March 11, 2020

Nevada Irrigation District (NID) Directors agreed to receive and file the 2020 Cost of Service Study and begin the 2020 rate setting, during their March 11 meeting. Present were President Ricki Heck, Vice President Chris Bierwagen, Scott Miller, Laura Peters and Nick Wilcox.

The 2020 Cost of Service Study, originally presented at the Feb. 26 Board meeting, identifies the cost to provide treated and raw water services by zone and asset. The historical analysis indicates, on average, treated operations consume 53.7 percent of the system’s operating costs while raw operations consume 46.3 percent of the system’s operating costs. 

In other NID matters, Directors unanimously agreed to award a contract to authorize an evaluation of the South Yuba Canal, a key component to NID’s delivery system, transporting water from high in the Sierra to about 80 percent of the District’s raw and treated customers. NID currently is in final negotiations with Pacific Gas & Electric to purchase the canal. The General Manager reported District water storage is 205,652 acre-feet, which is 76 percent of maximum capacity and 95 percent of a seven-year average for the water year. Precipitation (as measured at Bowman Lake) is 59 percent of average at 29.48 inches. Water conservation fell off for the month, as NID customers reduced treated water use by 5 percent during February (compared to February 2013, which started the most recent severe drought in modern times). Customers have been averaging about an 11 percent reduction each month.

The next regular meeting of the NID Board of Directors will be held at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 at the NID Business Center located at 1036 West Main Street, Grass Valley. NID Board meetings are open to the public.