After a bone-dry January, February’s atmospheric rivers, the rivers in the sky, have filled reservoirs beyond their historical averages.
The mountains are snowcapped and courses lay deep within snow. Yet, this week the Nevada Irrigation District (NID) Board of Directors continued the water shortage emergency and issued a dire warning about this upcoming summer. This decision was in response to the ongoing water supply infrastructure repairs at Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) Lake Spaulding facilities.
Similar to last summer’s water emergency, flows will again be limited, resulting in extremely low water levels at both Rollins and Scotts Flat reservoirs this summer. Both reservoirs will decline significantly to drought-like levels by July, posing risks to both water supply and recreational activities.
“This apparent contradiction – we have plenty of Sierra crest headwater snowpack and good water content, yet we are in a water shortage emergency — is the situation we find ourselves in again, similar to last year,” said NID Assistant Manager Greg Jones. “In the upper country, our reservoirs are filled; we have more than an ample supply. But, just like last year, we will be unable to get that water down to the foothills for use by our customers.”
Current Water Supply
Overall, the District’s water supply measurements are reassuring for the water year, which runs from last October through this September. Total reservoir storage, including at higher elevations and in the foothills, was 120 percent of average as of Feb. 12, 2025.
Precipitation at Bowman Reservoir (elevation 5,650 ft) was 47.48 inches on Feb. 12; that is 113 percent of average.
“Water storage levels are looking good,” Chip Close, NID Director of Water Operations, told NID Board members during a meeting on Feb. 12. “That is deceiving, because we don’t have access until the PG&E repairs are done.”
PG&E timeline on infrastructure work at Lake Spaulding shifts
Last year, severe damage to infrastructure owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) at Lake Spaulding effectively cut off snowmelt from the upper headwaters to NID customers.
On February 9, 2024, PG&E notified NID that a rockslide had destroyed a section of the South Yuba Canal in addition to a failure of the Spaulding 2 Powerhouse. A month later, a failure at PG&E’s Spaulding 1 Powerhouse resulted in the shutdown of the Drum Canal and Bear River – NID’s primary conveyance system for water supply to Rollins Reservoir.
These combined failures significantly disrupted water conveyance through both the Drum and South Yuba Canals, which are critical for supplying water to thousands of NID customers.
The lack of access to normal watershed runoff meant the District had to rely upon limited water storage in Rollins and Scotts Flat reservoirs, which drew down the water perilously low.
Since then, NID has been working on ways to mitigate the impacts, while PG&E continues to repair its infrastructure. District measures have included rerouting water through alternative channels, securing available runoff water, and activating all operational backup pump stations to sustain reliable water deliveries throughout the 2024 irrigation season.
On July 25, 2024, PG&E completed a portion of the necessary repairs, allowing for increased water supply to both the South Yuba Canal, which feeds Scotts Flat Reservoir, and the Drum Canal, which supplies the Bear River and Rollins Reservoir. The completion of partial repairs made it possible for NID to suspend widespread rotating canal outages and ensuring more stable water deliveries through the latter half of the 2024 irrigation season into the fall.
Now, PG&E plans to initiate the next phase of repairs on the Spaulding 1 powerhouse in early March of 2025 Helping the situation this year is PG&E anticipating limited water delivery through a bypass at Spaulding 2 powerhouse, which may help mitigate some impacts on customer water supply and lake elevations at Scotts Flat. These repairs, however, will once again continue to disrupt water supply to NID for the spring and summer of 2025.
According to preliminary schedules, full flows at Spaulding 1 powerhouse are anticipated to be restored by early August for delivery into Rollins Reservoir. Spaulding 2 powerhouse repairs are expected to be completed in 2027. Until then, Scotts Flat Reservoir will depend on very limited supplies.
“NID has conducted a comprehensive analysis of current and projected reservoir conditions, hydrology, and snowpack data,” Close said. “Our assessments tell us that the available water supply for 2025 will likely be comparable to the conditions experienced during the 2024 irrigation season when levels dropped.”
NID Directors extend the Emergency Water Shortage
Given the anticipated disruptions from the upcoming repairs to the Spaulding 1 and Spaulding 2 powerhouses, continued awareness and water conservation efforts will be critical to preserving the community’s water supply.
NID’s Board of Directors adopted a resolution with an initial declaration of emergency on March 27, 2024. Another resolution on June 26, 2024 established mandatory 20-percent conservation measures and enacted portions of the District’s Drought Contingency Plan.
The approved resolution extends the previous emergency resolutions through the duration of PG&E repairs. Those include measures to address how the District operates and actions customers need to take.
There are several directives:
- Surplus water to areas outside the District’s water right boundaries will not be available until full restoration of flows through PG&E’s facilities is available.
- Grass Valley and Nevada City are guaranteed water deliveries, because although they are not part of the District’s service area, the cities are located within the water rights boundaries.
- Raw Water customers who voluntarily reduced irrigation water purchases will remain at the reduced purchase allotment until emergency conditions subside
- All NID customers must achieve a cumulative 20 percent reduction in treated water and raw/irrigation water use as compared to usage in 2023.
The water shortage declaration will remain in effect until water delivery in satisfactory volumes has been re-established by PG&E. The NID Board of Directors will end the state of emergency when water conditions improve to acceptable levels.
NID pushes toward efficient use of water to achieve a 20% reduction
NID customers are called upon to reduce their water use by 20 percent this year. While most customers stepped up last year to conserve, we all need to double-down this year to protect our limited water supply.
Many customers have found that beginning to use water efficiently is as simple as making small habit changes to protect the resource for our community. These include simple practices, such as turning off the tap while brushing teeth and reducing the amount of water in gardens and landscaping.
With the continued water shortage emergency, certain water restrictions will remain. These prohibitions include commonsense conservation practices:
- Keep water on your property: no runoff is allowed from watering that flows onto adjacent property, walkways, roadways, parking lots, and the like
- Don’t water outdoor landscapes within 48 hours after a rainfall
- Put a nozzle on it: when you wash your car, the hose must be fitted with a spray nozzle or attached device that cuts off water when not in use
- No fake water features: don’t fill a fountain or other decorative water feature, except where the water is part of a recirculating system
- Ask for a glass of water: drinking water won’t be automatically poured in eating or drinking establishments. Thirsty? Not a problem. Water is available upon request
“Continued awareness and water conservation efforts will be critical to preserving the community’s water supply for essential uses as well as public health and safety as we approach the summer months,” Jones said.
Learn more about what you can do to conserve in the NID feature story “Winter Water Conservation – Let’s Save Water Together”
Check out the “Measure Your Water Use Calculator” at nidwater.com.Click on the link and answer the questions to find out how much water your home uses and how to save water, energy and money.
