Historian ties PG&E's genesis to irrigation district

Every time most people in Northern California turn on a light, they owe a bit of gratitude to Thomas Edison, Nikolas Tesla ... and the Browns Valley Irrigation District .

That's according to Nevada City resident and amateur historian Dale Johnson, whose research into the early history of BVID led him to believe it played a direct role in the formation of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. , the utility serving most of the north half of the state.

"They'd bought two-thirds of the generating capacity," said Johnson, 73, laying out the situation of more than century ago during the BVID board meeting Thursday. "The only thing they didn't have was San Francisco."

Before then, BVID itself had to come to life. That happened in 1888, when the state Irrigation Act allowed water districts to form. BVID began with a 30-mile flume system delivering water to agriculture in the valley from Bullards Bar Reservoir.

But after court challenges to the act over property rights, little happened until John Martin and his partners, who had previously built a hydroelectric plant in Nevada County to serve mining operations, came to Yuba County.

In 1896, Martin made a deal with BVID's directors: He would manage the ditch system if he could build a powerhouse for water flowing downhill to power turbines and make electricity. The deal was to be for 50 years, and Martin paid the district $100 a month.

"He knew he could make money on the powerhouse, even with a 52-mile system," said Johnson, a retired PG&E superintendent and division manager.

Irrigation Act upheld

Within months, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Irrigation Act. But work had already begun on what became the Yuba Powerhouse, which Martin used immediately to take advantage of climatic conditions.

A drought in the winter of 1897-98 sapped the water supply to the Folsom Dam, which had provided juice to Sacramento for the capital's electric rail system. When it ran mostly dry, Martin stepped in and got the contract.

"In that too, he was a very active man, and a very shrewd man," Johnson said.

After getting land to expand his operation from Southern Pacific Railroad, Martin a day later made a claim for 10 times the amount of water BVID had ever requested.

With more water came the need for more infrastructure, and Martin then built the Colgate Powerhouse to serve Sacramento, with a target date of Sept. 1, 1899.

He missed it by five days. The Yuba Electric Power Co., originally intended to serve mills and streetlights in Marysville, was in business.

BVID's directors didn't take Martin's machinations in stride. After he completed a new dam and flume system on the former railroad property, the board of directors claimed ownership. Legal battles followed until a resolution was passed in 1900.

BVID Director Bob Bordsen said the resolution, which gave the irrigation district the ability to tax its own land, was critical for BVID's survival.

"A number of water districts just didn't make it back then," he said, because they had no way to raise revenue from property. "BVID was one of the only ones to survive."

New development

The establishment of a new powerhouse and electrical line to Sacramento led to other developments: the creation of Lake Francis as a backup system if the flume was out, and decades later, a dam creating Collins Lake, to relieve PG&E of an obligation to provide water.

After Sacramento, Martin struck a deal to sell electricity to Oakland for the same purpose, in the process laying down what was then the longest transmission line in the world. From there, Martin and his partners bought out other electrical companies, or struck deals with other cities, in the process creating the California Gas & Electric Co.

In 1905, the merger with the San Francisco Gas & Electric Co. created PG&E.

"None of this would've happened if John Martin and Eugene de Salba hadn't started in Nevada County and then come down here," Johnson said.

With more than 100 years of perspective, BVID General Manager Walt Cotter said he was also surprised by how little has changed in terms of issues small water districts face.

"The best thing I could say is you realize there's really nothing new under the sun," he said. "We still struggle with fiscal issues and water rights too."

As for Browns Valley, it eventually became part of the power grid too.

But not until 1948.

CONTACT reporter Ben van der Meer at 749-4709.