CCWD Contact: Joel Metzger,

Public Information Officer/Customer Relations Manager

Calaveras County Water District

Desk: (209) 754-3123 |Mobile: (209) 768-6270

A rate hike scheduled to take place in September will likely be eliminated, after the Calaveras County Water District (CCWD) Board of Directors directed staff to take steps to cancel it Wednesday, March 9. The Board will take official action on this item at its next meeting on March 23. The increase would have raised standard residential water rates by $5.11 per month and wastewater by $3.84 per month.

CCWD Board President Terry Strange praised staff for “finding creative ways to manage fiscal challenges” and said he is pleased to eliminate the rate increase, but he also cautioned fellow Board members to remain fiscally vigilant.

“Since being elected, I’ve always had a commitment to be responsive to ratepayers’ concerns, and a main concern is the increased rates,” Strange said. “Our Board is aware that with the fiscal challenges created by the drought and other issues, it’s going to be a challenge to continue managing our financial resources in a way that keeps us from having to ask our customers to pay more.”

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On March 6, 2016, Westlands Water District and Mountain Counties Water Resources Association sent a joint letter to Governor Brown to highlight the valuable role that biomass facilities play in maintaining the health of California’s forestry and watersheds.

Last October, Governor Brown took a bold step and issued an Emergency Proclamation to protect the public from potential fire hazards by calling for the expedited removal of dead and dying trees in California’s forested areas. It also calls for the state to dispose of the dead trees including the use of biomass. Biomass is a renewable source of fuel to produce energy.

Several of the state’s agencies and the California Public Utilities Commission are instrumental in finding a solution, and comprehensive action must be taken to ensure these biomass facilities remain economically viable and available as a resource to address California’s tree mortality issues.

Click here for more: Biomass Plants – Letter to Governor Brown

As part of the State Water Resources Control Board’s Extended Emergency Water Conservation Regulation, a water supplier’s conservation standard may be adjusted by submitting required information for verification through the on-line tool at the DRINC Portal.   This tool will be available through March 15, 2016. 

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by:  Tamra West, Vice President, Foresthill Public Utility District

The Foresthill Public Utility District sold 2,000 acre feet of water to Santa Clara Valley Water District in 2015. The proceeds from this sale are replacing our water tanks at the Treatment Plant. As I have stated over the last year and a half, our water tanks were originally destined to be “Temporary water tanks” for military use in Vietnam, but were never sent overseas.

This water sale has gone back to the community as we did not have to borrow money to replace the tanks. We are installing a million gallon tank which will replace three tanks that hold 750,000 gallons of water. I have been told that if we had a fire up here, these tanks could be dry in four hours. Installation should be complete by this fall.

With the drought, the district thought it would be a couple of years before we could sell more water, but Sugar Pine is flowing over the dam and we have an opportunity to sell 2,000 acre feet of water again this year – thanks to the rain! Sugar Pine is filled by rain water, not snow pack. At a Special Board meeting held on Monday, February 22^nd the board voted to sell more water this year. You will notice a slightly lower level in Sugar Pine lake this summer, but we will still have enough water for the town for the next three years on just what we have in the lake right now.

As some of you may know, the district has twenty-six million dollars worth of infrastructure that needs replacing or repairing. By selling water again this year, we can cover another item on the Five-Year Repair and Replacement list.

Remember that if we ask you to conserve water, it will be because the California State Water Resources Control Board has instructed us to do so (just like last summer). If they make that ruling, we have to abide by it even if we have sufficient water – which we will.

At our Special Board meeting we had two people from the community who were concerned with the district selling more water this year. They were concerned with Bass spawning and local businesses losing tourism dollars in the summer months. They wondered if we could sell water in the fall. The market for selling water is highest in the spring and due to the fill agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation we have to transfer the water through Folsom when Folsom is at a certain level. If Folsom drops below a certain level, we cannot transfer water.

The United States Forestry had two representatives at our meeting. They do not want us to sell water because Sugar Pine is the only lake around here that is not drained in the summer months. They feel that it should be kept at the same level for “recreation purposes.” The Forestry also stated that they did not feel they had adequate knowledge of the sale last year. But, as I told them at the meeting – the water transfer sale was not a new and sudden event. The District carefully followed all legal and procedural requirements.

For the past year and a half, I have published information about the water transfer sale and its potential benefits to the Community repeatedly in my “Messenger” articles. In addition, monthly updates were provided to the Board and the Public. There were numerous opportunities to comment. I don’t recall ever receiving any negative public comments about the transfer sale at our meetings, until last Monday.

