OREGON HOUSE, Calif. (Feb. 24, 2026) – Yuba Water Agency has made initial site visits to New Colgate Powerhouse in Dobbins to survey damage and begin work to establish safe access to the powerhouse facility following the rupture of its penstock pipe in the Yuba County foothills on Feb. 13. The agency also awarded a contract to begin initial repairs to Lake Francis Road to enable safe vehicle access to the powerhouse and surrounding facilities.
The rupture sent water cascading down the hillside below the 14-foot-diameter pipe, causing significant erosion, damaging downhill facilities and carrying mud, sediment and man-made debris, including oil, into the Yuba River.
Damage to New Colgate Powerhouse
Crews have successfully accessed New Colgate Powerhouse by helicopter and with escort by geotechnical engineers for additional safety. Initial assessments show that while there is extensive damage, the interior of the powerhouse was not fully inundated by water or mudslides.
“We are encouraged by what we initially saw inside the powerhouse,” said Willie Whittlesey, Yuba Water Agency’s general manager. “There is significant damage, but we had feared worse. We have a massive job ahead of us to restore safe access to the powerhouse facility and get the power plant back into working condition.”
Contract awarded for repairs to Lake Francis Road
A contract was awarded to Nordic Industries of Olivehurst today to begin construction of road repairs to the lower portion of Lake Francis Road to enable safe access to the powerhouse area. The road suffered extensive damage from the mudslides and is completely blocked, preventing access to the powerhouse. Getting the road open will be a significant milestone in efforts to begin repairs to the hillside, penstock and powerhouse.
Lake Francis Road remains closed to the public beyond the last residence.
Environmental response above Englebright Lake
On Englebright Lake, crews have secured all equipment and the debris and oil booms to wait out the storm and the expected increase in flows to ensure worker safety. Once flows normalize, removal of oily debris that moved into the river during the penstock rupture and resulting mudslides will resume.
Crews have removed a total of 24 bins of oily debris, with each bin holding up to 20 cubic yards of debris, for an approximate 480 cubic yards of debris removed, so far.
The environmental response efforts are taking place in partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response.
“We’ve also successfully accounted for most of the hazardous materials that we knew may have been impacted,” Whittlesey said. “We will continue efforts to account for those few remaining items as soon as it’s safe to do so.”
Englebright Lake remains closed to recreation and people are strongly urged to avoid the area of the Yuba River between Englebright and New Colgate Powerhouse while work continues.