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Irrigation Canal Information


PCWA's primary source of water is delivered through canals operated by Pacific Gas & Electric Company's (PG&E). After the irrigation season (October/November), PG&E shuts down various canals for routine maintenance. This annual maintenance affects delivery to PCWA customers. During this time, PCWA schedules irrigation canal outages and spreads remaining water supplies to mitigate the impact on its customers.

Additionally, PCWA owns, operates and maintains its own 170 miles of canals and, like PG&E, those canals must shut down from time-to-time for maintenance work. A part of this ongoing work is the gunite lining of canals to prevent seepage and water loss. The ongoing canal cleaning program also requires periodic outages; these are usually planned during the non-irrigation season months from January into April.

When outages are scheduled, specific outage dates and approximate times will be sent to customers whose water deliveries will be interrupted. In the case of emergency outages or extended outages, updates will be posted on PCWA's Outage Information page of this website.

PCWA Canal photo
2024 Canal Cleaning Schedule

Every year canals are cleaned during, and are to be out of water during cleaning. Outage times listed are approximate. Recovery time for water service is approximately 12 hours. To see start and end dates and to find out more information about these outages click here for Zone 1 and Zone 3.

Irrigation Canal Season

Zone 1 (Auburn - Rocklin)

Summer Season: April 15th - October 15th

Winter Season: October 15th - April 15th

Zone 3 (Alta - Applegate)

Summer Season: May 1st - October 1st

Winter: October 1st - May 1st

Irrigation Service Agreement

PCWA recently updated its Rules & Regulations related to untreated water service. PCWA is requesting customers' acknowledge the updated Rules and Regulations for untreated water service by signing an updated acknowledgement form.

Visit our Irrigation Service Agreement FAQs page to find out more information.

Click link to see FAQ's

Aquatic Weed Control Scheduling

Note - Schedule Subject to Change

Algae control schedule is subject to change and additional days may be added. For any algae control specific questions or concerns please email customerservices@pcwa.net or call (530) 823-4850.

Valuable Information For Canal Water Customers

During the warm, high water use months, demand on the canal system is greatly increased. Canal water levels fluctuate during high usage periods such as early evenings, weekends, and holidays. Below are some precautions you should take to ensure water delivery, and what to do if you are out of water.

How To Videos

    Know Your Irrigation System

    • • Understand your irrigation system and its connection to PCWA's canal system
    • • Do you share the line with others? If so, how many are on the party line?
    • • We recommend storage (e.g. pond or tank). Is its capacity sufficient for your irrigation requirements?
    • • If you are pumping, does your pump have a low water cut-off switch?
    • • How much water are you buying? One miner's inch equals approximately 11 gallons per minute.

    What To Do When There Is No Water In Your Irrigation System

      Check Flow

      Is there water flowing into your delivery box?

      Clean Inlet

      Check and clean your screen at the connection point.

      Check With Neighbors

      If you share your line, check with your neighbors to determine if they are also out of water.

      Contact PCWA

      If you are on an open canal and the canal water level is lower than usual or dry, <br />please report this condition to PCWA.


    Call PCWA Customer Services at (530) 823-4850 weekdays, Monday through Friday: 8am-5pm. After hours, our answering service will receive your call. If you call after 9:00pm, your call will often be referred to the office the next morning, as we are not able to send canal operators to unplug individual service lines during evenings and non-working hours. We recommend that customers keep an adequate supply in storage (pond or tank) for emergencies or outages.

    Be safe first
    We recommend that customers use appropriate safety measures when near PCWA's irrigation canals!

    Need More Assistance?

    Customer Service Representatives are available during our regular business hours. Our Hours of Operation can be found on our Contact Us page.

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