Photos show the difference in water levels at Lake Oroville in California from 2021 to today
New Photos Show DRAMATIC Differences in Water Levels at California’s Drought-Stricken Oroville Lake from 2021 to Today, Where It’s at 100% Capacity
- One of the West Coast’s major reservoirs is now at 100 percent capacity after years at near-empty levels
- The nearly 12 atmospheric rivers that hit California this winter have led to the complete refilling of many of the state’s major reservoirs
- Images show the huge difference a rainy season can make, both in terms of the fullness of the reservoir and the greenery of the surrounding area
Lake Oroville in California is one of several major reservoirs in the American West that reached critically low levels during the drought but is now filled to the brim.
Stunning footage from the Enterprise Bridge provides a comparison between Lake Oroville in July 2021 and June 2023, when the reservoir was completely filled for the first time since 2012.
In late 2021, Oroville’s water level dropped to its lowest level on record at just over 200 feet, or 24 percent capacity. While levels now measure at 100 percent capacity and 127 percent of where they usually are around this time of year.
California’s Lake Oroville in 2021, when the large West Coast reservoir was at dangerously low levels
Now the reservoir is 100 percent full, after a year of record rain and snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains
Lake Oroville in California is one of several major reservoirs in the American West that reached critically low levels during the drought but is now filled to the brim
According to Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources, who spoke with ABC news about the levels of the reservoir.
Capable of holding up to 3.5 million acre-feet of water, Oroville receives most of its flow from snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains in April.
Some parts of the Sierra Nevada mountains received as much as 200 percent more snow than usual this year due to the nearly dozen atmospheric rivers that hit the West Coast this winter.
An atmospheric river is a narrow corridor of concentrated moisture, or water vapor, carried by the air from the tropics. They can bring heavy rain showers.
Melting snow cover is a major contributor to California’s near-full reservoirs.
“It’s refreshing to see Lake Oroville and other State Water Project (SWP) reservoirs like San Luis close by or full,” Nemeth said.
The San Luis Reservoir in Merced, California measures about 99 percent full. In April it was at 114 percent of the historical average.
At this time last year, the reservoir was at less than half its capacity and continued to lose water in the warmer months.
This year’s excessive regional rain, snow and flooding have transformed the areas around both reservoirs from brown, dry landscapes to lush greenery.
A boat departs a dock on Lake Oroville in Oroville, California on June 15, 2023. After several winter storms that brought record snowfall to California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, Lake Oroville, California’s second largest reservoir, is at 100 percent capacity
In an aerial view, water is released at the main spillway at Lake Oroville on June 15, 2023 in Oroville, California
Satellite photos showing the difference in the San Luis Reservoir between last summer and now
California’s largest reservoir, about 125 miles north of Lake Oroville, is also nearly full, reaching nearly 97 percent capacity last week.
In April, with most reservoirs nearing full capacity, the DWR announced that the State Water Project would achieve 100 percent allocation for the first time in more than 15 years.
This means officials are overseeing the strategic release of water in the reservoir as water continues to flow into the lake to prevent flooding that could occur if the snowpack melts faster in the warmer months.