Amador County – Amador County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday likened the foes of the Upcountry Gravity Supply Line to those who fought to try to save the Amador Canal. With good reason, as some of those foes were members of Protect the Historic Amador Waterways, which delayed the Amador Transmission Pipeline.

Supervisor Richard Forster, who served on the Amador Water Agency board of directors starting in 1992, said he saw the GSL as a no-brainer, and a needed project that should be completed, but costs could escalate because the project could be delayed for years.

He said a lot of intelligent Upcountry people are being given misinformation, about the Central Amador Water Project service area’s GSL project, and also in Camanche, about AWA plans for improvements there. Forster said the same thing happened to the Amador Transmission Pipeline, which began as a conservatively estimated $9 million project, and ended up costing $20 million, due to delays and court costs.

Forster said he found it ironic that the same people who delayed that project are grouping up to delay the Gravity Supply Line, in the CAWP service area, and work in Camanche. He said it is the job of the water agency to provide that water, and to ensure reliability.

AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo said the Amador Transmission Pipeline cost was estimated in 1991 to be about $4 million, the same amount spent around that time to build an 18-inch pipeline from Sutter Creek to Ione. Supervisor Ted Novelli, also a former AWA director, said the cost of the Amador Transmission Pipeline eventually rose to $20 million, and those opponents “cost taxpayers a whole lot of money.”

Supervisor Brian Oneto remembered when the Transmission Pipeline was beginning, and the group began a fight to save the Amador Canal, which also crosses his property. He said: “We liked having the canal going through our property.” At the time, he wondered whether he should also fight it, but decided that it was “good for the people.” He said “if we fight it, it will cost a lot of money for people out here.”

Residents still fought to save the Amador Canal, the Pipeline was built, and cost AWA millions in court and through delays. Oneto said: “Those same people now are saying we’re going to help you and save you money? That’s bunk.”

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.