Oroville Dam as see from an elevated downstream perspective.

New Bullards Bar & Oroville Dams Water Control Manual Update

New Bullards Bar Dam is 18 miles upstream from Englebright Dam. Construction was completed in 1970 by the Yuba County Water Agency (YCWA) as part of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Project No. 2246 to provide water for power generation, irrigation, water supply, flood control, and recreation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contributed $12 million to the construction of the dam in exchange for flood control space the reservoir would provide. The reservoir is used heavily for recreation, and it powers two hydroelectric plants. The USACE Flood Control Manual for New Bullards Bar Reservoir (1972) specifies flood releases in a major flood event. Releases from New Bullards Bar Reservoir are made through the New Colgate Powerhouse, through the dam’s low-level outlet, or through the gated spillway.

Oroville Dam and Lake Oroville lie in the foothills on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada and are one mile downstream of the junction of the Feather River’s major tributaries. The lake stores winter and spring runoff that is released into the Feather River to meet the project’s needs. It also provides pumped-storage capacity, 750,000 acre-feet of flood control storage, recreation, and freshwater releases to control salinity intrusion in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and for fish and wildlife enhancement.

At 770-feet, Oroville Dam is the tallest earth-fill dam in the United States. Construction first began in 1957 on relocating what is now Highway 70 and the Western Pacific Railroad. Work on the dam site began in 1961. The embankment was topped out in 1967.

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Informational Meeting
October 15, 2024
Presentation
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Frequently Asked Questions

Q1:  How can I ask a question or voice a concern about the New Bullards Bar Dam and/or Oroville Dam water control manual update process or decisions?
Please email your questions and/or concerns to NBB-Oroville-WCMupdates@usace.army.mil. We will forward your message to the appropriate office(s) and respond to you as soon as possible. Depending upon the complexity of your question and number of agencies involved in the response, it may take up to a few weeks to respond.

Q2:  What is a water control manual?

  • Water Control Manuals, or WCMs, are operating manuals for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, dams.
  • USACE makes day to day decisions about releasing water through its dams according to Water Control Plans, or WCPs, that are included in dam specific-WCMs.
  • All WCMs have the following objectives, in addition to the WCP guidelines:
  1. Operate the dam and reservoir for the purposes authorized by Congress and other applicable law;
  2. Maintain the structural integrity and operation integrity of the dam (sometimes called a “project” to include reservoir operations); and
  3. Avoid risk to public health and safety, life and property.

Q3:  Why are the water control manuals being updated?

  • Congress provided direction and funding in Fiscal Year 2022 for USACE districts across the nation to update WCMs to:
  1. Evaluate and potentially update WCP’s as necessary.
  2. Assess existing drought contingency plan for managing water releases from dams when there is a drought.
  3. Meet new requirements for formatting and updating information.
  • Each WCM and its WCP was developed when each project was authorized. They are updated periodically to determine whether there are changes in the physical, environmental and social conditions that need to be accounted for in a dam’s operation. 

Contact Information

For more information on the New Bullards Bar Dam and Oroville Dam water control manual updates, please contact us at:

Phone:  (916) 557-5100
 
E-mail:  NBB-Oroville-WCMupdates@usace.army.mil

Mailing Address:
USACE Sacramento District
New Bullards Bar Dam & Oroville Dam WCM Updates
1325 J Street, Room 1640
Sacramento, CA  95814