Yuba Water Agency is continuing emergency work tied to the Feb. 13 rupture of the Colgate penstock, with hillside stabilization, erosion control and access-road repairs underway while officials develop plans for a permanent replacement.
In draft minutes from the agency’s Oct. 6 Board of Directors meeting, the board unanimously approved consent items that included continuing emergency contracting under California Public Contract Code section 22050(c)(2). The vote was recorded as 7-0, with all seven directors voting yes.
The minutes say Hat Creek Construction and Materials began construction the week of Sept. 14 on temporary stabilization and erosion-control measures intended to limit additional slope degradation, sediment discharge and environmental impacts while longer-term repair and restoration plans are developed. The work includes rock-lined V-ditches, erosion-control blankets, seeding, slope excavation and trimming, debris removal, and early work to replace a 72-inch culvert. The agency said the project does not include reconstruction of the penstock.
The same update says Nordic was focusing on Lake Francis Road repairs, including culvert replacement and restoring drainage, with portions of the road expected to be repaved before winter. Yuba Water was also preparing a penstock-replacement data package for Board of Consultants Meeting No. 4, scheduled for Oct. 20–22.
The agency’s Oct. 20 board agenda says repair work remains in progress and recommends that the board continue emergency contracting until repairs are completed. It identifies Feb. 17 as the date the board authorized the general manager to use emergency contracting actions and notes that the emergency action must be reviewed at each regular meeting until the contracted work is finished.
The agenda is not a final meeting record, so it does not establish whether the board approved the recommendation on Oct. 20. The records reviewed also do not disclose cumulative spending, contract amendments, a permanent replacement cost or a binding construction date. Those details could emerge from the Board of Consultants’ data package and report or from later agency records.
