Oroville-Thermalito Complex
The Oroville-Thermalito Complex is a group of reservoirs, structures, and facilities located in and around the city of Oroville in Butte County, California. The complex serves not only as a regional water conveyance and storage system, but is the headwaters for, and therefore perhaps is the most vital part of, the California Department of Water Resources' State Water Project, the world's largest publicly built and operated water and power development and conveyance system.
Background
The Oroville-Thermalito Complex was designed as an efficient water and power storage and conveyance system. All reservoirs and canals, combined, store about 3,620,000 acre feet (4.47 km3) when at max capacity, and generate power from releases made through Hyatt Powerplant and two other generating plants in nearby Thermalito. A special fish barrier dam was built to lead salmon and steelhead, returning to spawn, into the Feather River Fish Hatchery.
Water released from Lake Oroville is used to produce electricity via Hyatt Powerplant, located in the bedrock beneath of and inside the core of Oroville Dam. Water can either enter the Feather River through the one-unit Thermalito Diversion Dam Powerplant and the Diversion Dam's 14 radial spill gates or up to 17,000 cu ft/s (480 m3/s) can be diverted into the Thermalito Power Canal.
