Photo: Michael poses for a photo with his boat in Thailand.
Yuba Water Agency's working foreman, Michael Rouch, leads the crew that is responsible for maintaining the agency's dams, powerhouses, roads, riverways and everything in between. Additionally, he helps coordinate and schedule upcoming projects to ensure Yuba Water's facilities continue to function for years to come. Scroll to learn more about Michael, his job and what he likes to do in his free time.
What does your average day look like?
My day starts with checking our maintenance program to see if any major issues occurred overnight with any of the power plants and various equipment that is critical to the operation of Yuba Water's facilities. Following that, we have a morning Zoom call with all of the maintenance departments to convey what we are doing for the day and to see if any work needs to be coordinated with the other crafts. After that, no day is the same. We could be working in one of the hydroelectric power plants or clearing trees that have fallen in the roadway to one of our dams.
Do your duties differ throughout the year? And if so, how?
Our work changes depending on the time of year. During the winter months, the roads to all of the facilities need to be maintained. One bad storm can wash out a road or completely block the path with fallen trees. Meanwhile, we also have planned maintenance outages in our power plants during this time, so we are busy on all fronts. Once spring comes around, we start prepping for recreational season, spraying weeds and making sure our recreation sites are ready for summer traffic. Once summer is here, there is a lot of work done maintaining the lakes and recreation areas, along with prepping for the next power plant maintenance outages.
Photo: Michael takes a break while hiking in Yosemite.
What do you enjoy most about working for Yuba Water?
In my short time with the agency, I'd have to say it’s the people. Before I even got hired, every single person I talked to was extremely nice and made sure to go out of their way to make me feel welcomed. After being hired, the same stands true. You can tell everyone here cares about the project and each other. There is a level of comradery that doesn’t go unnoticed, especially to a newer face like me.
Before working at Yuba Water, what was the most interesting job you had?
I worked at the California Department of Water Resources as a hydroelectric plant mechanic before working at Yuba Water. I worked at Harvey O’ Banks Pumping Plant and Gianelli Pumping and Generating Plant. I have worked on hydroelectric turbines most of my career, especially at Gianelli where we were constantly doing entire hydro unit refurbishment teardowns and rebuilds. It was amazing seeing a unit completely torn down to the water and then rebuilt. Knowing that you were part of rebuilding something so massive that will run for the rest of your lifetime is quite the feeling.
What do you like to do in your free time?
In my free time, I enjoy going to the gym during the week and taking my dog, Luna, on runs. Once the weekend rolls around, I always have something going on, whether it’s hiking with my camera and taking pictures of the milky way, going out to dinner with some friends or spending a day out at the sporting clay range. Then of course, there are always ongoing house projects that need to get done, too.
