Here's what we know so far....right here in my hometown! LINKS: • The South Yuba Canal nevadacityhistory.com/maps/sh...|Roads|Creeks|Ditches|Places|Buildings yubanet.com/regional/pge-spau... www.theunion.com/
A friend of mine who is a dam engineer who worked for a company that does contract work to fix certain parts of dams. He used to visit lots of dams throughout California to assess the condition of certain parts and what might be needed to fix those parts. He commented to me and a few friends sitting around that the condition of the dams owned by PG&E was DRAMATICALLY worse than those owned by the Federal government. It seems that PG&E executives are good at awarding themselves giant pay and bonuses, but they are averse to maintaining the infrastructure that is the backbone of the company.
That’s pretty bad when you’re worse than the federal government. Somehow I believe this. A government sanctioned monopoly can be worse than the government itself. Remember AT&T?
Literally anyone who has dealt with PG&E could tell you this is the case. One of the biggest ways they (and other Investor-owned Utilities) pad their profits is by delaying any maintenance possible as long as possible, up to and including catastrophic failure. They've done it time and time again. At least this time, it wasn't such a catastrophic failure that people are dead, like with the San Bruno pipeline explosion. In that instance, one of the contributing factors was PG&E illegally diverting $100 Million in funds earmarked for safety improvements and repairs to executive compensation. The fact we allow them to continue to exist as a going concern is, honestly, incredible and insane.
If they are owned by the federal government, the federal government doesn't have to deal with state permitting and restrictions. However, PG&E does have to comply with state permitting and mandates for "renewables". The California legislature has forced PG&E to spend all their money on renewables leaving little to pay for maintenance on dams that are no longer considered environmental friendly. California would love to tear down every dam in the state and thus they dont want PG&E maintaining them. Fed owned dams can ignore the state.
@@crissd8283 stop the boot licking, how is it that local utilities have more money to invest in keeping their commonwealth safe while still complying with "renewable" mandates.
Great coverage, Juan! People do not realize the complexity of just getting water to where it needs to be. As an engineer who dealt with such stuff I know a multitude of things that can go wrong. The general public takes a lot for granted when it comes to infrastructure. But truly it's being held together by the skin of the teeth of engineers.
Very true. You can say the same about virtually every aspect of modern life. Very few people have *any* idea of how the things they rely on, from water, to electricity, food, fuel, clothing etc get to them. Not to mention the other side of that equation - disposing of all of the waste. The global system that keeps us alive is fragile and relies on everything working more or less to keep billions of people alive.
@@tedmoss Yes and if it is left until it breaks it can be absolutely overwhelming. I live in a city with 100 year + water pipes and they are all failing at once = leaks on every street!
It's about to get worse as the news is all saying all Americans are about to suffer a very lengthy onslaught of supply chain issues due to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. Costs of everything to skyrocket, products no longer available, food not getting to stores, etc. All due to one bridge in Baltimore, Maryland.
When it affects water supply, I'm surprised the Army Corps of Engineers aren't brought in to facilitate, airlift or manufacture parts, and get it done yesterday. A late Summer projected date is a joke. Water is an essential need NOW.
It is odd that since Biden took office our infrastructure has been blowing up one way or another, often by fire or explosion. Makes me suspicious of this situation, too, but we can't know the truth of how this happened.
While I truly enjoy the aviation part of your channel, living here in northern California, I truly appreciate you covering the issues in our region. Keep up the good work.
Hi, We love Juan and his reports, too. We're in Sacramento and had no clue that this problem even existed? I've been to all those lakes in that system for camping and fishing and had no idea that there was so much diversion of water to some of the other lakes like Bowman? I kind of wonder if the American River, that starts up behind Squaw Valley, is also diverted into tunnels but I kind of doubt it?
@@peanutsmcgonnagle2458 I far as I know there may still be a few irrigation flumes running off the Middle Fork of the American River but they are not used to divert water around the system like the Yuba River system.
I live just south of Spaulding/Rollins watershed (but Placer County). We've had plenty or rain and snow the last two years for the State to finally declare we are not in drought conditions. Leave it to the State and PG&E to find a way to F up good news and water management (either actively, neglect or deferred maintenance) to turn it into yet another crisis. This is probably PG&E's ploy to put pressure on the State to get the Bear River Dam approved that most of us in the area are opposed to... Never let a crisis go unexploited.
