A Brief History of the North Yuba Water District

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Permits and Water

Permit 11518 - authorizes water from the South Fork of the Yuba River, the Feather River, and Lost Creek. These water sources flow in Butte County and are part of the Feather River and South Fork of the Feather River Watershed. This watershed begins at elevations of 3,500 feet in the High Sierra.

Permit 11516 - authorizes water from Slate Creek. Slate Creek is part of the Yuba River Watershed. The Slate Creek Power Tunnel allows this water to be diverted to Sly Creek and the Sly Creek Reservoir in Butte County. This water can then go through the Woodleaf Power Tunnel to the SF-14 gate where it can be diverted down the Forbestown Ditch.

Permit 1270 - authorizes water from Dry Creek from April 15 until October 15. This water permit has been perfected which means it is permanent. The source of the Dry Creek watershed begins at the 3,200 foot level near where La Porte Rd meets Barton Hill Rd. This water can be used for irrigation and fire protection.

Irrigation water for Oregon House and Dobbins essentially comes from two sources, the South Fork of the Feather River Watershed and, seasonally, from the Dry Creek Watershed.

Water from the South Fork of the Feather River begins with the snowmelt at elevations of 3,500 feet in the High Sierras. The water is impounded by the Little Grass Valley Reservoir in Butte County. From there, it flows down the South Fork of the Feather River. The water may be diverted by the South Fork Power Tunnel into the Sly Creek Reservoir or, it can continue until it gets to Oroleve Creek where it can be diverted at the SF-14 turnout down the Forbestown Ditch.

The Forbestown Ditch, built in the Gold Rush era, is a ten-mile long hand dug open ditch through wilderness. It ends up at Forbestown where it supplies water to the Forbestown Treatment Plant. However, about halfway along the Forbestown Ditch, the irrigation water is diverted south down Costa Creek. Costa Creek then merges with Dry Creek which then continues to fill Collins Lake. However, at the south end of Brownsville, near where Frenchtown Rd intersects with Willow Glen Rd, there is a diversion structure that sends the water down a canal to Oregon House and Dobbins.

Back to the water from Dry Creek. The Dry Creek Watershed is not a large watershed and, typically, it dries up in early July, maybe a bit sooner or a bit later depending on the winter snow pack. When this water is no longer available, the irrigation water must come from the Forbestown Ditch. The NYWD must leave 4 CFS in Dry Creek for the protection of fish and wildlife.

In the 1960s, the North Yuba Water District, which was then Yuba County Water District, received a grant to improve the irrigation infrastructure. However, this money was used to construct a water treatment plant in Forbestown in Butte County. This is because this is where the Forbestown Ditch ended. This treatment plant allows the NYWD to provide domestic water to people in Brownsville, Forbestown, and Rackerby.

There are about 800 domestic customers who use, more or less, 800 AF a year. One thing to note is that the domestic users get priority over the irrigation users. Also, the income from the irrigation customers does not cover the cost of delivery.

In 2005, under pressure from the State Water Resouces Control Board (SWRCB), North Yuba and South Feather signed a hydroelectric power generation revenue sharing agreement. This agreement went into effect in 2010. This agreement designated three blocks of water.

Block 1 - up to 3,700 AF a year at the SF-14 turnout. South Feather and North Yuba share water through the Forbestown Ditch. South Feather can use up to 3710 AF and North Yuba up to 3,700 AF. The 3,700 AF is "free" for North Yuba's use.

However, while South Feather can have up to its allotted 3,710 AF, North Yuba must absorb any water loss. Although reliable information is difficult to come by during the era from 2010 to 2022, these losses could amount to up to 40%. This meant 3,700 AF would start at SF-14 and, perhaps, 2,220 AF would be available for use by North Yuba. Again, reliable numbers are difficult to come by.

What is known, from reports made to the SWRCB, is that, in the entire 72-year history of the North Yuba Water District, over a continuous ten-year period, at most, 2,700 AF (11%) has been provided for irrigation and domestic use.

Block 2 - up to 4,500 AF per year for transfer to Yuba City.

Block 3 - up to 15,500 AF per year at the SF-14 turnout.

