North Yuba Water District Piping Project groundbreaking ceremony

In a major milestone event 50 years in the making, North Yuba Water District (NYWD) hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Friday for the Oroleve Creek Piping Project, the first step in the larger Forbestown Ditch Piping Project. Supporters of the Project from NYWD, the Yuba Water Agency, and Hansen Brothers Enterprises, attended the event.

Construction for Project is estimated at $683,444. Earlier this month, the Yuba Water Agency voted unanimously to grant NYWD funding for 70% of the project, $478,410. The remaining 30%, $205,034, will come from NYWD reserves.

When complete, this Project will pipe approximately one mile of the Oroleve Creek that flows into the Forbestown Ditch. The Ditch conveys water to the NYWD Treatment Pond, and is the sole source of drinking water for approximately 3,100 residents of Brownsville, Challenge, Rackerby and Forbestown.

NYWD is currently finishing environmental work to also begin piping the entire 10 mile span of the Forbestown Ditch. Originally dug in the 1860’s, the Ditch is an unlined, open canal, approximately 10 miles long. Moving to a piped Ditch will lower the possibility of breaches like the those most recently experienced in 2017 and 2018.

Piping the entire Ditch, and this peripheral Oroleve Creek section, will save a significant amount of water lost from seepage and evaporation, increase the amount of water available for customers and eliminate a vast majority of dirt, trash and contamination from entering the treatment pond.

“Our customers have endured years of uncertainty with their drinking water,” said NYWD General Manager, Jeff Maupin. “Piping our system was literally a ‘pipe dream’ until today. Now through the actions of our Board of Directors, and the assistance of the Yuba Water Agency, it’s becoming a reality.”

NYWD is designated a Severely Disadvantaged Community (SDAC) with an annual median household income less than 60 percent of the Statewide annual income.

“I’m honored to be a part of this ceremony today, for a project I’ve championed my entire time in office,” said Randy Fletcher,

Yuba County Supervisor and Yuba Water Agency Chairman. “When you consider the Ditch was constructed when Abraham Lincoln was President, these residents are long overdue for a safe, secure way to receive their water.”

The Forbestown Ditch has quite a storied past. First called the “Miner’s Ditch,” the Ditch and the District have changed ownership and names several times, and weathered numerous epic blowouts over its 150 years. Historical photos of the “Miner’s Ditch” are on the NYWD website, and an actual segment of an old wooden flume, used to repair a breached segment of the Ditch, is on display at the Forbestown Museum.

For more information about the NYWD, visit www.nywd.org.