NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. April 8, 2024 – The ongoing twin outages of both PG&E’s Spaulding powerhouse #1 and South Yuba Pipe are forecast to have major impacts on water deliveries and the Bear River/Drum systems. Nevada Irrigation District (NID), Placer County Water Agency (PCWA) and their customers are affected by PG&E’s infrastructure failures. Here is a preliminary summary of the anticipated effects.
On Thursday, PG&E updated the estimated time of service restoration for both the powerhouse and the pipe. For the powerhouse, “the estimated schedule and return to service date for Spaulding 1 powerhouse is now early August. … An alternative option is to complete repairs to the first discharge horn and structural columns then restore water flows through the powerhouse.  We believe that this alternative might allow us to meet a completion date closer to the previously communicated June 8th estimated return to service date, but with reduced water capacity of about 400 cfs versus full capacity of 760 cfs.”
The South Yuba Pipe news is even more dire: “The tentative schedule for the South Yuba Pipe repairs is currently estimated to be late summer/fall based on the procurement of long lead time pipe and couplers, which have been ordered.”
NID‘s raw water deliveries
On average, irrigation water customers purchase 115,000 acre-feet over the six-month irrigation season from April to October. The irrigation and drinking water are coming from two systems, the Bear River System and the Deer Creek system. [One acre-foot = 325,851 gallons]
NID’s Bear River System feeds 86 canals providing service to 3,680 raw water customers and over 5,000 treated water customers. 87,500 acre-feet (AF) were delivered in 2019, the most current stats available. The capacity of Rollins Reservoir, which primarily feeds this system is approximately 66,000 AF.
The Deer Creek System is supplied via natural Deer Creek and South Yuba Canal flows from higher elevations. The system is comprised of 75 canals that provide service to over 3,300 raw water customers and more than 18,260 treated water customers, or a total population of 52,300. Scotts Flat Reservoir has a capacity of nearly 49,000 AF. In 2019, 53,000 AF were delivered via diversions.
Total capacity of the two systems: 66,000 + 49,000 = 115,000 AF max capacity in the two reservoirs. Current storage is 65,951 AF (Rollins) and 48,545 AF (Scotts Flat), very close to maximum capacity.
If all customers were to draw down their allocations, without conservation efforts, between April and June approximately 58,000 AF of water would be distributed. That is excluding treated water and minimum flows for fish and ecosystems. NID provides treated water to approximately 67,500 people. Treated water is also used for fire suppression.
Every year, NID surveys its agriculture customers to inventory the type and approximate acreage of cultivated crops. This information is used in the District’s annual Crop Report data. This is a voluntary survey. NID provides irrigation for more than 32,700 acres. The largest crops by acreage are irrigated pasture (20,234 acres) and family gardens/orchards (6,410 acres.)
At this time, NID is asking for a 20% voluntary reduction in use, with mandatory conservation likely to come shortly. The 20% voluntary conservation was based on a full restoration of the two failures by June 15.
“Based on preliminary calculations, the District will run out of critical water supply for the community if the restoration of water delivery is delayed into August,” stated NID General Manager Jennifer Hanson in a comment provided to YubaNet on Thursday. “The District is working quickly to analyze impacts to delivery based on partial flow being restored by June 8, 2024.”
NID has a Board meeting scheduled for Wednesday, April 10 starting at 9:00 am where they will provide an update on the latest information received from PG&E.
If you want to learn more about the Deer Creek and Bear River systems, you can find all the details in NID’s infrastructure library.
PCWA statement
The delay in repairs to PG&E’s infrastructure means the return to full water deliveries from PG&E will impact PCWA’s operations to a greater extent than initially anticipated.
Nevertheless, PCWA is committed to utilizing every available option to ensure water for our customers.
PCWA is coordinating water operations with NID to be as efficient as possible in the use of water stored in reservoirs and running through the canals. In addition, PCWA has a second water supply from the American River, which we will utilize. We are also working with neighboring water suppliers for mutual aid using interconnections between our water systems, which have been constructed for times of need, such as this purpose.
While the full scope of the problem is still being assessed, PCWA is coordinating closely with PG&E and NID to evaluate the extent of the issue and determine the best course of action as we continue moving forward. Once we receive future updates from PG&E and we have an assessment of our water supplies for the coming summer, we will provide an update on what that means for our customers.
PCWA appreciates the coordination with PG&E and NID. We continue to express to PG&E that our highest priority is minimizing impacts to our customers.
Brie Anne Coleman, PCWA
Ranchers, farmers adapting to changing water supply
Before the new repair deadlines were released, we spoke to several farmers and ranchers about how the outage would impact their plans and businesses.
Antonio Garza who operates Feeding Crane Farm in Penn Valley stated, “A 20 percent reduction in irrigation water would require us to take several possible steps. We may reduce more water intensive crops like strawberries or lettuce. These products are in high demand, and reducing them would reduce profitability. We may reduce planted acreage which could result in the reduction of our crew and reduce the amount of food we provide to our community. We already use drip irrigation, mulch as appropriate, and work to ensure we are a responsible user of the community’s water. We will continue on the path of ensuring efficient water use; however, the most likely result is that reductions in delivery would go directly to reductions in production.”
At the time, Jeremy Mineau from Super Tuber Farms said, “I’m hoping this won’t affect us too badly. Limiting usage early in the irrigation season does not affect our business as much as it might affect other producers – as we focus on production in the fall and winter. We rely most heavily on full water deliveries later in the season from mid-June through August. If repairs are not made on time, it could have a detrimental effect on our production, business viability and the jobs we support – especially if we have a dry fall.”
Tim Van Wagner of First Rain Farm made similar comments, “For First Rain Farm, our peak irrigation season is July and August. So, we plan our water purchases around that peak season. If everything can get fixed before July, we will be fine. A 20% reduction come July onward would mean we would likely decide to stop irrigating one or more of our pastures. The pastures are used to feed our cows, pigs, and goats, all of which contribute to generating fertility for the farm. The less forage we have on our farm, the less compost we can produce. We would then have to plan on buying in more compost (expense) or reducing our crop area (reduced income). We will then have an increased expense for hay to feed our animals, have to reduce our herd size, or decide to manage the animals off farm more (labor increase). We are used to adjusting and making ends meet, but it certainly makes for more stress and uncertainty – especially if we have a hot summer this year. “
Ranchers told us they would likely not irrigate all their pastures, reduce their herds and incur additional expenses by having to buy hay. Several stated they had planned to expand pastures this year, those plans are now on hold.
Again, these comments were collected before the new repair deadlines were given. We will reach back out to farmers and ranchers once the irrigation districts have finalized their conservation plans.
River flows increasing on the South Yuba
River flows on the South Yuba, the only remaining outlet for water coming from Lake Spaulding, are increasing drastically. Between Friday night and Sunday afternoon, flows at Lang’s Crossing below Lake Spaulding have increased from 20-30 cfs to 460 cfs. Flows at the 49 bridge are currently at 880 cfs. The flows are expected to increase further as snowmelt happens.
Long-term impacts on replenishing reservoirs
Refilling Rollins and Scotts Flat once some capacity is restored will take more than just one year. The longer the outages last, fewer water will be able to flow into the reservoirs, reducing carryover capacity for this year and likely longer.
