Message from General Manager, Kristin Sicke
October 2025
We sincerely thank you for choosing to use surface water from the District. Your commitment to responsible water use supports the sustainability of agriculture in our region, and we value the opportunity to serve you and your operation.
As we look back on this irrigation season, we feel things went smoothly overall. There were very few issues with water delivery, and problems like aquatic weeds and sediment buildup were minimal. With harvest underway, irrigation demand has reduced. We plan to stop Clear Lake releases on Friday, October 10. Environmental flows from Indian Valley Reservoir will continue through the winter, as usual.
During the 2025 irrigation season, the District relied on Indian Valley Reservoir as the primary water supply from May to August. This helped lower the reservoir’s elevation in preparation for repairs to the spillway. During this period, staff heard from several customers that there seemed to be fewer aquatic weeds in the canal – a possible benefit of the change in supply. The District also took advantage of the drawdown to optimize hydropower generation, producing approximately 11,200 megawatt-hours – a quantity not reached since 2006. Storage hydrographs for Indian Valley Reservoir and Clear Lake are shown below.
Bay-Delta Plan Update
The District is still actively protecting surface water rights on Cache Creek watershed. The State Water Board (SWB) postponed the public hearings that were originally scheduled in September to discuss the updated draft Bay-Delta Plan (BDP), and the District plans to engage in the future hearings. To read more about the draft BDP please visit the following link: https://tinyurl.com/SWBbdp2025.
Planning for Capital Jobs
The District is getting ready to start important construction projects as soon as the irrigation season wraps up. During the off-season, we’ll be replacing several culverts and upgrading automated gates to improve water flow and reliability. The District is prioritizing repairs to the upstream channel of the Winters Canal to mitigate the flow constriction issues that have occurred the past few years and resulted in temporary waiting lists. We’re also working with California Department of Fish and Wildlife to get approval to replace the old 60-inch siphon on the Winters Canal, which runs under Chickahominy Slough (also known as the Walnut Canal).
Spillway Repairs at Indian Valley Reservoir
Indian Valley Reservoir (IVR) has 195,000 acre-feet of water storage available. For the past 7 years the District has been working on addressing the deficiencies on the Indian Valley Spillway, after receiving approval from state and federal agencies to proceed with repairs to the spillway, the District is happy to report that repairs to 11 negative offsets and spalls are done, and the project was completed under budget.
Groundwater Update
As illustrated in the updated average groundwater levels hydrograph shown below, Fall 2025 groundwater levels are about three feet higher than Fall 2024. The next YSGA Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for November 17 at 3 p.m.
Customer Spotlight
Congratulations to Duane Chamberlain on being named the 2025 Agribusiness Person of the Year by the Woodland Chamber of Commerce!
Staffing Changes
We are currently hiring an Irrigation Operations Worker (Ditchtender) and Construction Manager. Please send any awesome candidates our way!
Ways to Get Involved
Please join us at our next Farmers’ Council meeting on Thursday, October 30 – a BBQ lunch will be served afterwards!
Regular District Board of Directors meetings are now scheduled for the first Tuesday of each month at 3 p.m. and are held at the District offices: 34274 State Highway 16 in Woodland. You can review previous agendas on our website at: https://ycfcwcd.org/agendas-meeting-minutes/.
We really appreciate the opportunity to serve you and maintain Yolo County agriculture.
Please reach out to me with any questions, suggestions, or concerns: 530.723.3467.
Thank you,
