GRASS VALLEY, Calif. March 29, 2017 – Nevada Irrigation District (NID) is holding a public workshop regarding the proposed update of the district’s Sphere of Influence (SOI) on Thursday, March 30, 2017 between 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at the NID office in Grass Valley.

The workshop will feature a presentation on what a sphere of influence is and the process for updating the SOI. Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCo) staff will be on hand to answer questions.

Want Water? Say So.

Anyone interested in obtaining NID water should attend the workshop.”NID is seeking input from community residents interested in inclusion within the District’s SOI in Nevada County,” a note on the District’s website reads. No formal agenda is available. Being included in the sphere or even the district does not guarantee a connection to the existing system, but it is a necessary first step. In a letter to residents in the Banner Mountain/Cascade Shores area, NID stated: “The number one strategic goal of the District is to assist customers with obtaining water.”

The workshop comes at the request of District I Director Nancy Weber who suggested gathering input from the public before finalizing the SOI update. If residents outside the current sphere are interested in an eventual annexation, this would be a good time to consider such requests, Weber said.

The proposed update at this time includes 5,122 acres in Cascade Shores, 1,550 acres in the northwest area of the sphere and another 700 acres in the Dog Bar area. NID has the option to include other areas in the update.

Areas of Interest aka the upper watershed

There are approximately 44,600 acres of land within the 1983 SOI boundary that falls within Sierra and Nevada Counties. This land area includes a number of properties that are owned by NID, as well as a variety of water related facilities including, but not limited to water bodies, canals, dams/impoundments, hydroelectric components, other water conveyance works and facilities related to the management of the upper watershed and reservoir system. While it is unlikely that these lands would need water service (they are generally within a very rural, resource oriented land use designation under the Sierra and Nevada County General Plans), however, they have been retained in the sphere, as they constitute a significant component of the District water system. [source: LAFCo 2006 SOI study]

What is a Sphere of Influence?

A sphere of influence is defined by LAFCo as “a plan for the probable boundary and service area of a local government agency.” LAFCo is now required to review and possibly update each agency’s sphere of influence plan every five years. NID, as a public agency, is subject to the review.

In order to establish an appropriate sphere for an agency, LAFCo must have adequate information on present and future service needs in the area and the capabilities of the agency to meet those needs. [source: LAFCo]

According to LAFCo’s 2015 Municipal Service Review: The Nevada Irrigation District (NID) is an independent special district established in 1921 under the Irrigation District Law (California Water Code Section 20500, et seq.). NID supplies water services within a 287,000-acre area. Services consist of treated water, irrigation water for agricultural, landscape and recreational uses as well as raw water for treatment and delivery to urban/rural areas in the cities of Grass Valley and Nevada City. Serving a majority of the area of Nevada County, the District also serves a portion Placer County including portions of the City of Lincoln.

What: NID Sphere of Influence (SOI) Workshop
Where: NID Office, located at 1036 West Main Street in Grass Valley
When: Thursday, March 30, 2017 between 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Editor’s note: YubaNet will livestream the workshop since the District is still not proving any video recordings or live streaming, be that within the 448 square miles of the existing district boundaries or beyond.