California has 46% of its land area in exceptional drought. Along with Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, and Utah, California is entirely in drought. Hydroelectric power provides 13% of the most populous state in the nation's power needs.
This is the first time in the plant's history that it has shut down. When the lake is at full capacity, it can pump water from underground facilities to power 800,000 homes. The lake is the second-largest reservoir in the state.
(CNN)A major California hydroelectric power plant has been forced to shut down due to low water levels for the first time since it opened in 1967, officials said Thursday, as the state grapples with an unrelenting drought.
The decision to shut down the Edward Hyatt Power Plant at Lake Oroville -- the state's second-largest reservoir -- comes after drought and heat exacerbated by the climate crisis caused lake water levels to plunge to all-time lows."This is just one of many unprecedented impacts we are experiencing in California as a result of our climate-induced drought," California Department of Water Resources Director Karla Nemeth said Thursday in a news release. "California and much of the western part of the United States are experiencing the impacts of accelerated climate change including record-low reservoir levels due to dramatically reduced runoff this spring."Lake Oroville has dwindled to just 24% of total capacity. That's 10 percentage points below the reservoir's historic average for August 5, per data from the DWR.
"DWR will continue to focus on reservoir operations and water storage management at Lake Oroville to preserve as much water in storage as possible," Nemeth said. "DWR will use the River Valve Outlet System to release some water from the base of Oroville Dam to maintain river temperature requirements and outflows to the Feather River."
The department delivers 5 percent of requested water supplies to State Water Project contractors who in turn provide water for agriculture and urban use. Deliveries are being met almost entirely from storage at San Luis Reservoir in Merced County and have little impact on the amount of water being stored or released from Lake Oroville, according to the release.
"Falling reservoir levels are another example of why it is so critical that all Californians conserve water," Nemeth said. "We are calling on everyone to take action now to reduce water use by 15 percent, to preserve as much water supply in storage as possible should we experience another dry year."
Lake Oroville Dam spillway burst in 2017.
From Wiki:
In February 2017, Oroville Dam's main and emergency spillways were damaged, prompting the evacuation of more than 180,000 people living downstream along the Feather River and the relocation of a fish hatchery.
Heavy rainfall during the 2017 California floods damaged the main spillway on February 7, so the California Department of Water Resources stopped the spillway flow to assess the damage and contemplate its next steps. The rain eventually raised the lake level until it flowed over the emergency spillway, even after the damaged main spillway was reopened. As water flowed over the emergency spillway, headward erosion threatened to undermine and collapse the concrete weir, which could have sent a 30-foot (10 m) wall of water into the Feather River below and flooded communities downstream. No collapse occurred, but the water further damaged the main spillway and eroded the bare slope of the emergency spillway. Many schools closed due to the floods.