CHICO, CA - Water lines on the banks of Lake Oroville in Butte County have depleted so rapidly that the reservoir’s hydroelectric power plant may have to shut down for the first time ever, straining an already encumbered power grid during the hottest part of the summer, California officials announced Thursday.

Since 1967, the Edward Hyatt Power Plant has been a crucial source of electricity for the area and usually has the capacity to power up to 800,000 homes, pumping water from the lake through its underground facilities, according to CNN. However, water levels are currently approaching 700 feet, exacerbated by a severe drought and triple-digit temperatures.


If they continue to plummet to a threshold of 640 feet – the lake’s lowest point ever, recorded in 1977 – the plant will not have enough water to continue functioning in two to three months’ time.

“If lake levels fall below those elevations later this summer, DWR will, for the first time, cease generation at the Hyatt power plant due to lack of sufficient water to turn the plant’s electrical generation turbines,” Liza Whitmore, Public Information Officer of the Department of Water Resources' Oroville Field Division, told CNN.

Earlier this month, the Department of Water Resources forecast Lake Oroville – the state’s second largest reservoir – would likely drop below its lowest-ever point in late summer or early fall.

As a result of the drought, 120 houseboats were pulled off the water over Memorial Day weekend and moved onto cinderblocks because there wasn’t enough water to hold them.

Story Date: June 20, 2021