Cosumnes, American, Bear & Yuba

  • About CABY
    • What is CABY?
    • Who We Are
    • Vision, Principles, Goals, Objectives
    • CABY Region
    • List of Members
    • Governing Documents
    • How to Join
    • Latest News
  • Meetings
    • CABY Stakeholder Group
    • Regional Water Management Group
    • Upcoming Meetings
    • Calendar
  • CABY Plan
  • Projects
    • Project List
    • 2011 Implementation Projects
      • Nevada City
        • Gracie Road Intertie
        • South Pine Street Distribution System Improvement
        • Park Avenue Distribution System Improvement
        • Prospect Street Distribution System Improvement
        • Install Altitude Valves with Integrated SCADA Systems
        • Leak Detection Program
        • Installation of Water Meters on City Facilities
        • NC Integrated Water Shortage Contingency, Drought Preparedness, and Comprehensive Water Conservation Planning Program
      • Washington County Water District
        • Maybert Road Transfer and Distribution Line Replacement
        • Relief Hill Road Flow Control Pressure System Improvements
        • Level-Control Altitude Valve Improvements
        • System-Wide Installation of Water Meters
        • Downtown Leak Detection and Repair
        • WA Integrated Water Shortage Contingency, Drought Preparedness, and Comprehensive Water Conservation Planning Program
      • Alta and Colfax: Infrastructure Reliability, Conservation and Efficiency
      • CABY Water Trust
    • 2013 Implementation Projects
      • CCSD Water System Improvement
      • City of Placerville Waterline Replacement
      • Lincoln Metering and Hydroelectric Station
      • Water Efficiency, Water Quality and Supply Reliability
      • Wolf Creek Watershed Restoration
      • CABY Mercury and Sediment Abatement Initiative
      • Meadow Restoration, Assessment and Prioritization
    • 2014 Implementation Projects
      • El Dorado County Water Conservation
      • Georgetown Divide Water Conservation, Reliability and Environmental Protection
      • City of Placerville Waterline Replacement 2
      • Greeley Canal Drought Measures Optimization
      • Grizzly Flat Drought Measures Infrastructure
      • Rock Creek Contingency Intertie
    • 2015 Implementation Projects
      • Meade Canal DAC Project
      • Drought Response Disinfection By-Product Reduction Project
  • Grants
  • Resources
  • Document Library
  • Maps
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / Projects / 2014 Implementation Projects / Greeley Canal Drought Measures Optimization

Greeley Canal Drought Measures Optimization

Background

The Greeley Canal System serves 330 irrigation customers in summer months and 236 irrigation customers in winter months. The system has two points where it receives water and two points where unused water is spilled. This project will improve the existing Greeley Canal System facilities by replacing manually operated equipment with automated equipment.

The Problem

Under the existing manually operated system, the operators set the flow rates into the canals usually based on peak demand to ensure all customers receive their allotted deliveries. Flow recorders located at the two spill locations are used to adjust flows. It takes approximately four hours for the water diverted at the upper Greely Canal to reach the lower Greely Canal. A valve between the upper and lower canals is partially closed to pressurize a portion of the canal upstream.

The amount of water diverted and sent through the Greely Canals corresponds to the pattern of spill volume. In other words, when more water is sent through the canal than is used by the customers that water is sent through the spill channel. The operators aim to achieve a spill volume that approaches zero but does not drop all the way to zero since at zero there is no way for them to determine if all customers received their delivery. As customer usage decreases during certain times of the day the spill flow increases, resulting in wasted water.

Flow variations in the Upper Greeley Canal also cause corresponding variations in the pressure in the piped downstream section of the canal. If these variations are too extreme, customers on portions of the pipe lose service. Also since deliveries to customers is based on pressure, variations in pressure result in inaccurate deliveries.

The Solution

PCWA engineering and operations staff conducted a review of the flow data, which suggests a daily cycle of use and customer irrigation demands along the canal. Customer demands vary based on their needs, which include irrigation for farms and ponds etc. The proposed upgrades and equipment proposed as part of this project will install automated equipment to monitor these spill variations and make flow adjustments at the heads of the canals to minimize the peak spill flow rates. PCWA engineering staff anticipates the project will re-direct an estimated 360 acre-feet per year of water currently lost to the system and significantly reduce the amount of water that is unnecessarily spilled.

This project will install an electrically operated gate and meter combination to maintain a discharge flow-rate to the Upper Greeley Canal regardless of upstream conditions. It will be connected to the PCWA SCADA system where it will receive the target flow rate to discharge. It will automatically make adjustment to itself to achieve the desired flow. SCADA will monitor the spill flows and based on the usage patterns and travel time from beginning of canal to end, make adjustments to minimize the amount of water reaching the spills. Estimated peak spill reductions of around 2/3 are anticipated which equal approximately 360 acre-feet per year.

The automation of the valve between the Upper and Lower Greeley canals along with a pressure and flow meter at the site will enable the pressure in the pipe to be stabilized regardless of flow, preventing spilling at the spill associated with the pipe and stabilizing deliveries to the customers based on actual demand.

 Current Status (December 2016)

Necessary land purchase and easement negotiations are nearly complete. Planning and design for this project is completed and ready for bidding, and construction will follow.

Lead Agency: Placer County Water Agency

Contact: Ken Powers, Engineer, 530-823-4950, KAPowers@pcwa.net

Measurable Physical Benefit: Water Supply

Watershed: American

County: Placer

CABY Interactive Map

Click to view the interactive watershed map!

Upcoming Meetings

  • No Events

Recent News

  • 2020 CABY Plan Update Public Workshop
  • CABY’s interactive map is now online!
  • CABY Awarded Implementation Grant

Stay Connected

Contact Us

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in