That along with everything else that has destroyed this country is the result of qualified immunity being invented out of the thin air by a judge when such a ridiculous concept would probably never make it through Congress. It's gotten to the point where the more you screw up in government the more promotions you get
I'm sure PGE can form a committee devoted to the creation of a sub committee to begin discussing the possible ramifications of the problem and how long the EIR report will take and who should be allowed to contribute to the report. After the affected parties are identified and reached out to, the real discussion of the damage to the environment can begin.
It seems like there is a very strong chance. When you finally get enough precipitation to relieve the drought conditions the area has been under forever, one thing happens that seems to look natural, but when a work around is figured out, they just physically shut it down !
@@glennjames7107 I'd like to think not... but as recent times have proved, certain entities will do anything to get their way. I have a neighbor who is one of the people who monitors and measures the snow pack and water levels... they changed the way they aggregated the data to make the situation look worse than the drought really was. But, the powers that be needed the gloom and doom to push the green initiatives.
Uhh… this deserves absolute priority. Bureaucracy needs to get the hell out of the way, there doesn’t need to be a committee meeting. This needs to get fixed and fixed now. It can be fixed quickly if there wasn’t all this damn red tape.
Hi Juan , in the 70s and earlier a flume was located at Coyote st. (used to be called coyote cut off) and N. Bloomfield . Icicles 2-3 feet hanging , also I hauled logs from the east side of Bowman lake in '73-4 . Take care👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Great coverage, Juan! The infrastructure in this country is in a lot of places antiquated and it goes unnoticed until suddenly there is no water in the tap or the electricity stops or the spillway disappears. Out of sight, out of mind. There is never any money, and it is fix it when it fails. It is a shame it is not in better shape but wishing does not make it so.
@@tedmoss It doesn't matter how much money they spend if politicians steer that spending toward inefficiencies like renewables and clout projects. It's part of the reason why we can't seem to eat into the infrastructure backlog despite spending a quarter of a trillion annually.
@@JohnSmith-yv6eqWhy doesn't anyone talk about the way utilities that are dubbed ( not expedient) to environmental reform are being completely legislated into oblivion. Listen liberals have long been rallying to get rid of Dams and reservoirs. Now with the excessive push to go solar and other such energy coupled with other social programs. The framework that was set late in Clintons Term coupled with legislation downstream in Obamas regime and now mandated, manipulated and taxed 50 separate way of Tuesday is designed to do exactly what it has done. Do you think. It's really just a matter of Money. PGE is a Private sector company. It refuses to fold into the federal government to further this singular control. Let's take a look at what the Gov owns controls in an indirect manner. Food ,Arms ,Housing , Education ,Health ,Travel and a Gigantic Chunk of Media and with all that the population some alot less than others. The Democrat playbook is based on the long game. Tax, legislate and mandate Public entities that don't comply. It is not expedient entities to be self sufficient. It's all about control. (You will have nothing)..........(And be happy). Smoke , Mirrors and and Slight of Hand. If I could go back in times and shoot the asshat in the he@d who decided taxing people who have payed for or off their property. I would. The far reaching implications of that alone is enough to make my head swim.
I worked for a steel fabrication company, and we made 2 new discharge horns (tapered pipe elbow) 5 feet in diameter 1/2" thick stainless steel for that same powerhouse in 2012 to replace the 100 year old carbon horns. When the original carbon pipe was removed, severe erosion was discovered. I was told you could not see the depth of the erosion. There were grout holes in the new horns so concrete could be pumped. PGE did not want this publicly known and kept it secret. There was concern the powerhouse foundation would fail, allowing it to slide down the mountain. There is a town at the bottom..... All of the carbon pipe in the Spaulding project (if still original) is over 100 years old. I would think it has lived it's life. How safe are these old powerhouses with their 100 year old carbon steel deteriorating infrastructure?
Definitely applying for federal funds for this makes sense. When I was young, Nevada Irrigation Dustrict printed the words "Not for Human Consumption " on their bills. When dentists want to know if I grew up with fluoridated water, I tell them "No, I grew up with pasteurized water." "IT WAS RUN THROUGH EVERY COW PASTURE IN THE COUNTY BEFORE BEING PIPED INTO OUR HOMES." I I lost family friends and almost lost my sister one year due to hepatitis do to that "pasturized" water.