Again, water transfers are a way to provide funding for urgent FPUD infrastructure improvements without sending every household a huge bill. The Community is not at risk of running out of water, the District is being very careful about that.

I would like to remind people about some history about Sugar Pine Dam; a “Fact Sheet” from the United States Department of the Interior on the Sugar Pine Dam, Central Valley Project stated the following: “The Construction of Sugar Pine Dam and pipelines was authorized on September 2, 1965 as a component of the Auburn-Folsom South Unit to alleviate an increasingly chronic severe water shortage which has become critical. A 40-acre-foot reservoir planned as a regulating facility for the pipe-line was completed near Foresthill in 1975. Sugar Pine Dam and pipelines were completed in 1982. The purpose of Sugar Pine Reservoir is to provide 2,800-acre-foot (912.4 million gallons) of supplemental water supply, primarily for municipal and domestic use, serving the community of Foresthill and other residential areas on the Forest Hill Divide. The facilities will be operated by Foresthill Public Utility District. Recreation facilities associated with the reservoir, located in the Tahoe National Forest, will be operated by the U.S. Forest Service. The dam and reservoir are expected to provide fishery enhancement by creation of the lake and by downstream releases controlled for both quantity and quality.”

As you can see, the Sugar Pine Dam was built as a water storage facility. In the 1976/77 California drought, the District had to pump water out of the Paragon Mine in order to have water for the town. Now, with Sugar Pine Dam, Foresthill should be able, (with some water conservation) to ride out the drought without too much trouble.

Note: the 2,800 acre feet supply was a contract with the USBR. When FPUD bought the project, we bought a water right with a face value of 24,000 acre feet. The water transfer that we did in 2015 and are planning on doing for 2016 protect the maximum water available under that water right. Also, if FPUD had not bought Sugar Pine in 2003, it is very likely that the USBR would have drained the lake during this last drought to supply downstream interests – with no financial benefit for FPUD ratepayers.

Another interesting note is the fact that when Sugar Pine Dam was purchased instead of assessing every parcel on the divide to pay for it, only the ratepayers of the district have paid for it. People with wells have never paid a dime to purchase the dam, pay for infrastructure improvements or pay to maintain the complete water system. They enjoy the full benefits of the reservoir for recreation and they enjoy the full benefits when there is a fire and the helicopters take water out of it to fight the fire.

Tamra West, twest@foresthillpud.com

This grant opportunity has been passed along from Elissa Brown at the Sierra Nevada Conservancy and may be of interest to water districts/agency members that serve agricultural water users.

Grant:   US9897 Agricultural Water Conservation and Efficiency (AWCE) Grants: Fostering District/Farmer Partnerships (California)

Due Date:            04/26/2016 (Application)

Actual Funds:     Unspecified

Eligibility:             Local Government, Native American Tribe, State Government

Summary:           … to improve the efficiency of agricultural water used throughout the state of California, and to help communities build resilience to drought by supporting the modernization of water infrastructure and the efficiency of using scarce water resources, while simultaneously supporting the agricultural economy. Projects are expected to save water, improve water management, create new supplies for…

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By: Gus Thomson of the Auburn Journal

Questions and comments about Nevada Irrigation District’s plans for a new dam between Meadow Vista and Colfax promise to heat up the wintry air at meetings this month.

The Grass Valley-based district is moving forward on completion of key environmental studies and approvals by 2017 for a 110,000 acre-foot reservoir on the Bear River. Formerly called the Parker Dam project, the new effort will be the subject of sessions in Grass Valley on March 9 and the Lake of the Pines area on March 10 to determine the scope of topics in an environmental study.

“The Centennial Reservoir Project is a critical part of the solution to the area’s current and future water needs, including agriculture, drinking water, recreation, energy and wildlife protection,” said district General Manager Rem Scherzinger.

Click for more:  http://www.auburnjournal.com/article/2/29/16/bear-river-dam-project-discussion-heating-placer-nevada

The Amador County Board of Supervisors has declared a state of emergency over the widespread death of trees due to the drought and bark beetle infestation.

At their meeting on Tuesday, the Amador Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution laying out the case for a state of emergency over tree mortality. Four years of drought have weakened trees and left them vulnerable to bark beetles and overall, more than 29 million trees in California have died. The resolution cited a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection issued news release stating “even with recent rains it will likely take years to slow down the massive tree mortality and bark beetle infestation.”

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At its January 19, 2016 meeting, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted Resolution 2016-0005 to adopt a drought emergency regulation for measuring and reporting water diversions.

