County outlines multiple Palermo projects: water main extensions, dry-well consolidation and drainage planning

Butte County staff told the Water Commission that the county is pursuing three related projects in the Palermo community: a clean-water consolidation to connect additional parcels to South Feather Water and Power Agency, a dry-well consolidation funded with county ARPA and other funds to serve parcels with dry wells, and a drainage master plan to address chronic flooding.

County staff said the clean-water consolidation project aims to connect roughly 380 additional parcels to South Feather’s system, which would yield about 490 total connections in the Palermo core once complete. The county has a State Revolving Fund application in process with the State Water Resources Control Board; South Feather is the SRF applicant. Cammy Loeser said federal earmarked funds previously obtained by the county are intended to help construct a portion of phase 1 and that the county expects to hear on SRF funding by the fall.

A separate dry-well consolidation effort is funded in part by $2.5 million in ARPA funds to construct mains and lateral lines in eastern Palermo. Loeser said the ARPA-funded construction targets about 34 parcels where mains will be installed and would allow connection of about a dozen parcels that presently have dry wells. She said potholing and subsurface checks were under way and main-line construction work was expected to start the week following the meeting.

For drainage the county has used a Cal OES / FEMA planning grant (with a county match) to develop a drainage master plan. Staff described two technical memos: one that cataloged existing drainage facilities and candidate conceptual fixes, and a second that models alternatives to estimate how much flooding could be reduced. The county plans a public meeting in September on the draft analysis and then will prepare a prioritized drainage master plan with estimated costs and funding options to present to the Board of Supervisors.

During public comment, Marika Ferne, a board director of North Yuba Water District, requested information about water rights for proposed recharge and in-lieu supply projects and expressed concern that projects could affect other districts’ allocations. Staff replied the question should be directed to the appropriate GSA (Wyandotte Creek GSA) and that the Water Commission is primarily an advisory body; staff said they had not previously been aware of the specific water-right concerns described by the speaker.