Browns Valley Irrigation District

History of the Browns Valley Irrigation District

Established on September 19, 1888 under the "Wright Irrigation Act," The Browns Valley Irrigation District (BVID) is one of the oldest continually operating irrigation districts in the state of California. On September 26, 1888, BVID’s first order of business was to coordinate a $110,000 bond election to raise funds to construct a diversion dam and ditch to divert water from the North Yuba River into the Browns Valley area. On March 21, 1890 a Notice of Approbation of 47.2 cubic feet per second (CFS) of water from the North Yuba River was recorded in Yuba County.

The District’s water project started in August of 1890 and after considerable difficulties was completed in the spring of 1892. The water for the ditch was diverted a little over a mile below Bullards Bar on the North Yuba River where a 30 foot high wood crib diversion dam was built and a wooden flume was constructed along the canyon wall a distance of over seven and one half miles. The upper five miles of flume was 5 feet wide by 3 feet high. Unfortunately, at this point in time the contractor went out of business and the District stepped in to finish the work with day labor and reduced the flume width to 4 feet from that point on as lumber had become in short supply.

Beyond the flume section, the BVID ditch contoured down the canyon for 22 miles to the vicinity of Dry Creek. At this point, the water dropped nearly 300 vertical feet and was picked up in a lower ditch then delivered to the Dry Creek siphon.

Although BVID was now in business, troubled financial times laid ahead. Judge Ross of the United States Circuit Court ruled that a provision of the "Wright Irrigation Act" was unconstitutional and did not allow the districts to assess property owners for maintenance and operation costs. BVID quickly became in dire need of financial help.

Fortunately John Martin, who had just successfully built a pioneer electric power plant on the South Yuba River near Nevada City, appeared on scene; focused readily on the 300 foot fall the water takes on its journey. Mr. Martin made a proposition to BVID to maintain and operate BVID’s main canal in return for the right to use the 300 foot water fall for a powerhouse. The agreement also called for an annual lease payment to BVID of $100 per year. The deal was for 50 years and BVID signed the contract on August 12, 1896. Mr. Martin immediately assumed BVID’s maintenance responsibility 19 months before he actually began to use the water for "mechanical purposes."

This groundbreaking power plant launched Martin and his associates to become the most important power group in Northern California. Within 5 years, after several reorganizations, acquisitions and new projects, their California Gas and Electric Company purchased San Francisco Gas and Electric Company giving birth to Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) on January 1, 1906.

The Yuba Powerhouse was shutdown at the end of 1911 and PG&E continued to maintain the BVID ditch from the diversion to nearly 22 miles beyond Dry Creek. In 1940, an agreement was reached with BVID to "buy out" the remaining six years of the contract for $180,000. The agreement called for PG&E to deliver BVID’s water (47.2 CFS) at the Colgate Power House penstock (NY10) and to become the owner of the head dam, delivering water through a newly constructed tunnel, abandoning the flume.

BVID continued to operate the system delivering water to the Browns Valley / Loma Rica area. However, water demand in the area quickly exceeded the available water from the Yuba River diversion. As early as 1919, the prospect of a dam on Dry Creek at Virginia Ranch had been explored but it was not until 1950 that a permit was issued to build Virginia Ranch Dam and store water. The original request was for a dam 105 feet tall, 1,870 feet long with 10 feet of free board, which would have created a lake with 175 surface acres and a capacity of 35,000 acre feet. The estimated cost to build the project was $1,360,000 to be completed in 1955. Unfortunately, the lack of financing prevented the dam from being built at that time.

However, in September 1960 BVID voters authorized an interest free Bureau of Reclamation loan for $4,839,371 to facilitate the construction of Virginia Ranch Dam. Voters also approved a tax for the repayment of the loan as well as the operation of the dam and irrigation system. In 1963 the newly constructed dam was put into service. The Virginia Ranch Dam is more than 1/3 larger than the design proposed in 1950. It is 152 feet tall, 2,800 feet long with 13.5 feet of free board. The body of water held back by Virginia Ranch Dam has 1009 surface acres with a capacity of 57,000 acre feet and is named Collins Lake in honor of Merle Collins, who, as a Yuba County Farm Advisor was instrumental in getting the dam constructed. Today Collins Lake is a popular tourist destination for camping, boating and fishing.

The construction of Virginia Ranch Dam enabled BVID to lease a portion of the water which was being diverted at NY10 to PG&E for power production at both the Colgate and Narrows hydroelectric plants. Today, BVID still retains the right to use the water for irrigation. The water is pumped from the Yuba River at a point 1 mile downstream from Browns Valley and used in the lower portion of BVID.

In the mid 1980’s, BVID began a program of installing pipelines throughout the District. The new pipelines brought water to areas not previously serviced, as well as replaced high maintenance open ditches. Whenever possible, the pipelines take advantage of elevation to provide water under pressure. In areas where the elevation does not allow the installation of gravity fed lines, water is lifted by electric pumps. One area is even supplied by a remarkable water driven pump which uses an elevation drop in the open ditch system to drive another pump, raising the water over 600 feet in elevation.

In 1984, a 1,000 KW hydroelectric plant was built at the dam by a private power developer and operated by BVID. BVID negotiated a contract to purchase the hydroelectric plant in 1990 and as of May 2005 BVID owns the plant free debt free. However because BVID is an irrigation district which puts the value of water above all else, electricity is generated only using the water available from overflow water in the winter and irrigation releases in the summer.

In 1990, a pipeline was constructed by BVID from Collins Lake to serve the portion of the District which had been receiving water from the NY10 diversion at Colgate. The pipeline construction made it possible to abandon over 22 miles of ditch line including several flumes that ran along the Yuba River canyon and freed up additional water to lease to the Yuba County Water Agency for use in both the Colgate and Narrows hydroelectric plants.

Currently the District serves 55,000 acres, with 200 miles of open ditch and 70 miles of pipeline. The District has experienced rapid change over the past few years, growing from 300 to over 1500 customers and has shifted from serving water to primarily pasture and orchard lands to now accommodating family orchards, garden areas and landscapes. Furthermore, some water is even being sold for domestic use and it is anticipated that more domestic water will be sold in the future.

It is very likely that BVID will continue to change significantly over the next several years as well. Surrounding areas are being explored for possible annexation as well as miles of new pipelines to presently current underserved areas and into existing ditches to further increase efficiency. Most of the changes will be driven by development in the area and BVID is committed to keep up with the growth as we move forward.