GRASS VALLEY, Calif. September 25, 2024 – Today, the Nevada Irrigation District (NID) Board of Directors voted 4-1 to approve the resolution withdrawing Centennial from consideration. Director Hull made the motion, seconded by Director Bierwagen. Director Caulder voted No.
The decision came after a lengthy presentation on the final results of the district’s Plan for Water (PFW) a close to three-year process with public participation.
Directors voted to proceed with increasing the capacity of Rollins Reservoir instead of building Centennial reservoir, a new storage reservoir much lower in the watershed. The technical memo, issued in August, presented the hydrological, demand and operations models developed during the PFW process. The memo evaluates a range of alternative operating strategies and their ability to meet the future needs of NID customers. The conclusion reads, in part, “despite the larger storage capacity increase for the Centennial Reservoir (96,000 AF) alternative versus the Rollins Reservoir (50,000 AF) alternative, the lower elevation location of Centennial Reservoir limits its potential benefit to the NID water delivery system.”
Public input
During today’s meeting, members of the public weighed in one last time on the issue. Those who participated in the PFW meetings and were familiar with the issue generally supported the demise of Centennial, with the exception of the Farm Bureau representative and a candidate running for a seat on the NID board. Those who were less informed wondered if more time and more studies would be appropriate.
“More time and more studies won’t change the location of Centennial,” commented Director Johansen who attended the meeting via Zoom.
In a press release issued minutes after the vote SYRCL ‘s Executive Director Aaron Zettler-Mann stated, “In the last decade, the number of people in this community who lent a hand to stop the construction of Centennial Dam has been inspiring. People coming together to stop the construction of bad water projects is what SYRCL was founded on, and it continues to be a large part of what we do today.”
Yes, but No
Director Trevor Caulder, who represents Division 4 (Auburn and Lincoln area) recognized the work gone into the report but wanted more options. He was the lone No vote.
Yes because the data supports it
Director Bierwagen, who initially was in favor of building Centennial dam, explained his vote and spoke about the PFW process, “Learning about working together and believing in the team effort rather than individual effort is big, and sometimes you have to compromise and keep going forward. So I had to compromise despite my farmer mentality about Centennial. The data and the science supported the decision.”
NID statement
“Today’s decision was based on nearly three years of extensive work through the Plan for Water process, which has identified, in addition to storage alternatives, strategic scenarios that seek to determine how to meet NID’s future water supply needs of our community for the next 50 years,” said NID General Manager Jennifer Hanson in a news release. “The Plan for Water process has been highly successful. Working with the community for nearly three years and enlisting the best consultants to provide modeling and research, we are confident of a path going forward and that NID’s water management practices will reflect that. The goal since Day One has been to determine the best ways to reliably and feasibly meet the community’s demand for water in the coming decades.
Caulder calls it quits
The real surprise came a the end of the long meeting when Director Caulder announced his resignation, effective tomorrow. During Director’s announcements, Calder stated, “So we’re now almost two years in my four year term, and I just wanted to recognize the support I received for the campaigning and the two years from Kevin Kiley, Congressman Kevin Kiley, Assemblyman Patterson, Supervisor Landon, amongst the other electeds in south Placer County. It was heartwarming to get to know everyone and spend the last three years campaigning and just being part of the community with those folks. This irrigation resource that those who’ve come before us have created deserves to be protected for generations to come. The electeds previously mentioned understand this charter and have enabled me to carry this torch. I’d like to thank the Nevada County and Placer County Farm Bureaus for entrusting me to protect the lifeblood of their agriculture operations. I’d like to recognize my colleagues and the board, on the board and the staff, all of you guys at NID, for your dedication to this district and the kindness that you guys have shown me in such a short period of time. Unexpectedly, my family’s undergoing a very major but positive, it’s not a negative life change which is going to force me to resign my seat effective tomorrow.”
Reactions from NID Directors
The resignation visibly took Directors by surprise and when we caught up with them in the parking lot, they expressed their surprise and thanks for his service.
Caulder confirmed to YubaNet that he is moving out of state but will keep his properties in Placer County. “We had a change in residency come up that really benefits the family. So as of tomorrow, I’ll no longer be a California resident. Asked why he waited until the end of the meeting, he said “I didn’t want to distract from the agenda that was before us.”
Director Hull stated, “It came as a complete surprise to me that Trevor resigned his position. He’s been a valued board member. He is a seasoned business professional that brought a real interesting and valuable perspective to our board discussion. So that definitely will be missed.”
The district has sixty days from the resignation date to appoint a director for the remainder of Caulder’s term which ends in December of 2026.