Water Supply Picture Improves with Recent Rains

Auburn, Calif – Local water supplies are looking more robust now than they were a month ago; it was reported at Thursday’s (Mar. 5) meeting of the Placer County Water Agency Board of Directors.

PCWA Director of Field Services Mike Nichol said March 1 snow surveys on the Yuba-Bear river watershed showed 82 percent of average water content.  Just one month ago, water content had been measured at 57 percent of average.

Nichol said the Grass Valley-based Nevada Irrigation District has reported water storage at 66 percent of capacity and 97 percent of average for this time of year, and that further north, Bullards Bar Reservoir is at 102 percent of average storage.

Folsom Reservoir has risen by 44 feet over the past 20 days, Nichol noted, increasing its storage by 302,000 acre-feet or 58 percent of capacity and bringing it to about normal for this time of year.

Nichol said Mar. 1 snow surveys of PCWA watershed on the American River were delayed because of storm conditions and may be completed over the weekend.

In other business, PCWA directors:

• announced that a community meeting would be held Mar. 18 in the community of Alta to inform the public about a planned rehabilitation of the water outlet at Lake Alta.  The meeting will be held at the Alta Volunteer Fire Protection Station at 33950 Alta Bonnynook Road.  Doors open at 6 p.m. with the presentation at 6:30 p.m.
• agreed in principle to share the costs of a water line relocation with the County of Placer as part of the planned Sunset Boulevard/Highway 65 interchange project.  Although Caltrans engineers wanted to leave the main line in its existing location, and then build a new interchange over it, county and water agency engineers objected to this.  Instead, they agreed the main line should be built into the new overpass itself rather than buried deeply beneath surrounding fill. 
• heard a presentation from Tony Hazarian, publisher of The Auburn Journal, and agreed that the water agency would take part in the publication of a special ‘Fire and Water’ newspaper section this June.
•  • heard a report from Director of Technical Services Brian Martin on the three awards presented to the agency on Feb. 25 by the American Society of Civil Engineers, Sacramento Section.  Two awards, including regional Project of the Year, went to the American River Pump Station.  The Ophir Pump Station Project earned an award for architectural excellence.

PCWA board meetings are open to the public.

Information on PCWA board meetings is available through the Clerk to the Board at (530) 823-4850.