A November wind storm damaged the South Yuba Canal, which provides water for the Nevada Irrigation District.
By Paul Moreno
GRASS VALLEY – Water is again flowing in the South Yuba Canal after PG&E completed repairs early. The canal was damaged last month after strong winds toppled large trees into the canal.
“Repairs to the canal were completed ahead of schedule, allowing us to resume water deliveries early to the Nevada Irrigation District,” said Jim Gill, PG&E’s hydro manager who oversees the operation of the canal. “We worked closely with NID to keep the district apprised of our progress and to offer our assistance to help them meet their customers’ needs.”
A severe wind storm developed on the night of Nov. 21. As the storm increased, PG&E proactively stopped water flows in the canal to avoid any uncontrolled spills in case severe winds caused damage.
PG&E and contract crews immediately assessed damaged and started making repairs.
A short time later, several large trees fell and broke sections of the canal flumes in remote areas of Nevada County.
PG&E and its contractors immediately assessed the damage, removed fallen trees, and staged equipment and materials along the canal so teams could implement simultaneous repairs at multiple locations.
At this time of year, about 35 cubic feet per second (cfs) – more than 15,000 gallons per minute (gpm) — of water flows in the South Yuba Canal to meet NID’s winter time needs for agricultural and domestic customers in Grass Valley and Nevada City. NID was able to provide water for all of its customers by drawing water from Deer Creek to reach most of its treatment plants and took other measures to reach pockets of customers that could not be served by Deer Creek supplies.
The South Yuba Canal delivers water from PG&E’s Lake Spaulding in eastern Nevada County to Deer Creek Forebay east of Nevada City, a distance of about 19 miles. In addition to being a consumptive water supply for NID, this water is used to generate electricity at PG&E’s Deer Creek hydroelectric powerhouse.
Water is again flowing in the South Yuba Canal to customers of the Nevada Irrigation District.
PG&E Hydro has an annual routine hazard tree program and recently completed a long-term safety and reliability program to manage hazard trees along canals and penstocks, but the trees which damaged the canal were alive and healthy when strong winds brought them down.