MARYSVILLE, Calif. (Feb. 4, 2026) – Yuba Water Agency yesterday approved a more than $3 million grant to the Olivehurst Public Utility District to complete planning and design work for the City of Wheatland and OPUD’s joint Regional Wastewater Transmission and Treatment Facilities Project in South Yuba County. The agency also heard results from a large tree study that can help guide future forest resilience efforts in the North Yuba River watershed.
Grant to advance critical wastewater infrastructure work in South Yuba County
The grant to OPUD will be used to complete the design, permitting and land management work for a wastewater line project from Wheatland to OPUD’s wastewater treatment plant.
The regional project will bring an end to the use of Wheatland’s existing wastewater treatment plant and make use of OPUD’s available treatment capacity. Wheatland’s plant is nearing the end of its service life, while OPUD has sufficient capacity to accommodate the additional connection.
Yuba Water previously approved a loan of up to $80 million for the project. Additional information can be found at engage.yubawater.org/south-county-regional-wastewater.
Results from large-tree study to support forest health and watershed resilience
Yuba Water also received a presentation on a first-of-its-kind study examining the role of large trees in the North Yuba River watershed and their resilience to wildfire.
Using field data and advanced drone imagery, the study found that while large, fire-adapted trees are essential to forest resilience, an overabundance of some types of large, fire-intolerant species such as white fir can increase wildfire risk and threaten legacy pine trees.
The findings support ongoing work by the North Yuba Forest Partnership, a collaborative of nine organizations working to plan, fund and implement forest restoration projects across 275,000 acres of the North Yuba River watershed to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire.
The study was jointly funded by Yuba Water and The Nature Conservancy, both founding members of the partnership. Additional partners include the U.S. Forest Service – Tahoe National Forest, South Yuba River Citizens League, Camptonville Community Partnership, Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe, National Forest Foundation, Sierra County and Blue Forest.
Learn more about how Yuba Water’s investments are powering a brighter future for Yuba County at yubawater.org.