New boat ramp planned at Lake Oroville to offset declining water level -

Sacramento Bee

New ramp to be built as Lake Oroville level drops -

Oroville Mercury Register

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New boat ramp planned at Lake Oroville to offset declining water level

Sacramento Bee – 4/29/08

By Matt Weiser, staff writer

State water officials will build a new, longer boat ramp at Lake Oroville's Bidwell Canyon to ensure continued boater access after an expected decline in lake levels this summer.

The Department of Water Resources plans to start construction on the ramp in mid-October and finish the project four to six weeks later. A cost estimate has not yet been developed because the project is still being designed, said spokesman Ted Thomas. The project will be financed with State Water Project funds, accrued through payments by state water contractors.

The existing boat ramp at Bidwell Canyon extends to a water surface elevation of 700 feet, which DWR projects will be reached by mid-August, putting the ramp out of commission. The new ramp will extend down to an elevation of 640 feet. The lake is now about 48 percent full, with a water elevation of 753 feet.

The Sierra Nevada snowpack was about average this year. But runoff is expected to be below normal because last year's drought conditions left soils very dry, so much of the runoff will be absorbed. March and April have provided almost no precipitation, which also reduced the runoff forecast.

Oroville is California's second-largest reservoir, with a capacity of 3.5 million acre-feet of water at a surface elevation of 900 feet. For more information, call the Lake Oroville Visitor's Center at (530) 538-2219.#

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/901097.html

New ramp to be built as Lake Oroville level drops

Oroville Mercury Register – 4/29/08

Staff Writers

OROVILLE -- The boat ramp at Bidwell Canyon Marina on Lake Oroville will be lengthened this summer and fall as the lake water level continues to drop.

All of the existing boat ramps at the lake are expected to be out of the water by mid-August.

The Department of Water Resources will take advantage of the low water to build a ramp 500 feet long, which will extend to a lake elevation of 640 feet above sea level, according to Oroville Field Division engineer Bill Cochran.

When full, Lake Oroville is 900 feet above sea level. Currently, it is at 753 feet.

Lake Oroville usually gains water from winter rains and snow melt in spring, then gradually declines during summer and fall.

But the last two years have been dry. In 2007, the lake dropped under 700 feet, and was only 36 percent full. Winter's storms have only increased the lake to 48 percent of capacity.

DWR is working with the Department of Parks and Recreation — which administers the recreation area at Lake Oroville — to keep boating access available this summer.

The lake's bass and coho salmon fisheries remain strong, DWR Biologist Eric See said.

Information on Lake Oroville elevations and availability of boat launch ramps may be found online at www.lakeoroville.water.ca.gov or by calling 538-2219.#

http://www.orovillemr.com/news/ci_9100931

California Water News (DWR)

[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 4/30/08