A stand of trees in the North Yuba River watershed. Photo courtesy of Alex Boesch/Yuba Water Agency

MARYSVILLE, CA (MPG) - The Yuba Water Agency approved a grant exceeding $3 million to the Olivehurst Public Utility District (OPUD) to complete planning and design work for a regional wastewater transmission and treatment project serving Wheatland and South Yuba County.

The funding will support final design, permitting and land management work for a new wastewater pipeline connecting the City of Wheatland to OPUD’s existing wastewater treatment plant. The project will allow Wheatland to discontinue use of its current treatment facility, which is nearing the end of its service life, and instead utilize available treatment capacity at OPUD’s plant.

Yuba Water previously approved a loan of up to $80 million to support construction of the regional project. The agency said the effort is intended to address long term wastewater infrastructure needs in South Yuba County while consolidating treatment services.

Additional information on the project is available through Yuba Water’s public engagement platform.

During the same meeting, Yuba Water received a presentation on a large tree study focused on forest health and wildfire resilience in the North Yuba River watershed.

The study used field data and advanced drone imagery to examine the role of large trees in forest ecosystems. Findings showed that while large, fire adapted trees contribute to forest resilience, an overabundance of some large, fire intolerant species, including white fir, can increase wildfire risk and threaten legacy pine stands.

The results are expected to inform forest restoration and wildfire risk reduction efforts led by the North Yuba Forest Partnership, a collaboration of nine organizations working across 275,000 acres of the North Yuba River watershed.

The study was jointly funded by Yuba Water and The Nature Conservancy. Other partners include the U.S. Forest Service Tahoe National Forest, South Yuba River Citizens League, Camptonville Community Partnership, Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe, National Forest Foundation, Sierra County and Blue Forest.