Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors last week discussed capacity constraints of the Central Amador Water Project service area. The board gave staff direction to bring back information about a water rights application filed with the state. General Manager Gene Mancebo said the board wants to see how much time and money it would take to increase water rights. The CAWP has a capacity “limitation of 1,150 acre feet annually,” and as recently as 2004, the usage was “up to 1,133 acre feet.” The agency set about the “process of expanding the water right,” Mancebo said. “Since then, water demands have dropped off significantly,” which could be due to cooler, milder weather, or the economy. Current usage is “probably less than a 1,000 acre feet annually,” or “at least 10 percent less that it was a few years ago,” but he said the agency must be prepared “if it gets hot again and people use water more like they have in the past.” Staff is also concerned about allowing new connections to CAWP. Mancebo said the application would expand AWA’s capacity usage from 1,150 acre feet a year to 2,200 acre feet a year. Amador County water rights total 5,000 acre feet, with CAWP using the first 1,150 acre feet, and the Jackson Valley Irrigation District using the balance of 3,850 acre feet. Mancebo said AWA also has “the water right that came with the Amador Canal, which is substantially larger, and we are not using all of that.” One thought was to “use some of that canal water in CAWP” on an interim basis. Mancebo said an increase to 2,200 acre feet of rights in CAWP matched the capacity of the proposed Gravity Supply pipeline, but if that were not built, the agency could improve the CAWP pump stations to handle that flow. He said they were hoping to hear something from the USDA soon about a possible $5 million grant for the GSL project. Staff Thursday reported that the CAWP system’s Pump Number 2 at Silver Lake Pines was reparable. The “pump can” had developed a leak, which the company, Don Pedro, repaired and reinforced by welding a bowl to its bottom, and creating a mid-can seam, instead of a bottom seam. It was the second time in three years that Pump 2’s can developed such a leak, likely due to the constant pressure of the pump. It still needed to be sandblasted, coated with epoxy and installed. Staff said the pump motor looked really good and they did not bother to rebuild it. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Monday, 12 July 2010 06:15
AWA Discusses CAWP Capacity Constraints
Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors last week discussed capacity constraints of the Central Amador Water Project service area. The board gave staff direction to bring back information about a water rights application filed with the state. General Manager Gene Mancebo said the board wants to see how much time and money it would take to increase water rights. The CAWP has a capacity “limitation of 1,150 acre feet annually,” and as recently as 2004, the usage was “up to 1,133 acre feet.” The agency set about the “process of expanding the water right,” Mancebo said. “Since then, water demands have dropped off significantly,” which could be due to cooler, milder weather, or the economy. Current usage is “probably less than a 1,000 acre feet annually,” or “at least 10 percent less that it was a few years ago,” but he said the agency must be prepared “if it gets hot again and people use water more like they have in the past.” Staff is also concerned about allowing new connections to CAWP. Mancebo said the application would expand AWA’s capacity usage from 1,150 acre feet a year to 2,200 acre feet a year. Amador County water rights total 5,000 acre feet, with CAWP using the first 1,150 acre feet, and the Jackson Valley Irrigation District using the balance of 3,850 acre feet. Mancebo said AWA also has “the water right that came with the Amador Canal, which is substantially larger, and we are not using all of that.” One thought was to “use some of that canal water in CAWP” on an interim basis. Mancebo said an increase to 2,200 acre feet of rights in CAWP matched the capacity of the proposed Gravity Supply pipeline, but if that were not built, the agency could improve the CAWP pump stations to handle that flow. He said they were hoping to hear something from the USDA soon about a possible $5 million grant for the GSL project. Staff Thursday reported that the CAWP system’s Pump Number 2 at Silver Lake Pines was reparable. The “pump can” had developed a leak, which the company, Don Pedro, repaired and reinforced by welding a bowl to its bottom, and creating a mid-can seam, instead of a bottom seam. It was the second time in three years that Pump 2’s can developed such a leak, likely due to the constant pressure of the pump. It still needed to be sandblasted, coated with epoxy and installed. Staff said the pump motor looked really good and they did not bother to rebuild it. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Latest from
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