Customers’ rates for the Grass Valley-based water district are the lowest in the Sierra foothills says Penn Valley resident Nick Wilcox, a Nevada Irrigation District director who seeks re-election to the post that pays $15,000 a year.

Wilcox, who first won a seat in 2008, says an agreement with Pacific Gas & Electric for power sales now going to the utility should mean about  $20 million a year in revenues for the N.I.D. But he adds that about half of those funds will go toward maintenance of the Yuba-Bear hydroelectric project, and that the water district will also have to put more money aside.
click to hear Nick Wilcox

Wilcox worked for 13 years as an analytical chemist before beginning as a water resources specialist at the State Water Resources Control Board in Sacramento. He has been retired since 2003.