Lake Oroville Update - August 7, 2026

Oroville-Area School Tours

Back to school season is here with young minds ready to grow in their knowledge of local history and ecosystems. Fortunately, DWR offers free tours and educational programs for students throughout the region.

Lake Oroville Visitor Center guides are currently booking free school tours of the Feather River Fish Hatchery for the fall spawning season. View salmon spawning activities in action, feed fish in the rearing raceways, and learn about the Chinook salmon lifecycle and the importance of the Hatchery in supporting salmon populations in the Feather River and ocean. School tours of the Hatchery are available by reservation. Contact the Lake Oroville Visitor Center at (530) 538-2219 or (530) 534-2306.

Also tour the Lake Oroville Visitor Center featuring interpretive displays on Oroville Dam, area geology, wildlife and habitat, hydroelectric power, and cultural and historical artifacts. View videos in the theater about the construction of Oroville Dam, walk or hike along nearby trails, and visit the 47-foot-tall observation tower that provides unsurpassed panoramic views of surrounding areas. The Lake Oroville Visitor Center is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with free parking and admission.

Enterprise Boat Ramp Closed

The California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks) has closed the Enterprise boat ramp due to lowering lake levels. As a multi-benefit reservoir, water levels at Lake Oroville fluctuate throughout the year to meet water delivery contracts and support Delta and Central Valley River habitats.

Alternate locations for trailered launching at Lake Oroville include the Spillway, Loafer Creek/Loafer Point, Bidwell Canyon and Lime Saddle. Check the status of Lake Oroville boat and cartop ramps on the State Parks website.

Fuel Load Reduction Projects

DWR and the Butte County Fire Safe Council have completed a 140-acre project to reduce wildfire risk in the Loafer Creek area at the Lake Oroville State Recreation Area.

Over the last 10 months, crews reduced overgrown, dead, and dying vegetation using hand and mechanical thinning, pile burning, and grazing.

The project was funded by a CAL FIRE Forest Health Grant with support from Mooretown Rancheria's Forestry Crew, Hanski Family Farms, CAL FIRE, and State Parks.

In addition, DWR began the first phase of a new 20-acre vegetation management project on Thursday, July 30 in the Thompson Fire burn scar along a portion of Oro Dam Boulevard East near Oro Powerhouse Road and a section of the Dan Beebe Trail near the Palermo Canal. Crews with the Butte County Sheriff's Office will be cutting and piling dead and downed material and promoting the growth of live vegetation, creating a 50-foot buffer downslope of the trail. CAL FIRE will burn vegetation piles when weather conditions permit. Vegetation work is expected to continue through the rest of the year.

California Natural Resources Agency Welcomes Public Comments

The California Natural Resources Agency welcomes public comments on the second Triennial Oroville Citizens Advisory Commission (OCAC) Legislative Report, which covers Commission activities between fall 2022 and fall 2025.

Public comments must be submitted by noon on Tuesday, Aug. 11. All comments received during the public comment period will be included in the report's register of communications and considered before the report is finalized. Comments may be submitted via an online form. If you require assistance with submitting a comment, please contact Samantha Arthur at [email protected].

Feather River Fish Monitoring Station

Current Lake Operations

Lake Oroville is at 826 feet elevation and storage is approximately 2.47 million acre-feet (MAF), which is 70 percent of its total capacity and 105 percent of the historical average.

Feather River flows are at 850 cubic feet per second (cfs) through the City of Oroville with releases from the Thermalito Afterbay River Outlet at 7,650 cfs for a total Feather River release of 8,500 cfs downstream. DWR continues to assess Feather River releases daily.

The public can track precipitation, snow, reservoir levels, and more at the California Data Exchange Center. The Lake Oroville gage station is identified as "ORO."

All data as of 11:59 p.m. on 8/6/2026.