Fill ’er up

The recent rains have been kind to Lake Oroville

This article was published on 01.06.11

Lake Oroville is looking pretty full for this time of year, as the typical rainy season has yet to begin and the reservoir keeps filling well into June with melted snow. According to the Department of Water Resources, the lake level is currently at 803 feet. Its capacity is 900 feet, but it’s reached that level only three times in the past decade. For local water enthusiasts, the 803-foot level is a nice change from last year at this time, when the lake was close to reaching its all-time low—it was 670 feet deep and the all-time low was 647 feet back in 1977. Bill Dickens, water resources engineering associate with DWR, says early projections have the lake filling to about 870 feet by the end of May, which will make for a great summer season on the water.

Lake Oroville is looking pretty full for this time of year, as the typical rainy season has yet to begin and the reservoir keeps filling well into June with melted snow. According to the Department of Water Resources, the lake level is currently at 803 feet. Its capacity is 900 feet, but it’s reached that level only three times in the past decade. For local water enthusiasts, the 803-foot level is a nice change from last year at this time, when the lake was close to reaching its all-time low—it was 670 feet deep and the all-time low was 647 feet back in 1977. Bill Dickens, water resources engineering associate with DWR, says early projections have the lake filling to about 870 feet by the end of May, which will make for a great summer season on the water.

PHOTO by kyle delmar

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