The Colgate Powerhouse, operated by Yuba Water Agency, has experienced a failure of the penstock pipe carrying water from Bullards Bar Reservoir to the main stem of the Yuba River. This is a developing story, check back for updates.
February 17, 2026 at 3:24 PM Yuba Water Agency today shared that the contract employee injured during last week’s penstock pipe rupture is now in stable condition and in good spirits. The agency shared additional details about its ongoing response to the incident and plan for recovery. This includes ongoing efforts by Yuba Water, environmental contractors and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to contain and remove debris above the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Englebright Lake.
“We are turning the corner on this incident and are now working on a plan for the next few weeks and months,” Whittlesey said. “We recognize the seriousness of what happened and the impacts to our community and the Yuba River, and we’re committed to a thorough and comprehensive investigation into exactly what occurred. We have a long road to recovery ahead, but we remain committed to rebuilding and continuing to serve the people of Yuba County.” Full release here.
February 15, 2026 at 6:32 PM Yuba Water Agency crews and environmental contractors spent Sunday focused on potential hazard containment and debris removal from the Yuba River, as well as environmental assessment and monitoring in advance of oncoming storms.
Crews successfully installed an oil boom in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Englebright Reservoir. They also removed significant large debris that washed into the river. Yuba Water is also coordinating with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and others to assess the impact of the penstock rupture on the lower Yuba River, including the effect of temporary flow changes on aquatic species.
February 14, 2026 at 5:53 PM Today, following reports of yesterday’s penstock failure at the Colgate Powerhouse, SYRCL’s Watershed Science team conducted field sampling in the impacted stretch of the Yuba River. Samples were collected at Rice’s Crossing, Point Defiance, and Bridgeport (as a control site). Staff collected water samples and measured key indicators including conductivity, turbidity, pH, and dissolved oxygen. While turbidity was quite high, preliminary comparisons to our 25-year river monitoring record suggest that the other indicators measured onsite were within the normal range. Additional water quality samples were sent to a lab for additional processing.
In addition, SYRCL’s Fisheries Restoration Program Manager surveyed reaches of the lower Yuba River and documented numerous dead salmon fry. This mortality is most likely a result of the sudden drop in flows in the lower Yuba resulting from power loss at New Colegate, not water quality. These observations are deeply concerning and underscore the seriousness of the incident.
SYRCL continues to monitor the situation and is in close contact with Yuba Water Agency who is working closely with state agencies and Clean Harbors to mitigate water quality impacts.
February 14, 2026 at 5:00 PM Yuba Water Agency has made progress toward securing its facilities and containing debris in the Yuba River following the rupture of its penstock pipe yesterday above New Colgate Powerhouse in the Yuba County foothills.
Geotechnical engineers have completed preliminary aerial surveys of the incident site and will continue ground assessments in the morning to identify safe access routes to the penstock, powerhouse and surrounding areas.
Yuba Water has also implemented a water quality monitoring plan, and boats have been pre-positioned on Englebright Lake in an attempt to contain man-made debris and materials from the incident site ahead of the storms expected to begin tomorrow.
Yuba Water continues to investigate the cause of the failure and urges the public to stay away from the incident site and out of the Yuba River between New Colgate Powerhouse and Englebright Lake while crews work to contain debris.
February 14, 2026 at 4:34 PM Pike City Power Outage Update: PG&E crews continue working toward restoration, with an estimated restoration time of approximately 11:30 p.m. tonight. Due to the complexity of the repairs, restoration is taking longer than usual. Temporary generation is being deployed, which requires additional time to safely connect and operate.
To assist impacted residents:
Community Resource Center
Camptonville Community Center
15333 Cleveland Avenue, Camptonville
Opening today by 3:00 p.m.
This location will provide a warm, safe place to charge devices and obtain outage information.
Grab & Go Bags – Pike City Firestation 4 PM – 8 PM
100 Pike City Road
Grab and Go bags will be available and include a small battery pack for charging devices and a light blanket.
February 14, 2026 at 8:45 AM Yuba Water Agency update: In the aftermath of a penstock rupture above the New Colgate Powerhouse in Dobbins yesterday, Yuba Water Agency is focused today on investigating the cause, securing site safety and responding to potential environmental impacts in the Yuba River.
“Right now, we’re focusing on doing everything we can to prevent any additional debris from entering the Yuba River and continuing to secure the site ahead of forecasted rain tomorrow,” said Yuba Water Agency General Manager Willie Whittlesey.
Yuba Water is currently conducting helicopter surveys of the North and Middle Yuba rivers between New Colgate Powerhouse and Lake Englebright to map debris in the water and identify locations to place debris booms to capture large debris. The agency is working closely with Clean Harbors, a company that specializes in environmental mitigation in water and on land, and in coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – which owns and operates Englebright – to contain debris and monitor water quality.
Additionally, geotechnical crews are mobilizing to assess the damage and determine next steps with regards the hillside erosion and site safety.
The public is urged to avoid Lake Francis Road and the surrounding areas while Yuba Water continues to secure the site of the penstock failure.
February 14, 2026 at 6:37 AM Yuba Water urges people to stay out of the North and Middle Yuba River between New Colgate Powerhouse and Englebright Lake in the coming days due to potentially hazardous debris on the riverbank and in the river.
February 14, 2026 at 6:34 AM As of 9:15 p.m. last night PG&E has restored power to all customers impacted by the Colgate substation outage who are able to receive service. Due to the complexity of this incident, and the significant damage incurred due to the flood, approximately 400 customers in the Pike community will remain out of service. We are exploring multiple options to get these customers restored safety and as quickly as possible, and crews are working hard to restore service despite incredibly challenging circumstances. We’ve been in touch with Sierra County officials and will update customers on when we expect their power will be restored.
