Dramatic new images show parched Lake Oroville transformed by California storms

Lake Oroville, one of the main reservoirs that contributes to California‘s water supply, is fuller after trillions of gallons of rain saturated the state last month.

The lake was at 68 percent of its capacity on Friday — up from 28 percent just two months prior, according to state data. 

Water levels had fallen to such perilous lows that in 2021 officials closed the reservoir’s hydroelectric power plant for the first time since 1967.

But new images captured by Los Angeles Times photographers this month shows a drastic change from from the dry, cracked river beds that are now filled with water. 

Lake Oroville is the largest reservoir on the State Water Project, which includes several reservoirs and canals that supplies water to about 27 million people.

Lake Oroville, one of the main reservoirs that contributes to California’s water supply, is significantly fuller after heavy rains saturated the state last month, compared to the image on the right just last summer that shows low water levels

Water levels are rising at Lake Oroville in California after weeks of drenching rains

Lake Oroville reached its lowest point on 628.63 feet on September 30, 2021, and photos showed the worsening drought conditions. 

But after atmospheric rivers dumped trillions of gallons on the state last month, the lake but since risen about 189 feet, for an elevation of 817.41 feet.

There was widespread flooding across the state of California but experts say the storms ‘certainly helped reservoir storage in California following the driest three years in the state’s recorded history.’

Jeanine Jones, Interstate Resources Manager for the Department of Water Resources, made the statement, but added that it’s important to continue conserving supplies. A wet spell could be followed up by a dry one.   

 ‘Over the next two months, it is important that we still see periodic rain and snowstorms to keep an above-average pace for our precipitation totals,’ Jones said. 

‘While this has been a strong start, the most important measurement will be April 1 when the snowpack is typically at its highest. Californians should continue to use water wisely so that we can have both a thriving economy, community and environment.’

A forecast shows that there are equal chances for California to be wet or dry through April – and Jones says this time will be critical for the state. 

‘For every day it doesn’t rain or snow during our wettest months, we are drying out,’ she said. ‘A lot of uncertainty remains about the next two months and water managers are maintaining reservoirs to hold as much water supply as possible while also managing flood control requirements.’

In 2017, Lake Oroville has been became so full from heavy rainfall that it nearly ran over the Oroville Dam.

In February 2023, a boat dock floats at Spillway Launch Ramp at Lake Oroville. But last summer, the same boat dock was high and dry, which was only at 33 percent full at the time

Houseboats on the water at Bidwell Canyon Marina at Lake Oroville in February 2023

Less than a year ago, the water levels are down significantly in July 2022

Atmospheric rivers pounding California since late last year coated mountains with a full winter’s worth of snow and began raising reservoir levels – but experts have said it will take much more precipitation to reverse the effects of years of drought. 

The mountain snowpack that supplies a significant amount of California’s water got an incredible boost from powerful storms in January and began to outpace the state’s wettest season on record.

Sean de Guzman, manager of the department’s snow surveys and water supply forecasting unit, said: ‘Our snowpack is off to an incredible start, and it´s exactly what California needs to really help break from our ongoing drought.’

‘However, for every day that it doesn´t rain or snow, we gradually return to drier conditions,’ he said. 

De Guzman conducted a manual measurement high in the Sierra Nevada at Phillips Station, south of Lake Tahoe, a location that demonstrates California’s varying snow fortunes – sometimes buried in white and sometimes bare ground. 

A nearly empty Lake Oroville is seen from above in Oroville, California on September 5, 2021

The West Branch Feather River Bridge spans drought-stricken Lake Oroville on July 6, 2022 with scientists calling the megadrought the driest 22-year stretch in more than 1,200 years

In June 2021, a truck drives on a dirt path along the exposed lakebed, left exposed as water recedes on Lake Oroville, which was at 33 percent full and 40 percent of historical average

Dried mud and a stranded buoy on lakebed at Lake Oroville in June 2021 during the drought

His survey there found a snow depth of 85.5 inches and a water content that was 193 percent of the Feb. 1 average at the location.

The massive snowpack was largely left by nine atmospheric rivers that lasted from late December through mid-January. 

The storms dumped 32 trillion gallons of rain and snow on the state, allowing state water managers to boost water supplies for farms and cities.

Most of California remains in moderate to severe drought, though that’s better than several months ago when a huge swath of the state was in extreme or exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The amount of water in the snowpack, technically described as snow water equivalent, currently outpaces California’s record 1982-83 season, according to the department. But the weather has turned drier, with only modest systems passing through.

DWR Director Karla Nemeth pointed out that February ‘is a traditional wet month that is actually starting off pretty dry’ and the forecast is for dryness to continue.

Nemeth also suggested that the April 1 date is no longer reliable because climate change is changing the timing of the peak snowpack. She also cited recent years in which runoff has dropped off dramatically and storm conditions have shut down and been followed by excessive dry periods.

The storms also caused damaging flooding and landslides. There were at least 20 storm-related deaths, and a boy remains missing since being swept away by a swollen creek in San Luis Obispo County.

The storms dumped 32 trillion gallons of rain and snow on the state this winter, allowing state water managers to boost water supplies for farms and cities

The California Dept of Water Resources says the water content in the statewide snowpack on Feb. 1, 2023, is 205% of normal to date and 128% of the April 1 average, its historical peak

Downtown San Francisco, for example, received nearly 13.6 inches of rain from Dec. 26 to Jan. 10. Snowfall so far this season at the summit of the Mammoth Mountain resort in the Eastern Sierra hit 444 inches.

In the Sierra Nevada and other mountains, the water content of the snowpack is more than 200 percent of normal to date and more than 100 percent of the April 1 average, when it is historically at its peak, according to the state Department of Water Resources.

The snowpack supplies roughly a third of California’s water when it melts and runs off into rivers and reservoirs.

Statewide, reservoir storage is only 82 percent of average for this time of year. The largest reservoir, Shasta, is at just 44 percent of capacity. That’s only 70 percent of average to date. The huge Oroville reservoir is closer to its average but at just 49 percent of capacity.

And there’s concern that the rains could abruptly stop. The end of 2021 was marked by significant storms, but the start of 2022 saw months of bone-dry weather.