Amador County – The Amador Water Agency hosted a workshop last week and discussed the future of the “Gravity Supply Line” project, and the agency’s next steps in addressing an upside-down operating budget in the Central Amador Water Project. District 3 Director Don Cooper said he knows they “don’t have the total answer,” but if “water rights are increased, the pump station load would double and require adding a new pump to be able to meet Buckhorn’s capacity.” AWA Interim General Manager Gene Mancebo said Friday that the agency needs to get confirmation of a USDA grant for the Gravity Supply Line (GSL), and complete the environmental process. Agency staff says that a rate update is needed for CAWP. Mancebo said the board will not be seriously considering an Upcountry rate adjustment until after environmental work is done on the GSL, and the board also needs to see “how much money they want to spend investigating alternatives.” He said “with the assumption that we get grant funding,” the GSL “tends to look like a better option financially.” An AWA “white paper” said benefits of the 6.6-mile Gravity Supply Line include that it would not be affected by power outages. The pump station has been affected by 52 outages, including 4 lasting longer than 24 hours. Former AWA president and District 3 Supervisor Ted Novelli said a 1997 storm caused an outage that lasted 13 days, though Mancebo said generators made sure the system did not run out of water. Novelli asked if the agency did not pursue the Gravity Supply Line, could pumps handle sufficient flow to meet Buckhorn’s treatment capacity. Mancebo said they could push the pumps a little more but they wouldn’t match the GSL’s capacity. He said the pump station eventually would need expansion to meet that flow. District 4 Director Debbie Dunn said the $5 million cost of replacing the existing line should not be part of the discussion, because the agency probably would not need to replace it for 20 years. Mancebo said they assume the current, 30-year-old pipeline has a 50-year life, so the pipeline has an assumed 20 year life remaining. Without further study, the remaining life may be more or less 20 years. He said when comparing the options, they “probably should at least account for” replacing the existing line. Mancebo said there will be financial plan workshops in the future, to look at impacts on rates, with the GSL or improving the pump station system. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.