Butte County Presses for Oroville Dam Accountability in Washington, D.C.

BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. - Butte County’s efforts to advocate for accountability regarding the Oroville Dam license reached Washington, D.C. earlier this month, where County representatives met with leadership and staff at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

The conversations were productive and encouraging. FERC representatives were receptive to hearing the County’s concerns and provided valuable guidance about how Butte County and its residents should most effectively participate as the relicensing process moves forward.

Effective participation matters, because for more than half a century, Butte County has shouldered the costs of hosting one of California’s most important water infrastructure projects, while the benefits have flowed south.

Since Oroville Dam was completed in 1968, local taxpayers have absorbed the financial and public-safety burdens of hosting the State Water Project’s primary storage reservoir, from the devastating 2017 Spillway Failure and ongoing road and public-safety costs to the loss of approximately 41,000 acres from the County’s property tax base. Meanwhile, the water captured and stored in our community has generated enormous economic value for the State and its water contractors hundreds of miles away.

This imbalance was not part of the original deal. Oroville Dam was developed as a multiple-purpose project, and recreation was expressly recognized as a beneficial public use in the federal determination supporting its original license. Recreation was not incidental; it was part of the project's justification. Those public benefits were intended to help balance the enormous impacts of hosting this infrastructure, yet the recreation promised to the community was never fully realized.

For nearly two decades, the Department of Water Resources has operated the Oroville Dam facilities under annual renewals while awaiting a new long-term federal license. Before FERC issues a new 50-year license, our position remains the same as it was decades ago: Butte County cannot continue bearing disproportionate financial and public-safety burdens while the benefits of California’s backbone water infrastructure flow south.

Our meetings in Washington reinforced how important it is for Butte County to remain engaged in the federal process and for rural host communities to have a meaningful voice in decisions about major infrastructure. We are grateful to FERC’s Office of Public Participation for hearing Butte County’s story and for providing guidance on how our community should participate effectively in this process.

There is significant work ahead, but our purpose is more important than ever. As California confronts increasingly difficult questions about water, energy, land use, and infrastructure, there must also be a conversation about how the State protects and does right by the communities asked to host the infrastructure that makes those systems possible.

For Butte County, the principle is simple: Honor the bargain. Recognize the burden. Deliver the public benefits that were promised.

The County is currently updating the project's operational and socio-economic impact reports as we continue through the FERC process and advocate for a fair outcome for the forgotten community that has hosted Oroville Dam for more than half a century.

Butte County residents have a role in this process, too. Residents should make their voices heard by submitting public comments to FERC online or by mail. For instructions, visit Submit a Comment.