Elimination of the Use of Upper Miocene Canal and Alternate Point of Measurement for Delivery of PG&E Non-Project Water to California Water Service
Summary
SCH Number
2025110001
Public Agency
Butte County
Document Title
Elimination of the Use of Upper Miocene Canal and Alternate Point of Measurement for Delivery of PG&E Non-Project Water to California Water Service
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
11/3/2025
Document Description
In 2017, the County of Butte entered into an Agreement (SWAPO #17021) with the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to utilize Lake Oroville, a State Water Project facility, to deliver water from Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to the California Water Service Company (CWS) Oroville District. On November 14, 2017, the Butte County Board of Supervisors adopted a Negative Declaration for the project (Resolution No. 17-193). The Negative Declaration and the Agreement specified that the delivery to Lake Oroville would occur at PG&E’s Lime Saddle Powerhouse from the Miocene Canal. The Camp Fire incident, November 8, 2018, destroyed the middle portion of the Miocene Canal which prevented water from being delivered to the Lime Saddle Powerhouse. Due to the State of Emergency resulting from the Camp Fire (Executive Order B57-18), DWR and Butte County temporarily amended the Agreement to allow the CWS to redirect approximately 3,000 acre-feet of its 33,000 acre-feet contract PG&E water from the Upper Miocene Canal via a spillgate to the West Branch of the Feather River (Figure 2 - Upper Miocene Head Dam and Spillgate Location) through to Lake Oroville into the Thermalito Power Canal, and to CWS’s Filtration Plant (Water Treatment Plant – WTP). On December 14, 2021 the Butte County Board of Supervisors directed staff to extend the existing agreement to continue to allow for the diversion of water from Upper Miocene Canal spillgate into the West Branch of the Feather River for the duration of the original agreement (2018-2027). The extended agreement went into effect on January 1, 2022. PG&E is proposing to discontinue use of the Upper Miocene Canal for the conveyance and measurement of non-project water. The proposed project is to allow the non-project water that is delivered to CWS to remain in the West Branch of the Feather River continuing past the Miocene Canal Head Dam (where it would have been diverted into the Upper Miocene Canal) and continue down into Lake Oroville without any diversion. The non-project water would be measured by an existing California Data Exchange Center (CDEC) Gauge WFR (Figure 3 – Existing Point of Diversion and Flow Measurement and Proposed Flow Measurement Location). CWS Oroville District provides water service to approximately 75 percent of the City of Oroville residents, the continued use of PG&E non-project water will benefit the residents of Oroville that rely on CWS for domestic water needs.
Contact Information
Name
Kamie Loeser
Agency Name
Butte County Department of Water & Resource Conservation
Job Title
Director
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Email
Name
Pat Neu
Agency Name
Pacific Gas & Electric
Job Title
Engineer - Water
Contact Types
Project Applicant
Phone
Email
Name
Arian Zamanian
Agency Name
Department of Water Resources
Job Title
Senior Engineer
Contact Types
Responsible Agency
Phone
Location
Cities
Oroville
Counties
Butte
Regions
Unincorporated
Cross Streets
Various
Zip
95965
State Highways
California
Township
Orovil
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
15301
Reasons for Exemption
The Camp Fire destroyed the middle portion of the Miocene Canal that was used as the conveyance infrastructure for the delivery of PG&E water to the Lime Saddle Powerhouse. Water continued to be diverted at the Upper Miocene Head Dam and conveyed through the Upper Miocene Canal, measured and then diverted back into the West Branch of the Feather River from an existing spillgate (Figure 2 - Upper Miocene Head Dam and Spillgate Location). The primary purpose of the diversion was for measurement of the water flow and the critical need to continue to deliver PG&E water to CWS for domestic use in the City of Oroville. The proposed project is the elimination of the use of the Upper Miocene Canal for measurement of the conveyance of 3,000 acre-feet of non-project water and keep the water in the West Branch of the Feather River. The water would be measured at an alternate existing gauge station (WFR Gauge) downstream of the Miocene Canal Head Dam (Figure 3 – Existing Point of Diversion and Flow Measurement and Proposed Flow Measurement Location). The proposed project uses existing facilities.
County Clerk
Butte
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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