Greetings,

The new year is well underway, and work continues here at Yuba Water Agency to reduce flood risk and ensure a reliable water supply for the people of Yuba County.

Our facilities along the Yuba River are key to advancing those core mission areas. In addition to New Bullards Bar Dam, the 5th tallest dam in the United States, we also have a series of hydropower facilities capable of generating 412 megawatts of carbon-free energy. That's enough clean power to supply more than 400,000 California homes and businesses.

You may have heard that last summer the State Water Resources Control Board issued a water quality certification that threatens our ability to fund critical public safety work and the wonderful community impact initiatives we are planning for Yuba County. After exhausting diplomatic options, we filed lawsuits in November to challenge the state’s certification.

Litigation is not something we wanted to do. However, we felt it was necessary to protect our agency’s future and the interests of Yuba County communities, many of them disadvantaged. Still, I am optimistic that we can work with the State Water Board to find a solution that works for Yuba Water, the state and the people of Yuba County. You can learn more about what's at stake for our agency on our website.

Despite the challenges that 2020 brought for all of us, Yuba Water remains committed to powering a brighter future for Yuba County. I'm looking forward to advancing a range of exciting projects this year, including water infrastructure improvements in southern Yuba County, habitat restoration on the Lower Yuba River, design of a potential secondary spillway at New Bullards Bar Dam, large-scale forest restoration to reduce wildfire risk in our watershed, advancing water education in the region and so much more.

I hope you'll continue to engage with us through this newsletter, our website and our agency's social media channels.

Willie Whittlesey
General Manager, Yuba Water Agency

Since its formation in 1959, Yuba Water has led the local effort with state and federal agencies, Congress and others to increase public safety by reducing the risk of catastrophic flooding in Yuba County. Learn more about our flood risk reduction efforts, including support for improvements to the Marysville Ring Levee and our secondary spillway project at New Bullards Bar Dam. [Read on]

During its first meeting of the new year, Yuba Water’s board of directors elected Andy Vasquez as chairman and Gary Bradford as vice-chairman for the 2021 calendar year. Directors and staff also welcomed Seth Fuhrer and Don Blaser as the newest members of the agency's seven-member board. [Read on]

Yuba Water recently completed improvements to the Dark Day recreation area at New Bullards Bar Reservoir. The Dark Day boat ramp and overflow parking areas now include 80 single-vehicle parking spaces and 139 spaces for vehicles with trailers. The redesign added 23 single-vehicle parking spaces, 20 spaces for vehicles with trailers and 10 ADA-compliant parking spaces, four of which can accommodate vehicles with trailers. [Read on]