Lake Oroville Update - June 3, 2026

Spend the Day at the Thermalito Forebay

The Thermalito Forebay provides a unique recreation experience compared to other geographic areas of the Lake Oroville State Recreation Area. Its relatively stable water elevation level, proximity to City of Oroville amenities, and developed day-use facilities provide an experience that is much different from Lake Oroville.

The North Thermalito Forebay boat ramp and day use area covers roughly half of the Forebay’s 630 surface acres and hosts non-motorized boating, along with a swim beach, a large picnic area with barbecue grills, and abundant shade trees. This area also offers restroom facilities, including showers, and drinking fountains.

Also at the North Forebay, the Feather River and Forebay Aquatic Centers promote education, recreation, boating, water safety, competitive water sports, and tourism. The Aquatic Center offers a wide range of rental equipment, from kayaks and canoes to hydrobikes and pedal boats, which can be rented by the hour or day. The North Forebay is also home to the Butte Sailing Club, which offers sailing lessons by certified instructors and memberships offering rental access to their fleet of sail boats.

At the South Thermalito Forebay day-use area, a two-lane boat ramp provides motorized boating access for recreation and fishing. It has a shaded picnic area with barbecue facilities, a sandy swim beach, and a vault restroom facility.

Feather River Fish Monitoring Station

DWR resumed operations of the Feather River fish monitoring station on March 4, 2026, to capture the return of spring-run Chinook salmon. Monitoring was temporarily suspended at the end of December 2025 due to anticipated high flows in the Feather River. Upstream migrating fish totals between March 4 and May 31, 2026, are:  

• Spring-run Chinook salmon: 6,934
• Steelhead: -30 (most likely kelts moving downstream)
• To see previous year data, visit CalFish.org.

Current Lake Operations

Lake Oroville is at 893 feet elevation and storage is approximately 3.32 million acre-feet (MAF), which is 97 percent of its total capacity and 119 percent of the historical average.

Feather River flows are at 650 cubic feet per second (cfs) through the City of Oroville with releases from the Thermalito Afterbay River Outlet at 2,350 cfs for a total Feather River release of 3,000 cfs downstream. DWR continues to assess Feather River releases daily.

The public can track precipitation, snow, reservoir levels, and more at the California Data Exchange Center. The Lake Oroville gage station is identified as “ORO.”

All data as of 11:59 p.m. on 6/4/2026.