The Regulation, Resolution, supporting materials, and the emergency regulation digest and its appendices may be found on the following two webpages:

http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/measurement

_regulation/oal_review.shtml

http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/measurement_regulation/

Click for the: Notice of proposed emergency rulemaking – measure and reporting (1)

TUOLUMNE UTILITIES DISTRICT TO RECEIVE STATE FUNDING FOR HAZARDOUS TREE REMOVAL

SONORA, CA: Tuolumne Utilities District (TUD) has been approved to receive partial reimbursement of funds from the California Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA) to help combat the tree mortality issue facing the District.

Dead or dying trees pose a significant threat to TUD water infrastructure by falling onto or around TUD facilities including water tanks, buildings and TUD’s 71 miles of ditch system which delivers water to most of the population in Tuolumne County. Falling trees will significantly damage water tanks, water treatment plant buildings and completely block open ditches causing severe erosional damage or uprooting of ditch berms causing ditch failure, system damage and water outages.

More: TUD CDAA Approval

PCWA BOARD COMMITS TO WATER RESOURCES STEWARDSHIP

AUBURN, CA: In a show of good faith and commitment to water resources stewardship, the Placer County Water Agency (PCWA) Board of Directors adopted a resolution, at its February 18 meeting, directing staff to take the necessary actions to achieve PCWA’s state-mandated conservation target, despite recovering local supplies. The action followed the Board’s decision to rescind the Agency’s declared water shortage emergency, which has been in effect since February of 2014.

“As an Agency governed by the California water code, we are required to rescind our emergency declaration when local supplies have been replenished,” PCWA General Manager, Einar Maisch said. “However, the statewide system has not fully recovered from the drought. As a result, we are seeking continued cooperation from our customers to conserve.”

More: PCWA Commits to Water Resources Stewardship

EID WATER USE DOWN BY 25 PERCENT IN JANUARY, CONSERVATION MANDATE EXTENDED THROUGH OCTOBER 2016

For the month of January, EID customers reduced their water use by 25 percent compared to January 2013. The cumulative water savings since June 2015 remains at 30 percent.

Contact: Jesse Saich, (530) 642-4127, jsaich@eid.org

PLACERVILLE, CA — For the month of January, EID customers reduced their water use by 25 percent compared to January 2013. The cumulative water savings since June 2015 remains at 30 percent.

EID is required to reduce its water consumption by 28 percent from June 2015 through February 2016, compared to the same months in 2013, under a mandate issued by the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board).

On February 2, the State Water Board adopted an extended and revised emergency regulation that extends restrictions on water use through October 2016. The action follows Governor Brown’s November 13, 2015, executive order directing the State Water Board to extend the emergency water conservation regulation should drought conditions persist through January 2016.

The revised emergency regulation provides “credits” that recognize certain factors that affect water use in three ways. The first considers the differences in climate that affect different parts of the state. The second provides a mechanism to reflect water-efficient growth experienced by urban areas. The third recognizes significant investments made by suppliers toward creating new, local, drought-resilient sources of potable water supply.

“We are exploring every avenue to reduce our customers’ conservation requirement,” said EID Public Information Officer Jesse Saich. “Of the three ways to get credits, it’s likely we’ll get the credit from the climate adjustment. We will be submitting data to the State Water Resources Control Board by February 22, and will be requesting a four percent reduction from our current 28 percent requirement.”

EPA ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF DROUGHT RESPONSE AND RECOVERY VIDEO FOCUSING ON TUOLUMNE COUNTY SONORA, CA

Tuolumne Utilities District (TUD) partnered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop a drought response video and outreach guide to help other water utilities nationwide combat drought issues.

This week the EPA released the video.

Click here for the news release: Tuolumne Utilities District EPACollaboration_01292016

 “GRAVITY IS GREEN” — NEWLY-COMPLETED AWA GRAVITY SUPPLY LINE SAVES MONEY AND ENERGY

(Sutter Creek) The Amador Water Agency’s highly-anticipated Gravity Supply Line (GSL) is up and running – saving upcountry AWA customers money and reducing a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions.

Click here for the news release: Amador Water Agency – PG& E Rebate

PG&E Customer Relations Managers Jerry O’Neill (third from the left) and Randy Herbst (far right) present a PG&E energy efficiency rebate check of $206,720 to AWA Board President Robert Manassero (center), board members and staff. PG&E awarded the rebate to the Agency on completion of the energy-saving Gravity Supply Line Project.