Yuba Water Agency’s board is scheduled to consider a $1 million cash-flow loan for Reclamation District 817 at its July 21 meeting, according to the agency’s agenda and staff summary.
The item, Resolution No. 2026-25, would approve the loan and direct staff to prepare and file a California Environmental Quality Act notice of determination if the board signs off on the request. Staff says Reclamation District 817 plans to remove and replace an existing gravity-flow drainage pipe in the north levee of Dry Creek at Forty Mile Road, where the pipe has deteriorated enough to pose a levee safety risk.
According to the staff report, the California Department of Water Resources is funding the project in full through its Deferred Maintenance Program, but reimbursements can take 60 to 90 days. The proposed loan would provide cash flow so the district can keep paying contractors while it waits for state reimbursement. RD 817 expects the work to be completed by late spring 2027 and says it wants the loan term to run from August 2026 through September 2027.
Because the loan approval would be a discretionary action, Yuba Water says it would act as a responsible agency under CEQA and rely on RD 817’s prior final initial study/mitigated negative declaration and mitigation monitoring and reporting program, which the district adopted in January 2022. If approved, Yuba Water would file its own notice of determination, with the staff report citing a $50 county documentary handling fee.
The same July 21 agenda also includes several other consent and discussion items, including emergency contracting related to the Colgate Penstock incident, a PG&E easement request north of the Colgate Plant, a $75,000 financial-modeling contract, and a presentation on the agency’s water education curriculum.
