The Amador Water Agency Board of Directors last Thursday approved a fourth Addendum to the Revised Final Environmental Impact Report for the Amador Transmission Project. The addendum will allow the agency to deal with each landowner affected by the transmission system on an individual basis. The agenda item sparked some emotional comments from the public regarding the Amador Canal and the availability of water in Jackson Creek. Several residents in attendance expressed their beliefs that leakage in the canal was at least partly responsible for the reduced flow of Jackson Creek. Many landowners along the canal complained of reduced or no water for irrigation and watering. Vicky Ehrhardt of Cuneo Ranch told the board:
“It has impacted us – it’s extremely bad.” Ehrhardt said her ranch never had a problem pulling water from the creek until recently. “We don’t even use the irrigation system anymore, and we had to move our cows to another pasture.” Another complaint was that the AWA was skirting landowners’ questions. Ms. Jerry Soderston, a landowner along Jackson Creek, said AWA was "not giving enough information for the public to make proper decisions as individual landowners." Others agreed. David Evitt, who had originally submitted a list of direct questions to the agency regarding the canal, was “disappointed” that his questions had received generalized answers. At the podium, Evitt revisited those questions, by asking agency staff to give more detailed answers -- a process that some members of the board felt could be handled off-line.
Many of the questions centered on technical aspects of the canal and pipeline, such as pipe diameters and water flow percentages. Bill Condrashoff, a candidate for Water Board District 1, spoke numerous times, talking about reduced creek flows and denouncing the validity of Jackson Creek pictures taken by agency staff. All in all, the landowners affected by the water system are concerned about the effects of the canal, and are reluctant to sign any type of agreement with the Amador Water Agency until they have more information about their rights and liabilities. Board Chairman John Swift urged the property owners to not sign anything until all their questions were answered. The board unanimously approved the addendum, and the next step will be to work with each landowner along the transmission system to make sure their needs are met and questions answered.
The Amador Water Agency Board of Directors last Thursday approved a fourth Addendum to the Revised Final Environmental Impact Report for the Amador Transmission Project. The addendum will allow the agency to deal with each landowner affected by the transmission system on an individual basis. The agenda item sparked some emotional comments from the public regarding the Amador Canal and the availability of water in Jackson Creek. Several residents in attendance expressed their beliefs that leakage in the canal was at least partly responsible for the reduced flow of Jackson Creek. Many landowners along the canal complained of reduced or no water for irrigation and watering. Vicky Ehrhardt of Cuneo Ranch told the board: 
“It has impacted us – it’s extremely bad.” Ehrhardt said her ranch never had a problem pulling water from the creek until recently. “We don’t even use the irrigation system anymore, and we had to move our cows to another pasture.” Another complaint was that the AWA was skirting landowners’ questions. Ms. Jerry Soderston, a landowner along Jackson Creek, said AWA was "not giving enough information for the public to make proper decisions as individual landowners." Others agreed. David Evitt, who had originally submitted a list of direct questions to the agency regarding the canal, was “disappointed” that his questions had received generalized answers. At the podium, Evitt revisited those questions, by asking agency staff to give more detailed answers -- a process that some members of the board felt could be handled off-line. 
Many of the questions centered on technical aspects of the canal and pipeline, such as pipe diameters and water flow percentages. Bill Condrashoff, a candidate for Water Board District 1, spoke numerous times, talking about reduced creek flows and denouncing the validity of Jackson Creek pictures taken by agency staff. All in all, the landowners affected by the water system are concerned about the effects of the canal, and are reluctant to sign any type of agreement with the Amador Water Agency until they have more information about their rights and liabilities. Board Chairman John Swift urged the property owners to not sign anything until all their questions were answered. The board unanimously approved the addendum, and the next step will be to work with each landowner along the transmission system to make sure their needs are met and questions answered.
