BVID Board Debates Beginning of Water Season

At the March 26th meeting of the Browns Valley Irrigation District (BVID) the Board of Directors discussed the start of the 2015 Water Season. The good news is there will be a 2015 irrigation season. However, Collins Lake is currently 1,200 acre feet (or about 2 feet of lake elevation) short of what is needed for a "normal" full irrigation season. There probably will be some shortages throughout the season if they do not receive any more rain.

The board realized that there is an immediate need for water in the district; but if they start a formal season the water will not last through what was a normal season. An attempt to help the situation, the board decided to turn the water on for this next weekend to the district members, turning it off on Monday, April 6 and take up the issue again at their next meeting April 9.
General Manger Ryan McNally noted, "In terms of precipitation, this is the driest year on record for the district; 1977 had been the worst recorded until now."

Aside from shortages, another major difference between this year and last year is that there will likely be very little carry over storage for 2016 opposed to the 6,800 acre feet in Collins Lake leftover from the 2014 season.

The district will put up signs at Highway 20 and Loma Rica Rd. and Highway 20 and Marysville Rd. to ensure the district water users will know the water is on.