WATER, WATER, ANYWHERE?

Drought Causes Northern California Hydro Power Plant to Shut Down for the First Time Ever

The reservoir has dropped 250 feet in just the past two years at the tallest dam in the nation.

California’s historic drought has brought about another dire first: the power plant connected to the Oroville Dam in the state’s northern region has shut down for the first time since its construction in 1967. Oroville is the tallest dam in the entire U.S., and just four years ago, raging winter storms destroyed the dam’s spillway as they brought the reservoir to historic heights. After the water level dropped 250 feet in just two years, the reservoir now sits at an unprecedented and painful low, just 24 percent full, which cannot sustain the Edward Hyatt Power Plant below. Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources, said, “This is just one of many unprecedented impacts we are experiencing in California as a result of our climate-induced drought.”