Mathews seeks reelection to water board

Jan. 3—Charlie Mathews, a two-term director for Yuba Water Agency, will be facing two opponents in the March 5 presidential primary election as he seeks reelection to the position.

With the candidate filing period now closed, Mathews is set to go up against former Yuba County supervisors Randy Fletcher and Don Schrader for the Yuba Water Agency North Division seat.

Mathews, who said he was born and raised in Yuba County, joined his first water-related board more than 50 years ago as he transitioned to rice farming. Previously, Mathews began his career in farming with peaches and prunes.

Mathews said he has served as an "active advocate" on various water issues. In the 1980s, he served his first term as a member of the Yuba Water Agency. Decades of service, he said, are what "uniquely qualifies him to help direct the future" of Yuba Water Agency.

A previous focus for Mathews and one that he suggested he will continue to work on is the water quality of Ellis Lake in Marysville. Because, in part, the lake gets its water from a well that the city said was high in phosphorus and it currently has little to no way to circulate water in and out, the lake has been plagued with algae and aquatic weeds during the warm summer months.

To solve this issue, the city is exploring possible long-term solutions to increase water circulation, including pumping water in from the Yuba River. Until a long-term solution is settled on and achieved, however, a short-term solution has been necessary.

Thanks to funding help from the Yuba Water Agency, the city has been able to treat the lake to maintain an appropriate level of water quality. Last month, Marysville City Manager Jim Schaad said the city completed two applications of an aquatic herbicide that reduced much of the undesirable weeds and algae that were still visible. The city treated the well water that feeds the lake as well.

"We also have the wellhead treatment for phosphorus completed ... and so far it looks promising, though the well is still producing water with phosphates," Schaad told the Marysville City Council in December 2023. "We've measured it pre-treatment and post-treatment and the post-treatment levels are significantly lower than the pre-treatment and the lake. ... So, that is promising."

Mathews said the city and Yuba Water will continue to monitor the results of these treatments and consider what steps will be needed to continue to address the lake's water quality.

"There are several ways to attack the algae problem and we need to try some of the more cost-effective versions before making the investment of pumping river water into the lake," Mathews said.

He said he has been a "long-time proponent to stop feeding the algae and make Ellis Lake blue again by switching back" to pumping river water back into the lake. In 2019, Mathews and former Marysville Councilman Dale Whitmore proposed a plan to the city council to divert water from the Yuba River into Ellis Lake.

According to Appeal archives, an electrical box and pump that used to do that had been out of commission for years, and the two men said they would donate $11,500 to the city to refurbish the equipment to see how its use would impact water quality.

"Right now, we are pumping groundwater into the lake, which has a fair amount of nitrogen and phosphorus, which is feeding the algae," Whitmore said at an Aug. 13, 2019, city council meeting. "Yuba River water is very low in those nutrients, so we believe that we would reduce the amount of algae in the lake during the summer months by diverting water from the river."

Whitmore said at the time that despite their offer, the city declined to give them the go-ahead, opting to continue with their plans of conducting a pilot aeration study to see how that could reduce the algae that had built up, similar to how the lake has been in recent summer months.

"We are very frustrated that it has taken this long to make a decision. We need to keep different options open. We are willing to jump in and do something about the river pump because that's the way the lake was kept fresh for many decades," Whitmore said. "We need to do something here to fix the problem."

Along with a focus on Ellis Lake, Mathews said he has "argued that the citizens of Yuba County should receive a credit on their PG&E bills and/or property tax bills indirectly with a portion of the revenues earned by the sale of electricity and water" from New Bullards Bar Dam.

"I couldn't be more excited for the future of the Yuba Water Agency," Mathews said in a statement. "Ellis Lake is on the verge of becoming the 'Jewell [sic] of Marysville' again and we are making great strides in finalizing a system that will lower resident's [sic] PG&E costs after years of working on it. It's so gratifying to see all of the community projects the Yuba Water Agency is able to assist in."