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During a year of low snowpack and unpredictable climate, Nevada Irrigation District has agreed to supply water to the state's fastest growing city.
On Wednesday, three out of four NID board members voted to approve a planning phase agreement with the City of Lincoln and will pay up to 50 percent of $3.4 million for environmental and engineering studies for a new water treatment plant there.
The city will cover the costs to build the treatment plant.
The agreement covers water service to land within NID's existing boundaries on the northern and eastern sides of Lincoln. The land also is within the proposed sphere of influence of the growing city.
Much of the property in the planning area now receives irrigation water from the NID canal system. The city envisions more urban growth and, with it, a demand for piped, treated water over the next 50 years.
That worries some ranchers in the area, who say they have waited years for irrigation water hookups, but NID has turned them away.
"Suddenly, we find out Lincoln is ahead of us in line," said Bill Trabucco who leases acreage to Jim Gates, a rancher raising 150 cow-calf pairs for his business, Nevada County Free Range Beef. Over the past decade, Trabucco was denied a water increase to irrigate pastures because NID told him capacity was limited, he said.
'Can't say no'
NID is obliged to deliver water to the city if the city produces the money to pay for the infrastructure, according to a state water code that governs the agency, said Don Wight, water operations manager.
"We cannot deny people water. You can't just say no. That's not how a water agency is mandated," board member Scott Miller said at the meeting.
"We are as much in the district as you are," said board member R. Paul Williams to six residents who voiced concerns at the public forum. Williams supported the plan and owns a ranch in Lincoln.
Board member Nancy Weber fears the decision was too hasty and could have negative impacts on Nevada County customers.
"This is premature, and it's fast track and does not support the rest of the district," Weber said. More district-wide planning is needed to determine how much water is available, Weber added.
Finite resource
Demand for water, not including the additional strain on the system from Lincoln, is expected to equal NID's capacity by 2027. Over the next 50 years, Lincoln is expected to grow from a population of 50,000 to 131,000, according to the NID staff report on the project.
Last week, an NID committee endorsed a water conservation plan after a dry winter left behind snowpacks about 50 percent of normal and the rest of the state reeling from one of the driest years on record. NID is not considering mandatory conservation at this time.
Customers didn't feel a pinch in their water supplies this year because losses were offset by a water purchase from PG&E of nearly $41,000. But if droughts strike, as it did in the late 1970s, water rationing could become a reality.
Food vs. golf courses?
Portions of the Lincoln area has been part of NID's district since its founding in 1921; the NID-covered area occupies 66,500 acres in Placer County, according to an NID report.
NID supplies 9,787 acre feet of irrigation water for agriculture land to the City of Lincoln's sphere of influence. One acre foot equals enough water to cover 1 acre of land, 1 foot deep - about what a household of four would consume in a year.
Sphere of influence is a planning term used to describe how far out a municipality thinks its city limits will extend in the future.
Development proposed to occur in Lincoln and its sphere of influence is estimated to raise demand for NID water to 11,790 acre feet per year, according to a 2005 site study. To meet that demand would require an additional delivery to the area of 2,003 acre feet in 50 years, according to an NID staff report.
That comes to about 1 percent of the district's storage capacity, the NID staff report said.
"It's a small percentage of what we have," Miller said. He said NID would have to make adjustments and evolve to satisfy the needs of customers. He promised the arrangement with Lincoln wouldn't sacrifice agriculture lands for "lawns" or "golf courses."
Trabucco wasn't convinced, and said he believes prime agriculture land is threatened by the deal. He projected a time when ranchers would move cattle elsewhere, and Lincoln residents would feel the impacts in their bellies.
"They're going to go to the supermarket and discover there's nothing left to eat," Trabucco said.
ooo
To contact Staff Writer Laura Brown, e-mail laurab@theunion.com or call 477-4231.
On Wednesday, three out of four NID board members voted to approve a planning phase agreement with the City of Lincoln and will pay up to 50 percent of $3.4 million for environmental and engineering studies for a new water treatment plant there.
The city will cover the costs to build the treatment plant.
The agreement covers water service to land within NID's existing boundaries on the northern and eastern sides of Lincoln. The land also is within the proposed sphere of influence of the growing city.
Much of the property in the planning area now receives irrigation water from the NID canal system. The city envisions more urban growth and, with it, a demand for piped, treated water over the next 50 years.
That worries some ranchers in the area, who say they have waited years for irrigation water hookups, but NID has turned them away.
"Suddenly, we find out Lincoln is ahead of us in line," said Bill Trabucco who leases acreage to Jim Gates, a rancher raising 150 cow-calf pairs for his business, Nevada County Free Range Beef. Over the past decade, Trabucco was denied a water increase to irrigate pastures because NID told him capacity was limited, he said.
'Can't say no'
NID is obliged to deliver water to the city if the city produces the money to pay for the infrastructure, according to a state water code that governs the agency, said Don Wight, water operations manager.
"We cannot deny people water. You can't just say no. That's not how a water agency is mandated," board member Scott Miller said at the meeting.
"We are as much in the district as you are," said board member R. Paul Williams to six residents who voiced concerns at the public forum. Williams supported the plan and owns a ranch in Lincoln.
Board member Nancy Weber fears the decision was too hasty and could have negative impacts on Nevada County customers.
"This is premature, and it's fast track and does not support the rest of the district," Weber said. More district-wide planning is needed to determine how much water is available, Weber added.
Finite resource
Demand for water, not including the additional strain on the system from Lincoln, is expected to equal NID's capacity by 2027. Over the next 50 years, Lincoln is expected to grow from a population of 50,000 to 131,000, according to the NID staff report on the project.
Last week, an NID committee endorsed a water conservation plan after a dry winter left behind snowpacks about 50 percent of normal and the rest of the state reeling from one of the driest years on record. NID is not considering mandatory conservation at this time.
Customers didn't feel a pinch in their water supplies this year because losses were offset by a water purchase from PG&E of nearly $41,000. But if droughts strike, as it did in the late 1970s, water rationing could become a reality.
Food vs. golf courses?
Portions of the Lincoln area has been part of NID's district since its founding in 1921; the NID-covered area occupies 66,500 acres in Placer County, according to an NID report.
NID supplies 9,787 acre feet of irrigation water for agriculture land to the City of Lincoln's sphere of influence. One acre foot equals enough water to cover 1 acre of land, 1 foot deep - about what a household of four would consume in a year.
Sphere of influence is a planning term used to describe how far out a municipality thinks its city limits will extend in the future.
Development proposed to occur in Lincoln and its sphere of influence is estimated to raise demand for NID water to 11,790 acre feet per year, according to a 2005 site study. To meet that demand would require an additional delivery to the area of 2,003 acre feet in 50 years, according to an NID staff report.
That comes to about 1 percent of the district's storage capacity, the NID staff report said.
"It's a small percentage of what we have," Miller said. He said NID would have to make adjustments and evolve to satisfy the needs of customers. He promised the arrangement with Lincoln wouldn't sacrifice agriculture lands for "lawns" or "golf courses."
Trabucco wasn't convinced, and said he believes prime agriculture land is threatened by the deal. He projected a time when ranchers would move cattle elsewhere, and Lincoln residents would feel the impacts in their bellies.
"They're going to go to the supermarket and discover there's nothing left to eat," Trabucco said.
ooo
To contact Staff Writer Laura Brown, e-mail laurab@theunion.com or call 477-4231.
