Photo Dale Kolke / California Department of Water Resources
February 12, 2017 – The Department of Water Resources continues to monitor and assess the effects of water flow rates at Lake Oroville. Water continues to be released from both the gated spillway and the auxiliary spillway. At 6:00 am, inflow to the lake decreased to 52,700 cfs. Flows from the gated spillway remain unchanged at 55,000 cfs. Flows over the auxiliary spillway peaked at 1:00 AM this morning at 12,600 cfs and are decreasing. Lake elevation levels are trending down.
Damage to the gated spillway chute appears to have stabilized. Over the last 24 hours no additional damage to the spillway chute was observed. Erosion around and adjacent to the controlled spillway has slowed. Water flow on the hillside below the auxiliary spillway has caused minimal erosion. Crews are on site to remove any debris that may enter the waterway.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife has relocated most of the fish from the Feather River Hatchery to safe areas.
DWR will be utilizing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s), to observe conditions around the Oroville Dam. We would like to request that the public refrain from the use of private UAV’s in the area. If you fly, we can’t.
CAL FIRE Incident Management Team #3 is assisting and supporting the Department of Water Resources on managing the incident.
For information; On Lake conditions, including lake levels, inflows, and outflows, call 530-534-2307. You can also visit the following website http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/resDetailOrig.action?resid=ORO