Amador County – The Amador Water Agency Board of Directors voted unanimously to write a letter to East Bay Municipal Utility District saying they didn’t want any project on the Mokelumne River to increase the water level at the Middle Bar Reach.

Director Gary Thomas said he did not have a problem with East Bay Municipal building a dam three quarters of a mile west of Pardee Dam, but he opposed any change or project that would increase the water level at the Middle Bar Reach. The board agreed to that, along with wording provided by Foothill Conservancy’s Katherine Evitt, pointing out historic and natural resources at the Reach.

Director Robert Manassero asked if everyone on the board “was OK with having no raising of the dam,” in a letter. He said: “I would like to see other options.” Manassero said “I haven’t seen the second phase of the EIR. I would like to see the impacts if they raise the dam 1 foot.”

AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo said East Bay Municipal options are having no change to the dam, or Option 1, raising the dam 22 feet, from 568 to 590 feet in height. Mancebo said “I’d really like to understand the environmental impacts between the two.”

He said: “What about an Option 1-A? Nobody’s brought back other options.” His “biggest concern is that they haven’t fully analyzed other options.”

Evitt said “they are not going to study that in this EIR either.” She said a 2009 letter by the Conservancy pretty much made it clear that the majority of people here think “that reach is very special” and oppose its loss due to water level increase.

Thomas asked about 2-foot, or 3-foot options, and said “I am not opposed to moving the dam westerly, as long as it maintains the same height.”

Director Art Toy said he had spoken to a couple of people who were OK with raising the dam, but they were “certainly not in the majority.” Toy said Foothill Conservancy’s draft letter requesting East Bay Municipal to drop the project would be OK “if I were a rate payer at East Bay MUD.” Toy said “I think it is inappropriate for us as an agency to ask them to drop the project, or tell them they are off on the wrong edge.”

Thomas said “You might be right,” and said: “I want to work with them. We’ll gain a hell of a lot of additional capacity if we do.”

Director and President Don Cooper said they were not at a point to say drop the project, but he said he would not like to have the water level raise, and “encumber the natural resources of the river.”

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