Water is once again flowing into NID’s Rollins and Scotts Flat reservoirs following the repair of key infrastructure at Lake Spaulding by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).

After more than a year of severe water supply disruptions to NID, PG&E completed and tested essential repairs at the Spaulding 1 powerhouse that is a cornerstone of the system that feeds water into NID’s conveyance infrastructure.

This restoration enables renewed water deliveries to NID’s foothill reservoirs, which supply water for both irrigation and treated water customers.

Although the flows are sufficient to meet customer demands, reservoir levels remain stressed from the prolonged outage. Rollins Reservoir, which bore the greatest impact, has begun refilling slowly and is at 60 percent capacity in NID water as of August 15. Scotts Flat, at 74 percent capacity, continues to decline gradually. Both reservoirs are expected to remain at low levels through the end of the year.

NID’s emergency water shortage declaration will remain in place through the end of the irrigation season in an effort to rebuilt the crucial storage lost during the PG&E outage. While the repair of Spaulding 1 Powerhouse is a milestone, challenges remain. PG&E’s Spaulding 2 Powerhouse remains offline and will require additional repairs and testing. In the meantime, PG&E will continue bypassing Spaulding 2 to maintain water deliveries via the South Yuba Canal.

NID reservoir levels have been heavily drawn down to maintain water service through the summer. And, with just over two months remaining in the irrigation season, the District is emphasizing the importance of water conservation.

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