On Feb. 13, 2026, just before 3 p.m., Yuba Water experienced a catastrophic rupture of its penstock pipe above New Colgate Powerhouse along the North Yuba River in Dobbins. The rupture caused an unplanned release of water down the hillside and into the powerhouse area, resulting in significant erosion near the penstock and damage to portions of Lake Francis Road. Pacific Gas & Electric transmission lines and powerlines were also damaged. Significant amounts of sediment and debris were swept into the Yuba River above Englebright Dam.

The penstock pipe and New Colgate Powerhouse are located in the foothills of Yuba County in the community of Dobbins along Lake Francis Road on the North Yuba River. It’s approximately 45 minutes east of the city of Marysville.

A penstock is a large pipe that carries water from a reservoir to a powerhouse to generate hydropower. Yuba Water’s penstock is about 14 feet in diameter and one mile long. Under normal operations, water travels from New Bullards Bar Reservoir through a five-mile rock tunnel, enters the penstock and drops down into New Colgate Powerhouse. Together, the tunnel and penstock move water to New Colgate Powerhouse to support flood risk reduction, water supply reliability and hydroelectric power generation as part of the Yuba River Development Project.

Yes. New Bullards Bar Dam was not damaged and remains safe, stable and fully operational. There is also plenty of capacity to capture storms and runoff to reduce flood risk for Yuba County, which is exactly what it was built to do. There is no risk of downstream flooding related to this incident.

All staff and contractors who were on site during the incident are accounted for. One person was hospitalized and is now home recovering. The incident also contributed to a brief loss of power for people in the area when some of PG&E’s transmission lines located at New Colgate Powerhouse were impacted by the flows following the rupture.

An estimated 400-acre feet of water was in the five-mile-long rock tunnel and one-mile-long penstock when it ruptured, which resulted in about a 0.6-foot rise in Englebright Lake downstream. For comparison, New Bullards Bar Dam holds nearly 1-million-acre feet of water.

No. The water released during the rupture was limited to the amount of water held in the rock tunnel and penstock. There were no uncontrolled releases from New Bullards Bar Dam before, during or after the rupture.

The rupture caused significant damage to New Colgate Powerhouse and two switchyards shared with Pacific Gas & Electric. A full damage assessment is ongoing, but the damage appears extensive. As a result, hydropower generation at the Colgate facilities is suspended until repairs can be completed.

Yuba Water is focused on site safety, environmental protection and damage assessment. Crews are actively removing debris from the river, maintaining containment measures such as debris and oil booms, conducting water quality monitoring and testing, and working with environmental and regulatory agencies. Geotechnical experts are assessing hillside stability and identifying long-term stabilization measures.

The exact cause is under investigation by an independent body of engineers. Yuba Water will share confirmed information as it becomes available.

Yuba Water is proactive about maintenance across its facilities. The agency strives to stay ahead of major equipment failures, forced outages and prides itself on keeping all equipment and infrastructure in excellent condition.

The damage to the penstock, powerhouse and surrounding facilities is extensive. While assessments are still underway, we expect it to take several weeks, if not months, to thoroughly assess the damage and develop a recovery plan. Full repairs could take a year or more. Our immediate focus is on site safety, environmental protection and stabilization. As we learn more about the scope of repairs and develop a timeline, we will share updates with the public.

Right now, all costs of this incident are covered by Yuba Water Agency through our financial reserves. We have yet to sort out how the final costs of immediate response and long-term recovery will be allocated—it’s simply too soon to know. We can say for certain, however, that we do not receive local tax revenues or have any residential ratepayers whose rates would be affected.

Yuba Water’s financial position has certainly changed as a result of this penstock rupture. In order to focus our resources on the ongoing response and recovery, we have temporarily paused our Sponsorship Program, Community Impact Grant and Loan Program and other non-mission essential efforts, though we will do everything we can to continue supporting critical requests for flood risk reduction, water supply reliability and Yuba River habitat restoration projects. We will have a better understanding of our financial position in the coming weeks.

Public access to lower Lake Francis Road remains closed at this time due to ongoing repair and cleanup efforts. There may also be occasional and intermittent impacts to the Yuba River between Colgate and Englebright Lake in the coming weeks as we continue cleanup and sediment removal around the powerhouse, though we are doing everything we can to minimize impacts.

We apologize for any hardship or inconvenience this incident may have caused you. For assistance, please email info@yubawater.org and we will connect you with our risk management team.

