As rain and snow continues in Nevada County, the Nevada Irrigation District Board of Directors has approved a surplus water declaration. Water Operations Manager Chip Close says the total of current and forecasted available water supply is over 409-thousand acre feet, which is above the threshold for normal operations, of over 235-thousand acre feet…

And Close says, with much of the snowpack still not melting much, due to mostly below-normal temperatures, that will also mean abundant reservoir carryover storage for 2020…

Close says the surplus is sold to 35 outside district customers in the county, as well as to the cities of Grass Valley and Nevada City. The 474-thousand dollars in revenue goes back into NID’s general fund. Close says the early declaration to agricultural customers also allows for proper planning and seed purchases for the coming growing season.