PG&E was mandated to spend money on renewables. The politicians wanted to see solar panels and wind farms. They wouldn't let PG&E perform maintenance. Maintenance isn't shiny and doesn't meet the politicians green narrative they want to portray. I work on infastructure and honestly politicians have made run to failure the only option. If you want to do an upgrade project it costs millions and years in engineering reviews, permitting, environmental reviews, etc then if one citizen has a problem with the environmental review, it is another year of planning. However, if you run it to failure, you get instant permits and no one bugs you, the upgrade gets done in 1/10 the time for 1/2 the costs. We sometimes have all the parts for an upgrade sitting around just waiting for something to fail so we can actually get permits to do the work. It is sad, but it is what the government has done. They make it nearly impossible to do planned upgrades
@@crissd8283 The government did not prevent PG&E from performing maintenance. This has to do with corporate greed. SMUD, the government owned electricity supplier in Sacramento has rates that are a fraction of PG&E's, they use the exact same suppliers that PG&E uses and last time I checked, they haven't sparked the multitude of deadly fires and explosions that PG&E has. The problem with PG&E is that it has shareholders and their interests are being put above the interests of the State of California.
If you think PG&E is bad, just wait until the state takes over PG&E. They will hire twice as many people as needed, including unqualified diversity hires, incompetence will be far worse, repairs will take days instead of hours, and like most other public agencies, they will exempt themselves from liability.
@@crissd8283You are correct. One of my best friends ran 5 departments at the same time for Calaveras County, and dealing with state and federal bureaucrats got worse every year. As an example, a heavy spring 2018 storm washed out about a dozen culverts under roads or small sections of roads. It took over a year to get approval from various agencies to even begin repairs for some sections, and longer in some cases much longer. He got tired of dealing with pompous, incompetent bureaucrats and took early retirement. Have you noticed that every single public infrastructure project these days runs way over budget and finishes way begmhind schedule? Big gubment fan boys all dismiss that idiocy as " That's just the way it is now." The people from my father's generation and grandfather's generation would have kicked the incompetent ass of almost everyone of these bureaucratic idiots and then fired them.
Time to invest in a rainwater collection tank. Perfectly fine for everything except drinking water and even a moderately sized roof will grab a lot of water even during a light rain. This was very common where I grew up in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea where water infrastructure was limited to heavily populated areas only. Thanks again Juan.
Juan, I doubt this water issue will affect me but it is certain to affect many Californians. I can't thank you enough for all you do for us. You not only have a full time job but you make deep, incisive investigations and reports on many other issues affecting us. You have done extensive reports on weather, earthquakes, droughts, catastrophes such as the Oroville Dam, major fires along with the many aircraft crashes. You do the work of 10 men and it is both amazing and helpful. I would urge you to go into politics to help us, but I am positive you are much to smart to do that. Anyway ... Thank you ....
When I was going to Roseville HS in the middle 70's my science class did a field trip to the Drum power plant and while we was near the outlet they did a bypass run of the water to show the power of the water outlet
Thanks Juan. We are watching this closely. My family buys 3 inches of irrigation water from NID, every season, and has for over 35 years. Initially this was for pasture irrigation and fire protection/prevention, at about a 70-30 ratio. Over the years that ratio has just about reversed. I know I am not alone in seeing this as being a very serious problem for those of us in wildfire country....let alone the drinking water needs of those in the cities or otherwise connected to NID treated water for their homes. Like many of us out here I am wondering what, if anything, could have been done, (maintenance wise or better planning for critical component failure, etc) to address the need to fix this now, going in to fire season. If nothing else I hope we get a clear, accurate after-action report and see what can be done to prevent this happening in the future. With the age of our water delivery infrastructure being even older than that of P, G,&E this needs to be a real priority for all of the foothill communities. The two are inextricably intertwined, and I can see more problems down the road. Taking advantage of this to learn and plan for the future is absolutely critical.
This is why I subscribed years ago to your channel. I knew nothing about this water story and now I'm well informed and I know some history and where to look further. Great coverage, thank you
I've hiked this whole area. It's incredible, once you get that red iron rich dirt in your blood it doesn't come out. Even if I travelled the whole world the only place I want to be is the Nevada County Gold country.
Juan, come and live in Sydney, we have one very old dam, one bloody expensive small and useless desalination plant and we are endlessly told to conserve water. Even when we have has 4 years of well above average rainfall. Honestly your problem isn't really a problem compared to the basket case Shitney is now. And the idea of making a new dam, well thats blocked by environmentalists or indigenous.
Being from the region, I did see a bit of news on this, so thank you, Juan, for bringing it to our attention. For me, it simply means we likely won't be enjoying Scotts Flat or Rollins Reservoir this Summer. That is sad, but, I wish all of Nevada County the best through this, as our plight of not being able to recreate pales in comparison to what Nevada County residents will be going through.