You can forward your information to info@yubawater.org and we will route to the appropriate teams. Please include any current rate sheets, Department of Industrial Relations registration number and California State Licensing Board licenses, if applicable. Please note, submitting your information is not a guarantee or a contract for work. You can also sign up for bid notifications on our main website, yubawater.org.

Immediate incident updates will be shared on this page, on Yuba Water's main website and on official social media channels. Updates specific to recovery will be shared on a new project page, linked here. We understand this incident has been concerning for our neighbors and the broader community and we remain committed to providing timely updates as response and recovery efforts continue.

Yuba Water and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife worked together under a unified command structure to manage the immediate environmental response to impacts to the Yuba River, namely the release of sediment, oil and other man-made debris into the Yuba River following the incident. Crews officially completed oily debris removal on March 6, 2026.

In total, crews filled approximately 80 large waste bins, removing about 1,600 cubic yards of debris. Cleanup teams also recovered approximately 44 gallons of mixed oil with light petroleum content from on-water debris. 307 gallons were recovered in intact barrels that did not leak into the water. Public recreation access to Englebright was restored in mid-March.

Debris impacts were limited to an approximately 1-mile stretch of river between New Colgate Powerhouse on the North Yuba River and the upper reaches of Englebright Lake. There were no debris or water quality impacts in the lower Yuba River.

Debris removal was completed on March 6. During the nearly three-week cleanup effort, crews installed large debris and oil booms in the upper stretch of Englebright Lake, about a mile downstream of New Colgate Powerhouse, to capture and hold floating debris. Barges equipped with an excavator and large bins were then used to collect and remove oily materials from the water. Smaller boats also supported debris removal by hand.

In total, crews filled approximately 80 large waste bins, removing about 1,600 cubic yards of debris. Cleanup teams also recovered approximately 44 gallons of mixed oil with light petroleum content from on-water debris. 307 gallons were recovered in intact barrels that did not leak into the water. Public recreation access to Englebright was restored in mid-March.

Additional, localized debris removal around New Colgate Powerhouse in the North Yuba River is ongoing.

Yuba Water has been taking daily water quality samples since Saturday morning, Feb. 14 from multiple locations along the Yuba River and Englebright Lake to monitor the potential effects of the incident. Initial field observations indicated elevated turbidity, which was expected given the mudslides that entered the river above Englebright Dam and recent storms. Temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH (acidity) levels all remained in normal ranges after the incident.

Additionally, independent laboratory tests of water quality samples collected from the Yuba River downstream of New Colgate Powerhouse and at Englebright Lake following the penstock incident continue to show no concerning results.

Specifically, results from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), petroleum hydrocarbon and volatile organic compound panels have not detected any of these chemicals, which are associated with petroleum-based products and other commercial and industrial materials. The results suggest that any oil that washed into the river was likely limited to oily debris on the surface and did not reach the lower Yuba River. Monitoring is ongoing as part of our continued response.

We are aware of these reports and are coordinating with local, state and federal agencies to assess conditions in the lower Yuba River, including potential fish mortality.

The impacts were related to a temporary reduction in flows that lasted about two hours following a loss of power at Narrows 2 Powerhouse during the incident. Under normal conditions, backup power from Colgate would maintain downstream flows. However, due to the life-threatening emergency at the time, the control room operator at New Colgate Powerhouse was evacuated and unable to activate the bypass system.

As a result, flows in the lower Yuba River downstream of Englebright Dam decreased for several hours before being restored.

No oily debris or materials mobilized by the incident got below Englebright Dam, so any impacts to the lower Yuba River would not have been caused by the debris or other materials in the water.

We have confirmed with our partners at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento that Englebright Lake has been reopened and is ready for recreators.

There remains a lot of work to be done at the New Colgate Powerhouse upstream of the lake, but we appreciate everyone’s patience during our recent cleanup efforts.

We STRONGLY encourage everyone to avoid the Yuba River between New Colgate Powerhouse and Englebright, as well as Englebright Lake, while we have active debris removal efforts underway there for the next several days.

Right now, all costs of this incident are covered by Yuba Water Agency through our financial reserves. We have yet to sort out how the final costs of immediate response and long-term recovery will be allocated. We can say for certain, however, that we do not receive local tax revenues nor do we have any residential ratepayers whose rates would be affected.