GRASS VALLEY November 11, 2016 – A good run of salmon in Auburn Ravine Creek in Lincoln has been observed this fall, following the big October storms, it was reported at Wednesday’s (Nov.9) meeting of the Nevada Irrigation District Board of Directors.

James Haufler, president of the community group Friends of Auburn Ravine, attended the NID board meeting to provide an update on the success of the fish passage project constructed by the district in 2011 at Lincoln Crossing near Highway 65.

More recently, Haufler said, the group worked with NID, Fish and Wildlife and the City of Lincoln to install three automatic monitoring cameras at the NID gauging station. “We’ve seen 40-50 Chinook salmon in the system above the Lincoln gauging station,” he said.

Some of the fish have been able to migrate upstream to and beyond NID’s Hemphill diversion dam where the district is investigating diversion options to support increased fish passage, said Haufler, who noted the group is conducting further studies to learn more about the migrating fish and their origins.

In other business, directors:

• heard a water supply update from General Manager Rem Scherzinger who reported district storage at 199,150 acre-feet, which is 75 percent of capacity and 134 percent of average for this time of year.

• awarded a $199,825 contract to Environmental Science Associates (ESA) to prepare a federal environmental impact statement (EIS) for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on NID’s proposed Centennial Reservoir project. The independent third party work is in addition to a state environmental impact report (EIR), which is being compiled by the consulting firm HDR, Inc.

• approved a $135,000 interconnection contract with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company for power line capacity to serve NID’s planned small hydroelectric power plant at Loma Rica Reservoir near Grass Valley.

The next regular meeting of the NID Board of Directors will be held at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 14, at the NID Business Center, 1036 West Main Street, in Grass Valley. NID board meetings are open to the public.