PUD updates Sedro-Woolley council on water transfers, micro-hydro projects and plant upgrades

George Sidhu, a representative of the Public Utility District (PUD), gave the Sedro‑Woolley City Council an annual update on the utility’s recent projects and near‑term work, including a water‑transfer pilot for irrigators, micro‑hydro generation installations and upgrades at the water treatment plant.

Sidhu said the PUD is continuing a transfer program that makes PUD water available to irrigators when river diversions are restricted. “We’re gonna set that up again this year,” he said, describing transfers that let irrigators pump at specified downstream diversion points when river levels fall. The transfers require irrigators to have existing permitted diversions and the arrangement is intended as a backstop for local farming operations.

The PUD also reported progress on small hydropower projects that generate electricity from pressure‑reducing sites. Sidhu described an earlier micro‑hydro unit installed at Division Street that offsets that site’s electric use under a net‑metering agreement with Puget Sound Energy. He said…