Lake Oroville Water Level
Lake Oroville is at 747.52 ft today (Oct 5), 152.48 ft below its 900 ft full pool, down 8.58 ft this week.
California · Feather River
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Water level history
About Lake Oroville
Lake Oroville is a reservoir on the Feather River in California, operated by California DWR. It sits behind the tallest dam in the United States. Its full summer pool sits at 900 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from California's Department of Water Resources (CDEC) and update daily.
Understanding Lake Oroville's water level
Lake Oroville is the largest reservoir in the State Water Project, the system that serves 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland. It backs up behind a 770-foot earthfill embankment on the Feather River about 75 miles north of Sacramento, dedicated in May 1968 and first filled in 1969. Full pool is 900 feet, with the emergency spillway crest at 901 and the top of the dam at 922. The level follows a rule, not just the weather. From October 15 through March 31 the Army Corps water control manual requires DWR to hold between 375,000 and 750,000 acre-feet of empty space, recalculated every day from a wetness index that carries forward 97 percent of the previous day's value and adds the day's rain. In a wet winter that caps the lake at 848.5 feet, more than 50 feet below full. Drawdown starts in mid September, and the lake is allowed back to 900 feet between May 10 and June 15. Over 1991 to 2020 storage averaged highest in May and lowest in November.
The record high came during the spillway emergency of February 2017, after the wettest January and February in more than a century of records. On February 7 the concrete chute of the main spillway broke apart while carrying about 52,500 cubic feet per second, far below the 160,000 it had passed in earlier floods. Operators cut releases to limit the damage while inflow peaked near 190,000 cubic feet per second, and the lake climbed from 849 feet on February 5 to 902.59 feet at 3 a.m. on February 12. Water ran over the emergency spillway for the first time on February 11, the hillside below it began eroding, and about 188,000 people in Butte, Yuba and Sutter counties were ordered to evacuate. The independent forensic team found no single root cause and described a long-term systemic failure to recognize warning signs. The main spillway was rebuilt at a total cost of about $1.1 billion, with the lake held to 700 feet on November 1, 2017 instead of the usual 780, and it went back into service in April 2019.
The low end is just as dramatic. On August 1, 2021 the lake fell below its old record of 645 feet, set September 7, 1977, and on August 5 DWR took the Edward Hyatt Powerplant offline, the first time low water had shut it down. State Water Project contractors were getting five percent of requested supplies. The lake bottomed out near 628.5 feet at the end of September, then an atmospheric river in late October lifted it from about 631.7 feet on October 23 to 654.8 feet two days later. Hyatt came back on January 1, 2022, and by January 7 the water stood at 724 feet. Ramps tell the story on the water. The Spillway ramp, the largest with 12 lanes, reaches down to about 700 feet. Lime Saddle and Loafer Point closed in early June 2021 with the lake near 709 feet, and by August 6, at about 641, not even Spillway could safely launch trailered boats. Bidwell Canyon's lower concrete ramp reopened that November at about 667 feet.
Lake Oroville — frequently asked
What is Lake Oroville's full pool elevation?
900 feet above sea level. The emergency spillway crest is one foot higher at 901, and the dam crest is 922. At full pool the lake covers about 15,500 acres with 167 miles of shoreline. CDEC now lists capacity at 3,424,753 acre-feet, lower than the 3.54 million acre-feet quoted for decades, so recent storage readings at a full lake run around 3.42 million.
What is the record high level at Lake Oroville?
902.59 feet at 3 a.m. on February 12, 2017, during the spillway emergency. It is the only time the lake has run over the emergency spillway, which it first did on February 11. With the damaged main spillway throttled back, storage topped 3.57 million acre-feet by the daily reading. The next highest levels came in June 2011, when the lake briefly reached 900.1 feet.
What is the lowest Lake Oroville has ever been?
About 628.5 feet at the end of September 2021, with hourly readings touching 628.47 on September 30 and again on October 1. Storage fell to about 788,000 acre-feet. The previous record was 645 feet and 882,000 acre-feet on September 7, 1977, which the lake passed on August 1, 2021. DWR had forecast a drop to 620 feet by late October, but fall storms stopped the decline.
Why is Lake Oroville kept low in the winter?
Flood control. From October 15 through March 31, the Army Corps water control manual requires between 375,000 and 750,000 acre-feet of empty space in the reservoir to catch storm runoff and protect communities downstream on the Feather River. The requirement grows with a daily wetness index built from recent rain. When the basin is wet the lake cannot legally sit above 848.5 feet, so DWR begins drawing it down in mid September.
When does Lake Oroville fill up?
The flood rules let the lake climb back to 900 feet between May 10 and June 15, depending on watershed conditions, so a wet year usually peaks in late May or June. In 2023 the lake rose from 708 feet on New Year's Day to 899.9 feet on June 20. It also came within a foot of full in early June of 2024 and 2025. In 2026 it peaked at 897.4 feet on May 20.
At what lake level can you launch a boat at Lake Oroville?
The Spillway launch ramp, the biggest with 12 lanes, works down to about 700 feet. Lime Saddle and Loafer Point closed in June 2021 when the lake dropped near 709 feet, because the water no longer covered enough paved ramp to launch and trailer safely. At about 641 feet in August 2021, even Spillway stopped allowing trailered launches. Check with Lake Oroville State Recreation Area for current ramp status.
What happened to the Bidwell Bar Bridge?
The 1855 Bidwell Bar suspension bridge, built with materials shipped from Troy, New York around Cape Horn, stood in the Middle Fork canyon that the reservoir now fills. Crews moved it and its tollhouse about a mile and a half to Bidwell Canyon ahead of the flooding, and it now stands next to the Bidwell Canyon boat ramp parking area. The townsite of Bidwell's Bar is under the lake.
Other lakes near Lake Oroville
- Pine Flat LakeCA
- New Melones LakeCA
- Prosser Creek ReservoirCA
- New Hogan LakeCA
- Lake ShastaCA
- New Bullards Bar ReservoirCA
See current levels for all 29 California lakes and reservoirs →
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