Before 2023

In 2011, the North Yuba Water District hired a new General Manager. It would turn out that this General Manager would not provide the best service to the District. Except for emergency repairs, he did little or nothing to provide preventive maintenance to the Forbestown Ditch.

However, what he did was start a project to pipe the Forbestown Ditch with an above-ground plastic pipe. In fact, it was known the pipe would have to have ongoing maintenance as the supports would fail on a regular basis.

The pipe meant there would be no losses and, if 3,700 AF went into the pipe, 3,700 AF would come out the other end. However, this also meant there would never be more than 3,700 AF available for use by the people in the District's service area. A lawsuit was filed challenging this project. This lawsuit delayed this piping project until a new board was elected in November of 2022. Anticipating he would not be kept on by the new board, he resigned in December of 2022. When he left, this piping project ended.

The 2005 agreement designated that the NYWD would get $709,000 a year from South Feather. This, along with the water sales to Yuba City, provides approximately $1 million in income to the District. Income from the irrigation water is no more than $15,000 a year and from the domestic customers, less than $100,000. The bulk of the income to the North Yuba Water District comes from the 2005 agreement with South Feather.

In 2014, or thereabouts, under the new General Manager, the NYWD proposed a rate increase to help fund piping the Forbestown Ditch. Mainly due to the efforts of Alton Wright, this effort failed. Mr. Wright would go on to be elected to the Divison 1 seat in 2022. Later, the District received a $500,000 state grant which it would use to again try to pipe the Forbestown Ditch. That effort also failed.

2020, 2021, and 2022 were difficult years for the irrigation customers. The water was not flowing. Gardens and farming operations were without water. Wells and ponds were drying up. The General Manager claimed it was because of the drought. However, as it turns out, this was not the case. The General Manager was intentionally withholding water. The staff had to know this but they were too intimidated by the General Manager to say or do anything.

In December 2021, the North Yuba Water District asked the Yuba Water Agency for a $110,000 grant for some kind of water study. The vote was four for and three against. Three against meant only one vote was needed for the Yuba Water Agency to stop supporting the Water District. A lobbying effort began with the Yuba Water Agency Directors explaining what was going on with the Water District. By April or May, it became apparent that the Water District had lost support from the Yuba Water Agency. 2022 was an election year, this was the beginning of the end of this Water District board.

During the spring of 2022, the Water District arranged to sell the Block 3 water to a number of Central Valley water districts. They had, at one point, inked deals to sell this water for $12.5 million dollars.

However, South Feather had to agree to this water sale and they certainly were not going to. What South Feather did was to string the North Yuba General Manager along saying they just needed another week to arrange for the water sale. This went on until time had run out and it was no longer feasible to sell the water. The voters were kept well-informed about what was going on.

South Feather did something else that was extraordinary. They offered to sell water directly to the Water District's irrigation customers by wheeling the water through the Water District's conveyance. This was not expected to work and, sure enough, the Water District came up with some bogus stream bed alteration requirement. However, the point had been made, there was water available and the General Manager was lying.

In November 2022, four of the incumbents lost their seats as Directors of the North Yuba Water District.

The Water District has been making requests to South Feather for hundreds of documents. These requests have taken up large amounts of South Feather's time and resources. In April of 2024, Minasian Law, South Feather's legal counsel, sent North Yuba a letter saying North Yuba had forfeited the rights to the Block 3 water. Whenever there is some dispute over water, the State Water Resouces Control Board is likely to be involved.

In January of 2023, four new Directors took their seats on the North Yuba Water District Board. The Water District had a number of lawsuits that needed to be settled. By mid-summer, all but two of the lawsuits had been settled. One was a lawsuit North Yuba had filed against South Feather and the other was a lawsuit South Feather had filed against North Yuba. The Water District hired several more attorneys including a water rights attorney, a CEQA attorney, and some others. By the end of August 2024, the new board had spent almost $900,000 on legal fees. The two lawsuits with South Feather still have not been settled.

Loss of the Block 3 water (15,000 AF or 65% of the Water District's water would have an impact on the Water District.

