May 30, 2019 – Nevada Irrigation District (NID) raw water customers throughout Placer County will experience reduced water delivery on Thursday, May 30 for most of the day.
During a routine testing of the close and opening of the main gate valve at Combie Reservoir dam, the hydraulic system failed and District operators were unsuccessful in re-establishing the valve opening, stopping water delivery from the reservoir for approximately seven hours.
NID staff immediately took measures of precaution and diligence in responding to the emergency, which occurred approximately at 3:00 on Wednesday afternoon. Within hours Big Valley Divers, a specially trained team of rescue divers from Chico, were mobilized and on-site prepared to help find a solution 40 feet below water level. Together, with NID staff well into the night, a repair to the valve’s hydraulics was secured, and water began flowing as normal before midnight.
Combie Reservoir, located downstream from Rollins Reservoir along the Bear River at a 1,600-foot elevation, supplies raw water to a quarter of Placer County, or approximately 3,200 irrigation customers via the Combie-Ophir II Canal. The main gate valve in the Combie dam facility is the primary point of water passage from the reservoir to the intricate system of NID canals throughout western Placer County.
This emergency outage and temporary reduction in delivery is for raw water customers only. NID’s water treatment plants at Lake of the Pines and in north Auburn on Locksley Lane have enough standby capacity to supply its treated water customers through this event.
“This emergency outage will effect only water deliveries to our raw water customers. NID’s treated water customers will not be effected,” said NID General Manager Remleh Scherzinger.
NID anticipates reduced raw water deliveries to its irrigation customers throughout most of the day on Thursday, with normal raw water deliveries commencing as the water makes its way through NID canals from Combie to Lincoln.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact NID’s customer service department at 530-273-6185 or visit the website at www.nidwater.com. NID apologizes for any inconvenience this temporary emergency outage may cause.