016
Field Trip

Clear Creek Eventbrite - Northern California Tour Explore the Sacramento River and its tributaries through a scenic landscape as we 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.

This 3-day, 2-night tour travels across the Sacramento Valley and follows the river north from Sacramento through Chico to Redding and Lake Shasta, where participants take a houseboat ride.

  • Tour Flyer
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Aquafornia news November 10, 2015 Chico Enterprise-Record

Another nice bit of rain, but with less drama

For the second Sunday and Monday in a row, Northern California got a pretty good soaking, without the thunderstorm drama of Nov. 2.

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  • Original article
Aquafornia news October 15, 2015 Chico Enterprise-Record

Fisheries Service aims to complete Oroville Dam relicensing opinion in early spring

The last hurdle in relicensing the Oroville Dam facilities may be only a few more months away, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. The agency has been working on a biological opinion to determine how the dam and facilities downstream could impact endangered and threatened fish and other issues.

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  • Original article
Aquafornia news October 6, 2015 Chico Enterprise-Record

Biological opinion slows Oroville Dam facilities relicensing process

What’s holding up the relicensing of Oroville Dam facilities? Fish. Specifically, an opinion on how three threatened species might be affected, according to local Department of Water Resources officials.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news August 28, 2015 Chico Enterprise-Record

South Oroville water agency seeks to transfer water south of Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

The South Feather Water and Power Agency is seeking to transfer about 12 percent of its stored water to agencies south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news August 11, 2015 Chico Enterprise-Record

Lowering water levels leave two Lake Oroville launch areas open

State officials are estimating that Bidwell Canyon’s three available concrete lanes will close this week when the lake level drops 220 feet below the top of Oroville Dam. The dam is considered full at 900 feet above sea level. 

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news August 2, 2015 Los Angeles Times

#drylandsCA – The difference between knowing something and seeing something

We’ve seen a lot of low lakes this trip. But this was different. Oroville is the great-granddaddy centerpiece of the State Water Project.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news July 16, 2015 Chico Enterprise-Record

DWR increases water flow in Oroville Feather River

Yes, there is a drought, and yes, water releases have been increased in the Feather River in Oroville.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news April 9, 2015 Chico Enterprise-Record

Beaver barrier build for Earth Day at Thermalito Forebay

Earth Day volunteers are needed to help clear invasive plants from around the Thermalito Forebay and protect trees from beavers.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news January 30, 2015 Chico Enterprise-Record

Photo essay: A day on Lake Oroville with California State Parks

A day on Lake Oroville with California State Parks.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news December 23, 2014 Chico Enterprise-Record

Authorities recover thousands of archaeological artifacts taken from Lake Oroville

Authorities have recovered thousands of stolen archaeological artifacts reportedly taken from Lake Oroville over the last 20 years. …State regulations, as well as other federal laws, protect items of cultural significance from being removed from public land.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news December 15, 2014 Chico Enterprise-Record

Bidwell boat ramp reopens at Lake Oroville

The paved boat launch ramp at Bidwell Canyon has reopened after the recent rain storm.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Aquafornia news December 3, 2014 San Francisco Chronicle

Rain soothes Californians, but state reservoirs in bad shape

The recent storms are doing wonders for the California psyche, but it will take more than a few days of rain to pull the state out of its precipitation doldrums.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Tour October 21, 2015 - October 23, 2015 Images from the Northern California Tour

Northern California Tour 2015
Field Trip (past)

This 3-day, 2-night tour traveled the length of the Sacramento Valley, a major source of water for California.

  • Draft Itinerary
  • Tour Brochure - Learn More
  • Presentation: Butte County and SGMA
  • Presentation: Iron Mountain. Superfund Site
  • Presentation: Sacramento Valley
  • Read more
Tour October 22, 2014 Images from the Northern California Tour

Northern California Tour 2014
Field Trip (past)

The 2014 tour took place October 22-24.

This 3-day, 2-night tour travels the length of the Sacramento Valley, a major source of water for California.

  • Curt Aikens, Yuba County Water Agency
  • Curtis Anderson, DWR, maps
  • Curtis Anderson, DWR, Integrating Water Management
  • Thad Bettner, Glenn Colusa ID
  • Peter Buck, SAFCA, Habitat Mitigation
  • Peter Buck, SAFCA
  • Jeff Davids Sac Valley Groundwater
  • Michelle Dooley, DWR, Groundwater
  • Steve Emmons, USFWS
  • Ron Ganzfried, USBR, Shasta Enlargement
  • David Guy, NCWA, Overview
  • David Guy, NCWA, Informational Posters
  • Diana Jacobs, Sacramento River Preservation Trust
  • Kisanuki and Brown, Clear Creek
  • David Vogel, Natural Resources Scientists Inc.
  • Read more
Aquafornia news October 17, 2014 Water Education Foundation

News Release: Learn about groundwater and take a cruise on Lake Shasta

The Water Education Foundation’s popular Northern California Tour features a diverse group of experts talking about groundwater, flood management, the drought, water supplies, agricultural challenges, and the latest on salmon restoration efforts. The tour also includes a houseboat cruise on Lake Shasta. … The tour travels the length of the Sacramento Valley with visits to Oroville and Shasta dams.

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  • Original article
Aquafornia news October 14, 2014 Chico Enterprise-Record

Tuesday’s Top of the Scroll: Lake Oroville inches closer to record low

Only time and nature will determine whether Lake Oroville will continue its steady drop or begin to climb back. On Monday, the lake was at a low water elevation of 670 feet. Capacity is 900 feet.

  • Read more
  • Original article
Video May 27, 2014

A Climate of Change: Water Adaptation Strategies

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.

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

Water Cycle Poster

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.

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

California Water Map, Spanish

Spanish language version of our California Water Map

Versión en español de nuestro mapa de agua de California

  • Read more
Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to the State Water Project
Updated 2013

The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the State Water Project provides an overview of the California-funded and constructed State Water Project.

  • Read more
Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to California Water
Updated 2015

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.

  • Read more
Maps & Posters April 17, 2014 California Water Bundle

California Water Map
Updated December 2016

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.

  • Read more
Aquapedia background February 11, 2014 Dams

Oroville Dam

Oroville Dam, a key part of California's State Water Project.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.

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Western Water Magazine November 1, 2008

Dealing with the ‘D’ Word: The Response to Drought
November/December 2008

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.

  • Read more
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The Water Education Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt, 501(c)3 organization, federal tax ID #942419885.

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