Heavy Rain Could Mean Higher Water Bills In Placer County
PLACER COUNTY (CBS13) — Water rates could be on the rise again in Placer County as heavy rain and flooding in the King Fire burn scar could make for a costly clean up.
Water that should have been clear instead looked more like coffee more than a year after the King Fire ravaged the Sierra.
The fire stripped the hills of trees leaving nothing but fragile soil
"There's nothing left holding the soil together. When you add rain on top of those burned soils, the effect is they slide off the mountain," said Andrew Fecko.
That soil is now filling the American River and leaving water near Foresthill looking more like the muddy Mississippi.
Dirt in the reservoir is also filling up some local reservoirs, shrinking the region's already limited water storage capacity.
"The sediment actually fills the reservoir space and there's not enough room for water in those reservoirs once they've filled up with sediment. Which causes us to have to dredge those," he said.
The cost to scoop out that dirt will cost millions. The reservoirs also feed turbines that generate power. With hydropower down for a dredging, the Placer County Water Agency could lose even more money—$8 to 10 million potentially.
For now, it looks like the agency can cover the cost of the dredging.
"But if this goes on for a long time, that ability does diminish, it's a huge cost driver if it's a decade worth of this kinda thing," he said.
That could mean higher rates for water customers.
To make matters worse, a strong El Nino that's been predicted could send even more sediment into the river.
