In a sign of the region's worsening drought, state water officials announced Thursday the shutdown of a major hydroelectric power plant at Lake Oroville in Northern California, citing the lowest-ever recorded water level.
It marks the first time that officials have been forced to close the lake's Edward Hyatt Powerplant, which opened in the late 1960s. The loss of the hydroelectric power source could contribute to rolling blackouts during heat waves in coming months.
"This is just one of many unprecedented impacts we are experiencing in California as a result of our climate-induced drought," Karla Nemeth, director of the state Department of Water Resources, said in a statement.
The move was not unexpected.
Officials had warned that once the water level in Lake Oroville fell to 640 feet, the plant could no longer produce power. On Thursday, Lake Oroville was at 641 feet with 863,516-acre feet of storage, which is 24% of its capacity and 34% of its historical average for this time, according to the Department of Water Resources.
For weeks, officials have sought to mitigate the affect on the power grid. The Hyatt plant is designed to produce up to 750 megawatts of power but has often generated 100 to 400 megawatts, or slightly less than 1% of the state's average daily peak usage.
But the shutoff of the Hyatt plant is a harbinger of drought-driven challenges to the power supply. Last month, the California Energy Commission and Public Utilities Commission reported that drought would reduce the state's hydropower capacity by about 1,000 megawatts.
The receding water line at Lake Oroville is a dramatic change from 2017, when storms slammed Northern California and filled the lake nearly to capacity. The storms eroded the main and emergency spillways, limiting the reservoir's main tool to control the water level, which forced thousands of residents below the dam to evacuate.
In recent years, the water level has fallen by more than 250 feet, and this week, it broke a record set in 1977 for the lowest level ever.
Nemeth, the state water official, said her agency plans to focus on preserving "as much water in storage as possible" and release some water from the dam to maintain the Feather River's temperature requirements.
(Times staff writer Julia Wick contributed to this report.)
