Since 1921, the mission of the Nevada Irrigation District (NID) has been to provide raw and treated water. NID provides a dependable and quality water supply to over 25,000 homes, farms and business customers in Nevada, Yuba and Placer counties and strives to be good stewards of the watershed and conserve available resources.

Development in the southwestern portion of NID’s service area, which includes a portion of the existing and future City of Lincoln (City), is generating demand for treated water service. Treated water demand is created by the development of historically irrigated lands. At this time, NID does not have any treated water facilities to serve this new demand within the Lincoln area. NID is not expanding the service area but providing water to lands within the existing NID boundaries.

In 2005, NID and the City worked together to prepare a siting study. The purpose of that study was to plan for anticipated water demands based on approved land uses, identify and compare potential locations for the water treatment plant and associated facilities, and develop a preliminary phasing plan based on the preferred location of the treatment plant. Results of the study can be found in the Lincoln Area Water Treatment Plant Planning and Site Study, August 2005, which is posted on NID’s web site - www.nidwater.com/projects.cfm.

In 2007, NID and the City completed two interagency agreements addressing numerous anticipated project details such as cost sharing and ownership. Under these agreements, the City will fund expenses associated with the planning, pre-design, and environmental documentation for the project. In these agreements, NID will own and operate the water treatment plant, in addition to the raw and treated water pipelines. The City will purchase treated water on a wholesale basis and then the water will be delivered to NID customers within NID’s service area.

As of the beginning of 2008, NID and the City are proceeding to the next project phase, which involves additional planning and pre-design tasks to identify project alternatives and ultimately select locations of the project components. NID has contracted with ECO:LOGIC and Jones and Stokes for the consulting services on this phase. NID anticipates that the planning, design and environmental compliance and permitting for the project will take several years. The project team is in the process of developing a more detailed definition of the project, evaluating various alternatives and specific locations of all facilities.

Once the planning and pre-designs studies are completed and the project are well defined from an engineering perspective, NID will initiate the environmental review process in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act. NID will be proactively evaluating environmental issues and alternatives during the planning phase to identify and minimize environmental impacts to the extent practicable. Numerous permits and approvals are needed for the project and NID intends to engage permitting agencies early on to obtain their input. The desired schedule would have this project constructed and operational by 2015.

As part of this project, NID and the City’ s consultant is implementing an outreach plan that includes a series of public meetings, development of a stakeholders list to receive project updates, and a project specific web site: www.NIDRegionalWTP.org containing current project information. Public comment is invited at public meetings, via email at info@nidregionalwtp.org or via mail to NID.