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Nevada Irrigation District news: Project to deliver water outside district boundaries; budget worries

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 16, 2009 at 6:07 am

From YubaNet.com:

“Following a presentation by Special Projects Manager Brian Powell at Nevada Irrigation District’s recent board meeting (Dec. 9), directors approved a negative declaration on the district’s proposed Clipper Creek Siphon Replacement project. Designed to replace 3900 feet of currently unreliable Techite pipe (a reinforced plastic mortar material) with a new steel pipeline, the project is part of the district’s plan to increase annual investment in its strategic raw water conveyance infrastructure for purposes of maintaining service and meeting future demand.

Several aspects of this project make it unique. From a CEQA standpoint, the initial study and negative declaration utilize mitigation measures from the previously approved 2007 Lower Cascade/Banner Cascade EIR. Replacement of the Clipper Creek siphon will occur simultaneously with the Banner Cascade project to take advantage of potential cost savings. The project is also significant because it will provide water to some new customers outside NID’s boundaries on Banner Mountain.

“This is the first time in recent history that we are delivering water outside district boundaries,” Director John Drew observed. … “

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Also from YubaNet.com, more Nevada Irrigation District news:

“Back in November, Nevada Irrigation District’s Finance Manager Marie Owens offered a sobering forecast about the district’s future finances. Specifically, she pointed to several large capital infrastructure projects either in progress or scheduled to begin within the next few years.

“I’m going on the record, if we spend this money, we are going off the cliff,” Owens told NID directors at the district’s Nov. 18 board meeting. “And we cannot borrow money to pay for operations.”

Anyone who owns their own business knows that while it is sometimes fiscally prudent to leverage assets for capital improvement projects, borrowing money to keep the doors open is financially unwise.

Fast forward to NID’s most recent board meeting (Dec. 9) where directors voted 4-1 to drop rate increases in 2010 to a level 50 percent below a schedule approved earlier this year. Instead of the previously-approved 5.4 percent rate increase, NID’s board voted to adopt a 2.65 average rate adjustment for 2010. … ”

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December 16, 2009 · Filed Under Lake Tahoe & the Sierra's

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