Lake Oroville is back at 100% capacity after being hit hard by yearslong drought

By Rachel Ramirez and Cheri Mossburg | CNN

Once a stark example of the drastic effects of California’s yearslong megadrought, Lake Oroville has rebounded and is once again filled to capacity, data from the state’s Department of Water Resources shows.

California’s drought-stricken reservoirs have seen a remarkable recovery in recent months after a barrage of storms. It’s a much-needed improvement after they had been hovering at critically low levels for the past several years, officials said.

Lake Oroville, the state’s most beleaguered and second-largest reservoir, is at 100% of its total capacity and 127% of where it should be around this time of year – a huge boost after the climate-change-fueled megadrought sucked away nearly all its water supply.

A series of heavy winter storms and the following runoff from snowmelt have added 2.5 million acre-feet of water to the lake, raising levels by more than 240 feet since December 1, the state water agency said in a community update.

“Conditions have changed dramatically in many parts of the state thanks to the series of storms that arrived in California starting in December and continuing throughout the remainder of our wet season,” Tracy Pettit-Polhemus, a manager for the State Water Project, told CNN. “This is the first time the reservoir has reached capacity since 2019.”