From the northeast end of upper Scotts Flats you could see the water run and support system. That’s where the creek ran into upper Scotts. You could do a little fishing and gold panning there too, but that was a long time ago. Use to fly up to Nevada Co AirPark from Hwd in a little 150, but that was long ago too. 107471
SUGGESTION for maps use a larger cursor. It was difficult to see where you were pointing. I love nerdy stuff like this even though I live thousands of miles away.
@@califdad4 Almost all of the ranch and orchard land in the north part of Placer County gets it's water from NID. Even the drainage ditches alongside the county roads distribute NID water. It's sold by the inch or part of an inch. A square hole in a metal plate on a main NID ditch lets the water out. Our place growing up bought a 1/2".
@@michaelsamson3276 yes the canal went down the property line on property I used to own off Sierra College Rd on a hilltop above English Colony. The property was backed up to the Bickford ranch property
Excellent video, Juan. Thanks for posting. I live downstream of Rollins Lake. Our water is supplied by PCWA which is taken from the Rollins Lake/Bear River via the Boardman Canal. This situation doesn’t look good for Nevada County and parts of Placer County. Let’s hope PG&E (play games & eat) can get the repairs done sooner than later or it’s going to be a very interesting summer.
It depends on what the problem is. Many parts for those old powerhouses aren't made anymore and have to be fabricated. I would suggest that PG&E and the water district set up siphons from Spaulding to the water delivery canal.
@@mkay1957 I used to work for SMUD’s Hydro Operations (UARP). Their hydro mechanics fabricated many parts for their old power houses. SMUD has it share of issues with their systems.
Reminds me of a scene from 310 to Yuma. Before water gets to your land it crosses my land and I can do whatever I want with it. If there is any federal emergency money I wouldn't be shocked if it ends up going to PG&E to fix their powerhouse problems to bypass the broken canal instead of just going to fix the canal
Upshot is that, if there was state or federal disaster funds involved, it would force PG&E to acquiesce to far more oversight and outside management than they normally are subject to, helping ensure it's done correctly. One wonders if CPUC could simply force them to sell the entire hydro-power project to NID since it plays such a key role in their water delivery system. They'd hardly be the first water utility in California that also happened to have substantial power-generation capabilities. SFPUC is a good example of that.
Hey Juan, out where I live in Illinois , it's so flat they dig little canals to drain the water from the fields so they can plant in the spring. I can see the wind turban lights 18 miles away until the corn gets tall and blocks them. Water just sits there and makes mud. I have a well 60 ft deep, plenty of clean water.
Juan, that you for keeping us up to date on this critical situation. The more folks know, the more folks voice their concerns. Hopefully the wheel of progress will get properly lubed.
I remember seeing the sluces at Lime Saddle marina and the concrete channels going to Lake Disabla (freakishly clear and COLD water since it was snow melt).
It is time to take some of that money we spend on the War Machine and put it toward infrastructure and healthcare for our people. We have by far the strongest military on Earth and we don't need to keep spending almost a trillion dollars a year to maintain it. I am a veteran by the way
I was shocked to see the way water is moved. It still looks 1800s ( I know nothing on the subject.) I do look at the Netherlands and how they have over decades built their water systems. Agree our infrastructure is collapsing everywhere. Look at some other countries transportation, water systems, farming etc etc. We look archaic 😢
As a Vietnam vet. I disagree with cutting military spending at a time when we need it the most, but that is a small part of the budget and money can be found to fix the infrastructure. Presiden Biden just promised unlimited funds to fix the Francis Scott Key bridge.
I loved Jackson Meadows Lake, and camped there starting in the late 70's. Best trout fishing ever! But I had never heard of the original dam or its failure. Down the google rabbit hole I go now!🤓 Thanks Juan. Great report!
If the power required is not too high, Aeroderivatives stationary gasturbines are available from GEAeroderivatives, talking to them might bring a short term solution. Until repairs are done efficiently and as a backup.
That doesn't help move water unless you mean to connect the generators to giant pumps and suck out behind the dam and over the top dumping the water into the river below. In fact you only need to start siphon pipes with the pumps then gravity will take over....
@@JohnSmith-yv6eq you don't understand, it's the powerstation failure that causes the problem, listen to Juan again, this time CAREFULLY! Aeroderivatives can deliver and put into operation clean power in TWO WEEKS. Get educated on high efficiency LM-2500 based gasturbine power stations.
