With Scant Snowpack , NID Considers Drought Plan

GRASS VALLEY---With the mountain snowpack at near-record low levels, Directors of the Nevada Irrigation District are formulating plans for implementation of the district’s Drought Contingency Plan.

In a water supply update to the NID Board on Wednesday (Mar. 11), NID General Manager Rem Scherzinger said that with minimal snowpack runoff to replenish them, NID’s mountain reservoirs are expected to drop rapidly this year.

Although precipitation at Bowman Reservoir (elev. 5,650 ft.) is 79 percent of average, this winter’s warm storms have produced more rain than snow. NID relies on the snowpack as an added reservoir, Scherzinger said.

NID’s March 1 snow surveys found an average snowpack water content of just 4.7 inches, which is 16 percent of the March 1 historical average of 28.8 inches.

District officials are awaiting actions by the State Water Board, which on Mar. 17 may call for mandatory conservation measures for urban water users throughout the state along with tracking and reporting requirements for water agencies.

During last year’s water shortage, NID called for all water users to voluntarily reduce water usage by 20 percent, the same amount as called for in Gov. Brown’s 2014 drought emergency declaration. The 20 percent reduction measures remain in effect locally and statewide.

NID Water Operations Manager Chip Close said staff will follow this month’s Water Board directives and prepare recommendations for the NID Board’s next meeting on Mar. 25. Last year, NID enacted Stage II of its drought plan; this year Stage III mandatory conservation measures could become necessary.

On a related note, the district in early March mailed its annual applications to about 4,500 seasonal irrigation water users. As they have the past two years, a number of these customers have agreed to reduce their water allotments for the year.

Close clarified what appeared to be conflicting information in the application packet. “We want all of our customers to know that if they give up some water this year to help us through the drought, they will not lose their priority to receive their normal amounts in years to come,” he explained.

NID is continuing its dry year operating plan, running its water systems very conservatively, and holding as much water as possible in storage, said Close.

In other business, NID directors:

• held a public workshop as part of a process to update the district’s strategic plan. Several members of the public were invited to join NID directors and staff in the planning discussion.

The next regular meeting of the NID Board of Directors will be held at 9 a.m. on Mar. 25 at the NID Business Center in Grass Valley. NID board meetings are open to the public.

Source---NID