Amador County – Supervisors on last week discussed the reasons for a grant to Amador Water Agency and its Camanche water system, saying it was worthy of county water development funds.
Supervisor Richard Forster said the grant could immediately “relieve the structural deficit in the budget.” He said they were fortunate to have only about five days of 100-degree weather this year otherwise there would have been water rationing, due to loss of flow on Well 14. Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said the emergency was identified in February, when the well was not capable of running at its previous level.
Former Camanche home owners’ president Michael Krisman asked about the budget deficiency, and Forster said it would take “$50,000 to $60,000 to at least balance the books for this year.”
Krisman said “we would like to see some accountability.” Plasse said the five AWA board members are accountable for Camanche water.
Bill Condrashoff said: “I believe the grant will be seen as a bribe” to get a rate increase. Forster said the grant was to repair deficiencies in the Camanche system that were caused by the county when the county owned the system, and they were still there when the county handed it to AWA. He said it has been five years since a rate increase at Camanche.
Plasse said the Water Development Fund is meant to be used for development in the county. Debbie Dunn said the “Water Development Fund is not county money. It’s for selling out your water rights to the Mokelumne River.”
Supervisor Louis Boitano took offense to Dunn “calling my friends crooks.” He said the past board did not sell the rights, and the $2 million in the Water Development Fund came from ratepayers of East Bay Municipal Utility District. Boitano said the board in 1958, including Russ Evitt and Bob Brison, won the money in a legal judgment, when they tried to protect Amador and Calaveras water rights.
David Evitt said his father and the board did not think they would win in court, but sued because they thought maybe they could get a settlement. He said it was good to get facts out, instead of hearing “people who just spew out venom and hate.”
Earlier, Evitt said AWA is running Camanche with “deceitful neglect and bad management.” He suggested Supervisors “should install a begging chair” for AWA.
Evitt criticized Supervisor Brian Oneto for opposing his neighbors’ legal fight against the Amador Transmission Pipeline.
Oneto said he supported the rights of people to go after government, even if its costs $100 million. The problem he has is “when you say you are here to save people money, but people are really being basically hurt as a whole.”
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
