Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors in late July approved a resolution of support for the Amador Water Agency’s pursuit of a Gravity Supply Line (GSL) in the Central Amador Water Project service area, with the resolution listing some of the reasons the new line is considered the best option.

The resolution passed by Supervisors July 26 noted that AWA “has received authorization for a grant and low interest loan to construct the Upcountry Gravity Supply Line” and “if the GSL isn’t constructed, the 30-year-old pumps have to be replaced, permanent generators need to be installed to run the pumps during power failures, a new pipeline is needed from the river to replace the existing pipe,” a portion of “which was used when it was installed, and a large water storage tank is needed Upcountry.”

AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo said that capacity at Tiger Creek Regulator would mean they could “easily use 300 acre-feet of storage” there. Total storage there is 500 acre-feet. The resolution noted that the GSL “would be fed by the PG&E Regulator Reservoir, which could deliver a minimum of 76 million gallons (233 acre-feet) of water to the Upcountry system in a wildfire emergency, which would be a significant improvement over the 2.6 million gallons of water stored in tanks throughout the system.”

The resolution noted that the Gravity Supply pipeline would “cost customers significantly less than upgrading the existing pumping system, adding generators, replacing the pipeline from the river, and adding an additional storage tank.” Volunteer Rich Farrington, who worked with local firefighter groups on fire needs, said it would be twice the cost to replace the existing system, for what the GSL would cost.

But Mancebo said it could be more. He said the existing, electrically pumped pipeline that feeds the Buckhorn Water Treatment Plant, has “pipe couplings that were never designed to be put in the ground.” Mancebo said the cost of the GSL would be “a $30 million savings versus replacing the existing system.”

The Supervisors’ resolution noted that “it would be sound operating practice to keep the present pumps at Tiger Creek and Silver Lake Pines in a stand-by mode in the event the water supply from the PG&E Regulator” is interrupted. But Mancebo said due to its age, the existing pipeline will eventually fail.

Supervisor Brian Oneto said he had previously discussed having “redundancy” for the new gravity line with an inter-tie into the Amador Transmission Pipeline, within the Amador Water System. Mancebo said a two-mile span of pipelines and pumps would have the AWS and the GSL as backups for one another. Supervisor Louis Boitano said “anytime you can have inter-ties, it saves money.”

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