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Lake Oroville water level

41%
full
734.2 ft
elevation, 166.8 ft below full
−12.7 ft
30-day trend, falling

Feather River · California · operated by CA DWR (Oroville Dam)

By Michael, independent developer behind zovo.one. Readings pulled live from the same CDEC feed the operator reports to.

Lake Oroville is 41% full as of Nov 4, 2026, per CDEC data; 166.8 ft below full pool.

41 % full
low 166.8 ft below full pool
CDEC 1,458,077 acre-ft · updated Nov 4, 2026
41%
percent full
734.2
water level (ft msl)
166.8
ft below full pool
−0.26
24-hour change (ft)
901
full pool (ft ref.)
3.54M
capacity (acre-ft)
Can I launch? Yes, most ramps usable.
Lake is lower than normal; some ramps may be out of the water. Check ramp status before launching.
~30-day trend · reservoir elevation
747.0 734.2 now 734.2

Is that normal for the date?

At 734.23 ft, Lake Oroville is lower than 58% of Novembers in 42 years of daily record.

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The median for this date across 42 years is 748.12 ft, so this is -13.89 ft against the lake’s own history. Placed on a quantile ladder built from 14,287 daily readings published by CDEC for site ORO, 1985-02-14 to 2026-08-06. This reservoir typically peaks in June and bottoms out in January.

Lake Oroville today: level, trend, source and access

Level against full pool

On Nov 4, 2026 the surface sat at 734.2 ft, 166.8 ft below the full-pool mark of 901 ft. It held 1,458,077 acre-feet of its 3,537,577 acre-foot capacity (41% full), so it needs about 2,080,000 acre-feet more to fill. CDEC put its storage at 81% of the historical average for Nov 4, a little below a normal year for the date. Of the 12 California lakes on this site with a live percent-full reading, it ranks 9 of 12.

Trend

Between Oct 6 and Nov 4 (29 days) the level fell 12.7 ft, about 3.1 ft a week. The high in that window was 747.0 ft on Oct 6 and the low was 734.2 ft on Nov 4. In the last 7 days it fell 1.7 ft. The last 24 hours moved it down 0.26 ft.

Data source

The elevation comes from California Data Exchange Center (CDEC) station ORO (California Department of Water Resources), last reported Nov 4, 2026. Percent full is CDEC storage divided by the capacity CDEC lists for the dam. Feet from full pool, the trend and the figures above are computed from that reading and the published full-pool elevation; none is typed by hand. CA DWR (Oroville Dam) runs the dam on the Feather River.

Recreation status

Status: low. At 41% full it is 19.0 points under 60%, the line above which most ramps stay in the water. Expect some ramps to be short of water and check the one you plan to use with CA DWR (Oroville Dam). If the 30-day pace of 3.1 ft a week down held, the surface would be near 722.0 ft in four weeks. Releases and rain change that quickly.

To see where today sits against every monthly reading since 1967, the Lake Oroville water level chart plots the whole CDEC storage record and ranks the latest month against the same month in every year.

Check an elevation against full pool

For readers outside the U.S., the surface of Lake Oroville is about 223.8 m above sea level, and full pool is about 274.6 m.

Check any elevation yourself. Type a level in feet above sea level (a ramp cutoff, a marina mark) to see how far it sits below full pool and in meters.

About Lake Oroville

Full pool
901 ft
Capacity
3,537,577 AF
Dam / operator
CA DWR (Oroville Dam)
River / basin
Feather River
State
California
Data feed
CDEC

Questions about Lake Oroville

How full is Lake Oroville right now?
Lake Oroville is about 41% full as of Nov 4, 2026.
Can I launch a boat at Lake Oroville?
Lake is lower than normal; some ramps may be out of the water. Check ramp status before launching. Individual ramps open and close on their own schedules and on local hazards.
Where does Lake Oroville's level come from?
LakeLevelNow pulls it from the CDEC public water-data feed (California Data Exchange). The reading is timestamped in the gauge above.
Who operates Lake Oroville?
Lake Oroville, on the Feather River, is operated by CA DWR (Oroville Dam). Reservoir releases, flood-control drawdowns, and water-supply decisions are theirs.

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