May 27, 2020

The Nevada Irrigation District (NID) will move ahead with the first phase of an important water extension project that will provide a redundant, supplemental and emergency treated water supply to the Lake Wildwood Water Treatment Plant (LWWTP). The approval came during a May 27 board meeting. Present were President Ricki Heck, Vice President Chris Bierwagen, Scott Miller, Laura Peters and Nick Wilcox.

The project – the E. George to Lake Wildwood Backbone Extension Project – proposes to construct a new water distribution and transmission pipeline to provide a connection between the E. George and Lake Wildwood systems. It would include 5.6 miles of new pipeline and about 35 fire hydrants within high fire-prone areas between Grass Valley and Penn Valley. The project also will provide treated water to Rough and Ready, which is a disadvantaged community.

The project will provide a second and/or alternate source of treated water in the event of a failure or raw water interruption at the Lake Wildwood plant. It also would make treated water service available to the properties within reasonable distance of the proposed pipeline route. Having a redundant supply is critical to ensuring that the LWWTP is able to meet demand during an emergency.

This project is in alignment with Goals 1 and 4 of the District’s Strategic Plan to ensure resilient and sustainable operation of its water systems to the benefit of customers and community, and to integrate proven practices and technologies to enhance reliability and quality of the District’s water supply.

In other matters, the General Manager reported District water storage is 260,238 acre-feet, which is 96 percent of maximum capacity and 108 percent of a seven-year average for the water year. Precipitation (as measured at Bowman Lake) is 71 percent of average at 47.83 inches. Water conservation continues – NID customers have reduced treated water use by 9 percent (compared to 2013, which started the most recent severe drought in modern times).

The next regular meeting of the NID Board of Directors will be held at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, June 10 via videoconference. NID Board meetings are open to the public.

Note on videoconferencing: The video conference format allows the Board to meet, respect social distancing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, while also allowing the public to participate and provide public comment. Today’s meeting will also be posted on YouTube.

Full details and instructions for how to access each meeting will be provided on the front page of agendas, located on NID’s website. Click on an agenda for specific details about that meeting.