Tuolumne County, CA — There is a fresh sense of optimism as crews work to repair the storm damage to the Tuolumne Main Canal.
The Board of Supervisors in Tuolumne County voted 5-0 to approve a local state of emergency declaration this morning that opens the door to state and/or federal financial resources to help with the ongoing response and recovery efforts.
The biggest issue has been the emergency repairs to the Tuolumne Main Canal, which supplies water to around 90% of Tuolumne County.
Several PG&E leaders were at the meeting. The Incident Commander of the team doing the repair work, Sam Garcia, says those brought in from outside the area to help are the “best of the best,” and are made up of highly trained and skilled professionals. They are working alongside local employees who have strong ties and knowledge of the area.
Following the completion of an on-the-ground assessment by engineers on Wednesday, Garcia is confident that water should be restored to TUD in “early March,” with more specifics soon to be forthcoming.
He noted that for the first time in recent days, there were “several smiles” on people’s faces during the operations briefing held last night.
PG&E has been working in tandem with TUD, and District Engineer Erik Johnson was also on hand to provide an overview from the district’s perspective.
Despite the main canal cutoff, the recent melting snow has assisted TUD’s supply during the emergency. TUD teams have also been working around the clock, monitoring tanks, bringing wells online, coordinating with entities, and bringing in water from other sources like New Melones. There was also talk about how a planned Sierra Pines Reservoir could help in the future.
Members of the board of supervisors stressed the importance of finding a long-term solution to harden and improve the county’s wooden water infrastructure. The summer fire season always brings heavy concerns.
It was noted that there have been some logistical challenges to receiving grant funding, historically, because it is owned by a public company, PG&E, and not a government entity. Some of the immediate “low-lying fruit” to prevent future outages are increased vegetation management of the surrounding area. It was indicated that many other options will continue to be explored.
PG&E currently has 77 personnel working on the repairs. 226 trees have been removed. Three of the five repair locations on the A-Flume have had the framing completed. Crews worked last night to install a culvert at the Railroad Grade Washout site.
A recent helicopter patrol found no additional new damage.
