Watch wonderful rush of water released down iconic Oroville Dam spillway for flood safety
The California Department of Water Resources on Wednesday began releasing water from Oroville Dam’s main spillway.
The release into the Feather River ensures storage space remains in Lake Oroville for flood control protection, according to water officials.
“DWR coordinates releases closely with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other water operators and adjusts releases as needed to account for continuing rain and snowmelt,” the agency wrote in a YouTube comment on the video.
The Lake Oroville reservoir is the largest storage facility in the State Water Project, which delivers water to 27 million Californians.
The main spillway continues to perform well and operate as designed, DWR said, ever since a 2017 incident when one of the dam’s two spillways was heavily damaged and there were fears of major flooding.
This story was originally published February 1, 2024 at 12:16 PM.