It's not the power generated.. it's the WATER flowing through to the river/canal that is being stopped because it can't run through the penstocks/turbines/draft tubes... and into the river below... WATER is what the people living below the lower reservoirs need to drink/irrigate/live... So just short cut the whole water generation system...which is now a giant tap which has been turned off... and dump the water over the dam in volume through multiple large pipes acting by siphoning...... gravity will do the rest.... @@arturoeugster7228
Fingers 🤞 🤞 this can be resolved for your fine community. I'm a good ways south of you in Ventura Co. and will reach out to local officials if their voices could be helpful.
We have a water usage problem, not shortage or drought. We're still subsidizing Central Valley water so they can grow water-intensive crops to sell abroad. If water's so valuable, why allow waste and profiteering?
Used to ride those Scotts Flat flumes on inner tubes late 70's, AND rode our bikes on the center planks, kicking off the beams for momentum! 😮 If they could hold them liable with fixing this FUBAR like a penalty of funds, it could light a fire where it needs to be, $$ the only thing they abide to. Good report as always JB.
seen this and wonder if that new dam on the bear river has anything to do with this canal outage also sad how pge let all the old timers that knew how to fix these old powerhouses so nobody knows now a good example is the halsey powerhouse off dry creek rd in auburn which has been off line for years wasting all that water energy over the spillway at 9 megawatts or the equivalent to about 3 locomotives at 800 gallons of fuel per hour that a contractor broke.thanks for sharing
Thanks Juan, that was really interesting. I remember that you had mentioned these canal systems in earlier videos, which I was not aware of. In this vid, at 3:57, you show a map, are the coloured lines all canals? (I figured that the orange and dark yellow lines are roads...). If yes, are these still all working somehow today? or are some just 'historical relics'? Happy Easter from Norway 😊
There would be hardly any of this in existence without the gold rush. This water is what allows the local population to exist, along with other infrastructure items.
PG&E is a publicly traded company. This is a huge problem for corporations that Put profit above all else. They have to pay dividends to stockholders and bonuses to high ranking executives. This is and should be considered critical infrastructure and ruled with the strictest regulation. Corruption runs too deep. The lobbying from the power companies pays for the politicians and we all get screwed. We the people need to vote em all out and hold folk’s accountable We need someone in office that’s not afraid to clean up the mess and not take money from corrupt people
That Spaulding hydro system is interesting. However the long structure running diagonally up the hill at 6:10 is not a penstock - more likely a stairway or cableway because it originates well above the surface of the reservoir. The penstock follows a horizontal track from low in the dam face to the #1 powerhouse and is apparently the only way PG&E can release water when the reservoir is low. Two spillway dams, out of view on the left (N) side of the reservoir, can be seen in Google Earth to allow water to rejoin the river below the dam. So if that spillway is now functionally providing water for irrigation, it should be possible to pump or siphon water over those spillways to continue supplying downstream flow from a lower reservoir level. Alternatively PG&E could possibly let some flow leak past the turbine gates, unless it interfered with repair activities.
Juan, ask if operation of the hydroelectric power generating plants at Spaulding, Scotts Flat and Rollins have priority over storage of water for potable use by the various water districts in your area. Perhaps, if spring runoff is stored at maximum safe levels at the reservoirs and not passed through for power generation, the stored volume would be sufficient to keep your water districts 'alive' and lessen the need for severe conservation in your home and businesses for potable uses this summer. I suspect that water rights laws and contracts specify that power generation and crop irrigation have priority over domestic potable uses. I was told that was the case during the mid-70s drought in northern CA, as the Shasta and Oroville power plants were kept humming even as the reservoirs drained and the drought persisted. The irrigation districts and southern CA benefited from of the full flowing Sacramento River in those years, as 'excess' water was diverted south at the delta.
It sounded like the water has to go through the power plant in order to get into the two different (Drumm and the Grass Valley/Nevada City) canals for those downstream water uses.
' traditional rock slide ' great quote from Juan. Made me smile.Just how old is the equipment at Spaulding PH/diversion equipment ? The potential power of water is amazing. They'll figure it out. Funding is the key issue. Hydro equipment has been hugely (biggley) neglected, and missed out on "green energy incentives- largely public service owned= not fair.
Great report. I was not aware of this situation. We really need to support infrastructure spending on state and federal levels. The ROI on that spending is massive. The alternative is to just let things fall apart, which cost more in the long run .
We all know that, but investors just don't care - their only concern is the profits for the next quarter. 5 years from now means nothing to them, much less the 50-100 years much of this infrastructure should last for, if not longer. And, it's not like they live anywhere near Nevada County or have to worry about the water coming out of their tap. If anything they'd see it as a boon for business: bottled water is an absolute steal, profit wise.
