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Grass Valley Calif. June 13, 2024 – Yesterday’s Nevada Irrigation District (NID) Board of Directors meeting was overshadowed by yet another announce of a significant delay in repair completion at PG&E’s Spaulding facilities. Directors had very pointed questions for the utility’s representative, but few answers were forthcoming. Due to the ever-changing return to service dates for PG&E’s Spaulding Powerhouse #1 and the late August estimate to fix the PG&E-owned section of the South Yuba Pipe, rotating outages in irrigation water will be implemented. Both NID and Placer County Water Agency (PCWA) are planning to enact further restrictions.
42 more days
The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything might be 42 (according to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) but it’s also the number of days added to the deadline to finish the partial repair of the damaged horns within Spaulding #1 Powerhouse.
“My understanding now is that the date of June 18th, that you had such a high confidence in, has been pushed to the end of July which is a 42-day delay.” Director Ricki Heck stated. “What is your degree of confidence that we will get to the end of July and be done?”
“It’s just flabbergasting.” said Director Karen Hull. “It makes me wonder how we can have any confidence whatsoever on anything that’s being presented to us, really. I mean, I’m just stunned by the lack of what I would call professionalism and technical expertise coming into this project.”
“I concur with the Karen’s statement of being flabbergasted.” said Director Chris Bierwagen. “A powerhouse that was built in 1912 or whenever it was built, they welded at that time, that’s a long time ago. That we didn’t know that this is what it would take to fix this today and that it was not expedited, that’s just unacceptable and outrageous to me. And also, I am frustrated about this whole conversation… There’s no urgency on the part of PG&E to get this fixed, it’s just ‘Oh well, this is what’s happening.'”
General Manager Jennifer Hanson summed up the directors’ frustrations, “As a number of board members have just stated, since we last met – which was May 22nd – the date went from June 19 to June 30th, to July 11th and now July 30th.”
Hanson also reiterated the district’s requests for a root cause analysis of the failures and engineering data confirming the single horn can actually carry the 400 cfs, information they have been requesting repeatedly.
“Right now I’m having no confidence in the schedule … We have got to start receiving some more detailed information. I know there are some legal risks that PG&E is likely considering under the coordinated operating agreement but I think that those risks need to be put aside for the benefit of the community.”
PG&E Government Liaison Brandon Sanders could not offer many answers to the Directors’ questions but promised, again, to “take it back to the team” and provide what answers he can at a yet to be determined date. He acknowledged the repeated changes in completion date were “not a good look for me or the company.”
Powerhouse #1 being worked on, what about Powerhouse #2?
Board Chair Rich Johansen pointed out another problem, “I need some clarification. We’ve been talking about Powerhouse #1 that was used last year after Powerhouse #2 went down. Powerhouse #2 is kind of the normal way of getting our water into the South Yuba Pipe.”
“The wicket gates on Powerhouse #2 are broken,” GM Hanson replied. (Wicket gates help control the flow of water to a generator and surround the turbine.) “The gates are being repaired, what’s holding it up now is the repair of the South Yuba Pipe.” Powerhouse #2 only carries 82 cfs into the top of the South Yuba Pipe.
The earliest any water from Powerhouse #2 could be flowing into the Deer Creek system and Scotts Flat is August 24, if the repair deadline for the South Yuba Pipe holds.
Canal rotations approved – more to come
Several NID canals will be put on a temporary rotating outage schedule to address emergency water shortage conditions. This means water deliveries will be interrupted for three days in a designated canal before water flows again and the outage moves to the next canal. Operations Director Chip Close explained that capacity in the DS Canal is the issue. The canal has been depending on natural flows and that capacity will be exhausted by June 20th.
NID staff are running backup emergency pumps, transferring water from the DS Canal to supply water to the Cascade Canal system, which provides drinking water service to more than 11,500 connections through NID’s E. George and Loma Rica water treatment plants. The approximate fuel cost of running the pumps is approximately $2,000 a day.
NID will be reaching out to Nevada City and Grass Valley and ask for at least the conservation measures NID implements. Treated, or drinking water customers conserved 8% in May over the 12-year average. Year to date treated water customers used 10% less than the 12-year average.
The directors voted 4-1 to approve the rotating outages. Director Caulder, who made his position clear before the meeting on his official Facebook page, was very unhappy that treated water customers are not subject to mandatory conservation at this time. What may have slipped the director’s mind is that 80% of NID’s water goes to irrigation customers and there is a notable rate difference between raw and treated water.
The majority of the NID Board of Directors determined that the temporary, rotating canal outages are necessary to save water during a time when, effectively, no water supplies are flowing into the NID system while repair work continues on failedinfrastructure owned by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) at Lake Spaulding.
The NID meeting is available for on-demand streaming on YouTube.
Local agencies comment
Nevada County provided the following statement on behalf of CEO Alison Lehman, “Nevada County has been closely monitoring the issue since it first came to light. The significant water shortage currently projected will cause millions in damage to the communities we serve, impacting agriculture, recreation and local businesses. Our Office of Emergency Services, Ag Commissioner and Board of Supervisors remain highly engaged, advocating with NID for our residents to ensure the work is completed as efficiently and quickly as possible. We are in constant communication with NID through their weekly updates and meetings with PG&E regarding their repairs, the delays and impacts due to those delays.”
Today, NID and PCWA issued a joint statement on the latest delays by PG&E. According to the release, this latest delay is substantial enough to trigger action by both PCWA and NID towards conserving water until PG&E has their water system back online.
“This is a water delivery problem caused by unresolved repairs to PG&E’s infrastructure, not a water supply problem. We understand the challenges and difficulty of the repairs, but both agencies are dependent on PG&E’s timely repair and the ongoing delays are disappointing.
“These delays are expected to most immediately impact our irrigation customers during some of the hottest days, when water is crucial for livestock and farming operations. Measures are being taken to mitigate the potential total loss of water for those in areas most impacted by the delay. The agencies are determined to stretch water resources and preserve what’s available in Rollins Reservoir as much as possible. Further actions to preserve our water resources will be shared in the coming week independently by each agency.
“We thank our customers for their continued efforts to preserve water and appreciate those who have participated in voluntary reductions. Here is what you can do right now to help: assess how you use water and take immediate action to curb water waste and cut back on your usage. We are committed to working together to navigate this challenging period and to ensuring that both NID and PCWA can continue to serve our communities effectively.”
NID and PCWA
PCWA will hear a report on the latest conditions at their June 20th Board meeting.
For a complete overview of our reporting on the Spaulding issues, go to our dedicated Spaulding section.
