April 23, 2021
Loafer Creek Fuels Reduction Work
The Department of Water Resources (DWR), in partnership with Butte County Fire Safe Council (BCFSC), started a 13-acre vegetation management project along Highway 162 and Loafer Creek Road on April 22. Green Mountain Contracting is using hand crews to thin and chip overgrown and hazardous vegetation. A one-lane road closure will be needed along the entrance to Loafer Creek Recreation Area when crews are chipping.

CAL FIRE continues hazardous tree and vegetation fuels reduction activities at Loafer Creek within the North Complex wildfire burn scar. Crews are using heavy equipment and hand crews to cut, pile, and chip burnt vegetation and trees. The piles will be burned this fall when conditions are safe to burn. Both projects are visible to motorists on Highway 162. The public is advised to use caution around work activities and reduce speeds around crews and equipment.

This work is part of DWR’s Fuel Load Management Plan (FLMP) to reduce wildfire risk, increase public safety, and enhance forest health in areas around Lake Oroville. To date, approximately 700 acres have been treated around the Lake Oroville area by DWR and its partners including CAL FIRE, the California Conservation Corps, BCFSC, Butte County Sheriff’s Office, and California Department of Parks and Recreation. DWR has the goal of treating and/or retreating an additional 1,000 acres over the next 5 years.
Photo: Crews perform brush clearing work at Loafer Creek Recreation Area

April 16, 2021
Governor Visits Fuels Reduction Work
Governor Gavin Newsom visited the Loafer Creek Recreation Area near Lake Oroville to sign a $536 million wildfire package on April 13. This money will go towards forest management projects and efforts to reduce wildfire risks around California, including projects in Butte County. 
 
Governor Newsom visited a work site where CAL FIRE, in partnership with Department of Water Resources (DWR), has crews actively working in the Loafer Creek Recreation Area within the North Complex wildfire burn scar. Crews are using heavy machinery and hand crews to cut, pile, and chip burnt vegetation and trees. The piles will be burned after rains begin later this fall. Operations are visible to motorists on Highway 162.

This work is part of CAL FIRE’s Vegetation Management Program and DWR’s Fuel Load Management Plan (FLMP). Both plans aim to reduce wildfire risk, increase public safety, and enhance forest health in areas around Lake Oroville. Nearly 3,000 acres are targeted as part of DWR’s FLMP. To date, approximately 700 acres have been treated around the Lake Oroville area by DWR and its partners including CAL FIRE, the California Conservation Corps, Butte County Fire Safe Council (BCFSC), Butte County Sheriff’s Office, and California Department of Parks and Recreation (CA Parks). Previous FLMP work in the Loafer Creek area is credited for helping slow the North Complex wildfire, allowing firefighters time to establish the fire line that protected the communities of Kelly Ridge and Oroville.

DWR, in partnership with BCFSC, will begin a vegetation management project along Highway 162 and Loafer Creek Road starting the week of April 19. This 13-acre project will take approximately one month to reduce overgrown vegetation and hazardous fuels. A one-lane road closure may be needed along the entrance to Loafer Creek Recreation Area. The public is advised to use caution around work activities and reduce speeds around crews and equipment. 
Photo: Reducing fire risk and burned trees at Loafer Creek Recreation Area

April 9, 2021
DWR Begins Monitoring Vernal Pools
Some grasslands, including areas around Butte County, have an underlying impervious layer of rock or clay that causes rainwater to pond in the winter and spring, creating seasonal wetlands called vernal pools. Although vernal pools are only a small component of our local grasslands in terms of area, they support a remarkably high diversity of plants and animals, including rare and endangered species and species endemic to California (i.e., found nowhere else in the world).

Vernal pool organisms and plants are highly specialized to their unique environment and to the Mediterranean-type climate found in California. They have adapted to living in pools that fill in the winter but are completely dry by the summer, as well as adapting to the sometimes-extreme variability in temperature and rainfall between years. Vernal pools are important targets for conservation because most vernal pools in California have been lost to development, agriculture, and habitat degradation from invasive plants.
 
Vernal pools often support spectacular wildflowers that bloom from March to May. Each spring, Department of Water Resources (DWR) Environmental Scientists from the Oroville Field Division monitor hundreds of vernal pools around the Oroville area and make assessments on how protection measures for these valuable environmental resources are succeeding.
Photo: Native flower "tidy tips" in vernal pool area
Additional Campgrounds Open at Lake Oroville
The California Department of Parks and Recreation (CA Parks) has opened up reservations for the Bloomer Point, Bloomer Knoll, and Bloomer Cove boat-in campgrounds, the Foreman Creek boat-in campground, and the floating campgrounds located around Lake Oroville. Group camping at Loafer Creek Recreation Area opens on April 15. Lime Saddle group camping remains closed. 

Reservations for camping can be made online by selecting the ‘Reservations’ tab on the Lake Oroville State Recreation Area (LOSRA) webpage. The reservations system needs 48 hours’ notice to process reservations. “Day-of” access to campgrounds is possible if campsites are available.  

April 2, 2021
DWR April Snow Survey
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducted the fourth snow survey at the Phillips Station snow course (El Dorado County) on April 1. The manual survey recorded 49.5 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent (SWE) of 21 inches, which is 83 percent of average for this location. The SWE measures the amount of water contained in the snowpack and is a key component of DWR’s water supply forecast. April 1 is typically when California’s snowpack is the deepest and has the highest SWE.
 
While the Southern Sierra remains well below average for both rain and snow, the picture is somewhat different in the Northern and Central part of the state where California typically receives 75 percent of the state’s annual precipitation. The few storms that impacted California this year have been colder, bringing more snow than rain. Colder systems are good for the Sierra snowpack, which accounts for 30 percent of California’s fresh water supply in an average year.
For Water Year 2021, the snowpack in the Northern and Central Sierra peaked at 70 percent of average; however, rain is below 50 percent of average, which ties this year for the third driest year on record. The amount of water expected to enter California’s reservoirs when the snowpack melts is projected to be just 58 percent of average. The full news release is available on DWR’s website.
Photo: DWR staff at April Snow Survey Phillips Station
DWR Adjusts State Water Project Allocation    
As California experiences a second consecutive dry year, DWR announced on March 23 an adjustment to its initial State Water Project (SWP) allocation for the 2021 water year. The Department now expects the SWP to deliver 5 percent of requested supplies this year, down from the initial allocation of 10 percent announced in December.

Allocations represent the amount of SWP water that DWR will deliver to 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland for the year and are reviewed monthly based on several factors, such as water in storage, environmental requirements, and rain and snowmelt runoff projections. 

Drought conditions have a significant impact on the state’s water supply. Lake Oroville storage is only at 53 percent of its historical average. Beginning April 6, outflows to the Feather River will be further reduced to conserve storage while maintaining the Feather River flows necessary for fishery, environmental, and water delivery needs. More information on the allocation change is available in the DWR News Release.
Additional Campgrounds Open at Lake Oroville
The California Department of Parks and Recreation (CA Parks) has opened up reservations for the Bloomer Point, Bloomer Knoll, and Bloomer Cove boat-in campgrounds, the Foreman Creek boat-in campground, and the floating campgrounds located around Lake Oroville. Reservations for camping can be made online by selecting the ‘Reservations’ tab on the Lake Oroville State Recreation Area (LOSRA) webpage. Group camping sites remain closed due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.