Oroville-Thermalito Complex
| Oroville-Thermalito Complex | |
|---|---|
Aerial view of Lake Oroville, Oroville Dam, its spillway, and the recontinued Feather River below.
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| Location | |
| State | California |
| Region | Northern California |
| County | Butte |
| Nearest City(s) | Oroville East, Ca, Oroville, Ca & Thermalito, Ca |
| Operations | |
| Operator | California Department of Water Resources (DWR) |
| Other Operators/Co-Operators | Feather River Recreation and Parks District (FRRPD), California Department of Fish and Game |
| Sources | |
| Primary Source | Lake Oroville |
| Other Source(s) | Feather River |
| Construction & Operations | |
| Designed & built by | United States Army Corps of Engineers |
| Construction Period | 1961-1969 |
| Operations Began | 1968 |
The Oroville-Thermalito Complex is a group of reservoirs, structures, and facilities located in and around the city of Oroville in Butte County, California. The complex serves not only as a regional water conveyance and storage system, but is the headwaters for, and therefore perhaps is the most vital part of, the California Department of Water Resources' State Water Project, the world's largest publicly built and operated water and power development and conveyance system.
The Oroville-Thermalito Complex was designed as an efficient water and power storage and conveyance system. All reservoirs and canals, combined, store about 3,620,000 acre feet (4.47 km3) when at max capacity, and generate power from releases made through Hyatt Powerplant and two other generating plants in nearby Thermalito. A special fish barrier dam was built to lead salmon and steelhead, returning to spawn, into the Feather River Fish Hatchery.
Water released from Lake Oroville is used to produce electricity via Hyatt Powerplant, located in the bedrock beneath and inside of the core of Oroville Dam. Water can either enter the Feather River through the one-unit Thermalito Diversion Dam Powerplant and the Diversion Dam's 14 radial spill gates or up to 17,000 cu ft/s (480 m3/s) can be diverted into the Thermalito Power Canal.
From there, the water enters the Thermalito Power Canal and flows into Thermalito Forebay. At the end of the forebay, water enters the Thermalito Afterbay by way of the Thermalito Pumping-Generating Plant to produce electricity. The plant can also pump water back into the lake to be reused for power generation at Hyatt Powerplant when needed.
39°33′22″N 121°27′06″W / 39.55611°N 121.45167°W
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