When the new board took over, the Forbestown Ditch was in much need of repair. North Yuba asked South Feather for some needed manpower which they did. However, due to some late snow and adverse weather conditions, not all of the intended repair work was accomplished. As a result, irrigation water was delayed and, in July, when the Dry Creek snowmelt had run its course, some of the larger irrigation customers were cut back. However, the water did continue until the end of the season in mid October.

In 2023 and into 2024, the Water District began asking the Yuba Water Agency for grants to continue with the much needed repairs. With this money, about $2.5 million, the Water District replaced an aging wooden flume and lined miles of open ditch with concrete. This greatly helped reduce the water loss. At a recent meeting, the Water District said it had reduced the losses from 40% to 20%.

In April of 2024, the irrigation season began on schedule and all of the Water District irrigation customers have been receiving their water. The Water District has finally been able to catch up on some long-deferred maintenance.

The Water District is, as of September 2024, delivering irrigation water to the 115-odd irrigation customers. This is 11% of its permitted water. This cannot be increased by much without addressing the Block 2 and 3 water now bound up by the 2005 Agreement.

2023 and Later

In November 2022, four new board members were elected to the North Yuba Water District, Mariek Furnee, Steve Ronneberg, Ann Plumb and Alton Wright.

One of the most immediate things to do was much needed repairs to the Forbestown Ditch. South Feather stepped in and took on this task. However, due to late snow, not as much was accomplished as was hoped for.

When April 15 came, the irrigation water did not. It took about two months to get the water flowing to all the customers. Then, in mid-July, the largest customers had to be cut in half. But, the water did flow until the end of the season.

The District went to work and, with the help of the Yuba Water Agency, substantial repairs and improvements were made to the delivery infrastructure. In 2024, when April 15 came around, so did the water, and continued throughout the season.

Back to the board. Gary Hawthorne resigned in March. Mr. Hawthorne had held the Division 3 seat however, for election purposes, he represented the Division 4 seat. So, even though he lost to his contender Marieke Furnee, he still retained a seat on the board. Gloria Bozza was appointed to his seat.

In September, Alton Wright resigned and Mike Mayo was appointed to the Division 1 seat. Since there were no contested seats in the 2024 elections, all the current Directors will keep their positions.

The North Yuba Water District has not been without controversy. As of this writing (October 2024), the two lawsuits with South Feather have not been settled. In April of 2024, South Feather sent a letter to North Yuba saying the District had forfeited its right to the Block 3 water. The matter is now under review by the State Water Resources Control Board. The letter can be read here: Minasian Law Forfeited Water Letter to North Yuba

False narratives from the District's Attorney Paul Boylan

North Yuba Water District legal counsel Paul Boylan was caught red-handed telling a false narrative when he boosted how it was his efforts that produced the $6.7 million payout from the power sharing agreement with South Feather. Not so said his counterpart at South Feather and described this as a fabrication and false narrative. False narrative is a polite way of saying lying.

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But it was not Mr. Boylan who got in trouble, it was the District's President Marieke Furnee, a Yuba County elected official, who whet about telling people about this false narrative to justify having paid Mr. Boylan $535,000 so far.

North Yuba has long been known for its "troubles" and this just adds to the notoriety that has gone far beyond Yuba County.

In a local Groups post, Director Furnee says "I have confirmation that South Feather - a Butte County water agency - has no interest at all of consolidating with North Yuba." Is this another false narrative from Director Furnee? For all we know, indeed it is, something she made up to make her story more plausible.

Director Furnee was caught red-handed slandering people. In an extraordinary abuse of power, she took a letter, sent to her personally, to Mr. Boyland to handle it at the District's expense. To get his client off the hook, Mr. Boylan fabricated the false narrative that the intention was to sue the District. It was not, but that did not stop Director Furnee from including on the District's agenda that there was a threat to sue the District.

At an October 1 meeting, the Yuba Water Agency granted North Yuba $701,083. So, while Mr. Boylan takes $515,000 out of one pocket, the Yuba Water Agency more than makes up for it with $701,083 into another pocket.

All in a day's work for this attorney who operates on the principle that the ends justifies the means. The ends being more money from the North Yuba Water District into Mr. Boylan's pocket.