The purpose of the program is “to encourage integrated regional strategies for management of water resources and to provide funding, through competitive grants, for projects that protect communities from drought, protect and improve water quality, and improve local water security by reducing dependence on imported water.” In other words, different water agencies working together to develop and fund water projects for our area. Prop. 50, the Water Security, Clean Drinking Water, Coastal and Beach Protection Act of 2002, authorized the Legislature to appropriate approximately $380 million to fund the IRWMP program. These monies will be available in two rounds. The first round will be awarded to successful applicants in the amount of $160 million. The second round will award approximately $220 million dollars.

By creating the Integrated Regional Plan the entities involved have a better chance of securing grant funding. The M/A/C project team secured $145,500 in Planning Grants leaving the estimated cost to complete the plan at $31,500. The water agency then approached other entities for funding. Those agencies are Amador Co., the cities of Jackson, Sutter Creek, and Plymouth, as well as ARSA, EBMUD and the Calaveras Co. water district which along with the Amador Water Agency became signatories on the IRWMP MOU and contributed to covering the remaining $31,500. The signatories worked together and produced a draft plan as well as project list. The plan was recently revealed at an AWA meeting held October 26th.

Agency staff had participated in the development of the plan as well as Mokelumne River Water Forum process with the goal of supplementing Amador County with an additional water supply from the river. During that process a regional and integrated project concept was developed which would benefit all of the purveyor stakeholders, according to the agency’s general manager Jim Abercrombie. The concept consists of having the area-of-origin counties, the counties from which the water flows- Amador and Calaveras, secure new Mokelumne River water rights with a portion of the water for use within Amador and Calaveras counties themselves.

The balance of the water, or the amount not needed by Amador and Calaveras, would then be stored in the San Joaquin Co. groundwater basin. Abercrombie said that in wet years some of the water will be diverted for use by Amador and Calaveras with the remaining water to be conveyed through EBMUD facilities for storage in San Joaquin’s groundwater basin. In drier years the water stored in the San Joaquin basin will be available to San Joaquin County and could be exchanged to Amador, Calaveras and EBMUD.  Under this project concept Amador Co. and Calaveras Co. will have lead responsibility in securing additional surface water rights through a ‘partial assignment’ under the 1927 State Filings, which pre-committed a major portion of the Mokelumne River’s flow for future use in Amador and Calaveras Counties.

This would allow diversions from the river to be used within Amador and Calaveras Counties, and other water diversions could be banked in groundwater for late use in Amador, Calaveras, and San Joaquin Counties as well as in the EBMUD’s service area. According to the Concept proposal, proposed projects will not be limited to existing facilities or to the Mokelumne River, thus broadening the entities involved options for creating solutions. The Inter-regional project could actually be split into several different projects. Some of the local projects that have been discussed are the Bear River Reservoir Expansion project and enlarging Pardee Reservoir.

The Bear River Reservoir Expansion project consists of raising the existing Lower Bear Dam by 32 feet as a means to increase surface water storage capacity. Based on preliminary review this concept would benefit both regions by providing additional control over stream flow, reservoir release timing, and release magnitude. This provides benefits as release can be timed to not overwhelm diversion and recharge facilities while still allowing for habituate and pathways for wildlife. The second project proposed, to enlarge Pardee Reservoir, is self explanatory and would provide many of the same benefits of the Bear River Reservoir project. Additional storage, greater flood protection, and better control over reservoir relapse timing and magnitude would all be benefits obtained from this project. 

The project would also provide for additional conjunctive use projects. At this point the AWA, Amador Co., the cities of Jackson, Sutter Creek, and Plymouth, as well as ARSA, EBMUD and the Calaveras Co. Water District’s goal is to complete the plan this month. The next step in the process would be adoption of the plan by all members of MOU, which the agency hopes will happen in December.