EID Hydroelectric Water System Back in Service
Contact: Jesse Saich, (530) 642-4127, jsaich@eid.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Placerville, Calif. — On May 30, crews began watering up the District’s high country canal and flume system. The system had been offline since damage from January and February storms breached sections ofcanal and flume.
“This is an extraordinary achievement,” said EID General Manager Jim Abercrombie. “EID’s engineering and operations staff have done the improbable and met an enormously steep deadline to get our system back up and running. And these are not temporary fixes; the superb engineering and construction work carried out on these projects have resulted in permanent fixes that will make our hydroelectric system even stronger.”
From January 6 through February 11 of this year a number of soil collapses, failures, and slides impacted the District’s hydroelectric and water transmission systems.
One collapse near EID’s Flume 10, a 60-foot section of canal located 26 miles east of Placerville was breached and approximately 160 feet of canal bench collapsed. Another collapse affected Flume 5 where approximately 1,500 cubic yards of saturated soil was threatening the flume section.
EID’s engineering and construction staff worked collaboratively with GHD Inc., Syblon Reid General Engineering, and Doug Veerkamp General Engineering to get the system restored. Crews from Syblon Reid worked twenty-four hours a day, 7-days a week for several weeks to make the repairs safely and effectively to meet the aggressive water-up schedule.
With summer temperatures on the rise meeting the water up deadline of June 1 became even more important. The Project 184 canal and flume system supplies one-third of the District’s consumptive water supply.
“Everybody who touched these projects—from those in the field to the many who supported other vital logistical and financial aspects—should be immensely proud,” said Abercrombie.
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EID is a public agency dedicated to providing high quality water, wastewater treatment, recycled water, hydropower, and recreation services in an environmentally and fiscally responsible manner.