February 13, 2026 at 8:12 PM PG&E has rerouted power and the remaining 736 customers are expected to be restored between 8:30 pm and 11:30 pm.
February 13, 2026 at 7:41 PM SYRCL is closely tracking the failure of the penstock and immediate aftereffects at the Colgate Powerhouse on the North Yuba River. We will continue to be in communication with Yuba Water Agency throughout the weekend, tracking environmental impacts including threats to water quality and observed rapid drop in flows below Englebright. Landslides are natural events, however videos from Rices Crossing suggest that the volume of debris from the powerhouse itself may indicate water quality issues. With the coming storms, flow management and further damage present additional near-term challenges. We will be tracking storm impacts, remaining focused on the health of the river and the safety of people and wildlife in the watershed.
February 13, 2026 at 7:07 PM PG&E update: As of 6:15 pm, we have restored power to approximately 7,000 of the 15,000 customers impacted by an outage at the PG&E Colgate substation. The outage was caused by the failure of a non-PG&E water pipe that flooded the substation. We currently expect to restore power to nearly all customers by around 11 pm tonight, some earlier. We will continue to keep customers and media informed of important updates.
February 13, 2026 at 6:28 PM Yuba Water Agency update: Yuba Water Agency is responding to a major incident that occurred just before 3 p.m. today, Feb. 13 at its New Colgate Powerhouse in Yuba County on the North and Middle Yuba River. All Yuba Water Agency staff and contractors in the incident area have been accounted for at this time and there is no threat of downstream flooding.
The public is urged to avoid the area while emergency responders continue to secure the site. There was a brief pulse in flows on the Yuba River between New Colgate Powerhouse and Englebright Reservoir downstream and the Yuba County Sheriff’s Office is actively canvasing the Yuba River for any potential impacts.
February 13, 2026 at 6:18 PM CAL FIRE NEU update: The unaccounted for individual was rescued by a CAL FIRE helicopter and transported to a local hospital.
All personnel are now accounted for.
February 13, 2026 at 6:00 PM CAL FIRE NEU update: The Colgate Incident Commander reports they are searching for one individual unaccounted for with drones, helicopter and the CAL FIRE Technical Rescue Team below the Colgate Powerhouse following a pipe break. CAL FIRE Nevada Yuba Placer Unit is in unified command with the Yuba County Sheriff and Dobbins Fire Department responding to the Colgate incident. The CAL FIRE/Placer County Fire Department Technical Rescue Team has been requested downstream of the Colgate Powerhouse following a pipe break. The powerhouse is located on Lake Francis Road in Dobbins, Yuba County.
February 13, 2026 at 5:46 PM Yuba Water Agency update: Yuba Water Agency and local emergency responders are on site at our New Colgate Powerhouse responding to a serious incident at our penstock pipe, which moves water from New Bullards Bar Dam to our powerhouse on the Yuba River. The penstock has been isolated and there is no threat of flooding downstream. Please continue to avoid the area.
February 13, 2026 at 5:36 PM Reader Andy Wright was fly fishing at Rice’s Crossing (downstream from the Colgate Powerhouse this afternoon. He shared the following: “Approximately 3:10pm I heard the water rising quickly, maybe two feet. I decided to pack up quickly and move to higher ground. Suddenly there was debris flow, and the water turned muddy. Next thing, there were hundreds of objects floating down the river, including 55 gal drums, crates of all types, and even a large ice machine. The water stunk and fish were dying on the shore. There was a sheen of oil on the water. It was incredibly sad to see a beautiful wild stretch of river become an environmental disaster inside of half an hour.” The footage was taken between 3:10pm and 4:06pm.
February 13, 2026 at 4:56 PM Update from PG&E: At about 3 p.m. on Feb. 13, more than 15,000 PG&E customers lost power after the failure of a non-PG&E penstock – a steeply angled water pipe that provides water to a powerhouse. The failure caused flooding of PG&E’s Colgate switching station south of Dobbins in Yuba County. Customers affected are in Nevada, Yuba, Sierra and Butte counties. Our crews are working to assess the situation and redirect power and have started restoring power to customers. We continue to evaluate the situation so we can restore more customers.
February 13, 2026 at 4:26 PM Units are securing the area and making sure all personnel are accounted for.
February 13, 2026 at 4:02 PM Unconfirmed report the burst pipe has a 26ft diameter. That would correspond to the tunnel from Bullards to the penstock pipe.
February 13, 2026 at 3:53 PM Helicopter is inbound to the Colgate incident. There are reports of smoke coming from the powerhouse. No flames visible. Additional swift water rescue teams are inbound.
February 13, 2026 at 3:44 PM There is no reported flooding danger for the area below Bullards.
February 13, 2026 at 3:33 PM The gate at Bullards has been shut off, Yuba Water will attempt to shut off the valve above the busted pipe.
February 13, 2026 at 3:29 PM Command post is being established at Lake Francis dam for the Colgate incident.
February 13, 2026 at 3:19 PM Numerous resources dispatched to the Colgate Powerhouse incident.
February 13, 2026 at 3:16 PM There are 4,045 customers affected by various large outages in Nevada County, 2,147 in Yuba County and 1,314 in Sierra County.
February 13, 2026 at 3:12 PM A burst pipe in the Colgate Powerhouse in the Dobbins area flooding the structure. Numerous units dispatched, possible entrapment. Also 923 customers out of power, unknown if related.