September 01, 2008

Notice of Rationing Increase: Schedule Change on September 15th

Beginning September 15th, the water will be shut off FOUR days each week. At the August 28th Board meeting, in a move to further conserve water stored in Collins Lake, the Board of Directors agreed to reduce the number of days that irrigation water will be available to three days each week. The Board stated that this effort will give the District the ability to extend the water supplies in Collins Lake further into the fall irrigation season. The irrigation system will be completely turned off Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of each week. You are advised to prepare for this change in the shutoff schedule if you have any situations where no water for several days could be critical.

The Board noted that you all have been very supportive of the water rationing program this year and have put forth a great effort to conserve water all through the summer. However, the Board also wished to emphasize that Winter Water will not be available until such time as Collins Lake recovers sufficiently. If you need water for livestock or other purposes this winter, please seriously consider investing in some sort of water storage (tank) that can be filled while the irrigation system is still on and refilled with any rainwater that the District can capture in the delivery system.

-Walter Cotter

August 08, 2008

Winter Water Suspended

Browns Valley Irrigation District Board of Directors voted unanimously on July 24, 2008 that Winter Water (also known as stock water) will not be available until Collins Lake refills appropriately. The Board will review the issue at every regular Board meeting to determine when and if they will be able to reinstate Winter Water deliveries.

-Walter Cotter

June 27, 2008

Notice of Water Shutoff: Rationing Begins July 14th

Due to the worsening water storage conditions in Collins Lake, the water will be shut off three days each week beginning July 14th. From that point and for the foreseeable future, water rationing will consist of the irrigation system being completely turned off Monday, Tuesday and Wendesday of each week. The Board expressed thanks to the water users for their water conservation efforts so far this year, but feel that this next step is necessary to insure that there will be atleast some supplies in Collins Lake at the end of the irrigation season. You are advised to prepare for this shutoff if you have any situations where no water for several days could be critical.

Click here to see the whole BVID News Letter.

-Walter Cotter

May 01, 2008

Collins Lake Status

Due the Drought conditions at Collins Lake, we have developed a graph that includes our current Lake elevation to an operating curve of where the Lake elevation needs to be in order to meet the goal end-of-year lake elevation. If we are at or above the “line“, we are in good shape. However, if we are below the “line” we are using too much water and need to conserve more. This graph will be updated each week.

Click here to see the graph.

-Walter Cotter

May 01, 2008

Collins Lake DROUGHT!

What a difference a year can make, and not in a good way. Collins Lake has not filled for the second year in a row. Collins toped out at only 70% of capacity with very little additional rain in the forecast. This puts the Lake more than twice as low as we were a year ago. So low that at the April 1st Special Board meeting, the Board of Directors declared a Water Emergency for the Collins Lake Service Area due to the low Lake level. With the current supplies, there is NOT enough water to last for the entire irrigation season. As part of a plan to conserve water, the Board adopted an Ordinance Providing a Water Conservation Policy at the April 10th Board meeting along with the approval of a Drought Operations Plan. This Plan includes some District actions to substitute some of Collins Lake water with water from the Yuba River, and calls for water users to not waste water as well as requiring landowners to maintain their ponds to less than full levels. This Plan will be updated at each Board meeting.

What does this mean for water users in BVID? Conservation is an absolute must. Please do your very best to keep your irrigation water on your property and don’Äôt let those ponds spill. If we all work together, we can get through this.

Collins Lake fills only from rainfall. The watershed above Collins Lake is cutoff from the snow pack by the Feather River watershed on one side and the Yuba River watershed on the other side. Therefore, once the rains end for the winter, the inflow into Collins reduces to a trickle.

-Walter Cotter