YUBA COUNTY WATER AGENCY Relicensing Website

Welcome to Yuba County Water Agency's (YCWA) Yuba River Development Project Relicensing Public Website. This is an information resource for parties interested in the relicensing of YCWA's Yuba River Development Project, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Project No. 2246 (Project).

The Project is located on Yuba River, Middle Yuba River and Oregon Creek in Yuba County, California, and consists of 1 reservoir (New Bullards Bar on the North Yuba River), 2 diversion dams (Our House Diversion Dam on the Middle Yuba River and Log Cabin Diversion Dam on Oregon Creek), 3 powerhouses (New Colgate, Fish Release and Narrows No. 2) and various recreation facilities and appurtenant facilities. The installed capacity of the Project is 361.9 megawatts.

The initial FERC license for the Project expires April 30, 2016. YCWA has followed FERC’s Integrated Licensing Process (ILP), as described in Title 18 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Subchapter B, Part 5, to prepare an application for a new license. Major filings by YCWA have included: 1) a Notice of Intent to File an Application for a New License, filed on November 5, 2010; 2) a Pre-Application Document (PAD), filed on November 5, 2010; 3) a Proposed Study Plan, filed on April 19, 2011; 4) a Revised Study Plan, filed on August 17, 2011; 5) an Initial Study Report, filed on December 3, 2012; 6) an Updated Study Report, filed on December 3, 2013; 7) a Draft Application for a New License Major Project – Existing Dam, filed on December 3, 2013; and 8) a Final Application for a New License Major Project – Existing Dam, filed on April 28, 2014. Each of these YCWA filings can be found under “Relicensing Documents” on the Quick Launch bar to the left.

YCWA enters the Yuba River Hydroelectric Project Relicensing (Relicensing) with the expressed goal of obtaining a new license with minimal adverse impact to Project economics, while helping to foster YCWA’s relationship with the community, resource agencies, and other interested parties.  YCWA desires to obtain a new license of maximum term for the Project at a minimum cost (both initially and ongoing) that allows the Project to maximize profits from the production of electrical power while also meeting environmental, recreational, irrigation and other non-power requirements and needs.

The purposes of the Yuba River Development Project Relicensing Public Website are to make available to federal, state and local agencies; non-governmental organizations; and individual members of the public who may be interested in the Relicensing: 1) documents and material developed by YCWA during the Relicensing; and 2) information regarding the Yuba River Development Project Relicensing proceeding. The index to your left is divided into sections related to the Relicensing proceeding, and is periodically updated by YCWA. Click on the item in which you are interested. Please note that much of the information on this Public Website is in portable document format (pdf) or similar format, and some items appear blank until information is completed or published.