Amador County - East Bay Municipal Utility District’s board of directors voted last week to follow its staff’s recommendation and remove an expansion project for Pardee Reservoir from its draft 30-year regional water management plans.

Meeting last Tuesday, March 27, in Oakland, the East Bay Municipal board held a workshop on proposed changes to the district’s long-term water plan, according a joint release from three opposing conservation groups that sued the utility over the expansion of Pardee. East Bay Municipal’s staff “recommended removing the proposed Pardee Reservoir expansion from the agency’s Water Supply Management Program 2040 following revised environmental analysis for the program.”

The three groups, Foothill Conservancy, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and Friends of the River issued the joint statement Monday, saying that the “revised draft 2040 water plan also includes a new partnership with the Contra Contra Water District to expand the off-stream Los Vaqueros Reservoir in the East Bay.” That partnership was part of a court order that came from the organizations suit seeking a Los Vaqueros partnership alternative to future water needs.

Foothill Conservancy Vice-President Pete Bell, who attended the workshop, said East Bay Municipal “directors responded very positively to the proposed changes. We’re not done yet, but it appears” the utility “has turned the corner on Pardee in favor of a more sustainable, dry-year water solution.”

California Sportfishing Protection Alliance’s Chris Shutes said by “adopting this approach, the District has moved from mid-20th century solutions to take its place as a 21st century water leader,” and the decision “is good for the Mokelumne River.”

The utility released a revised draft environmental impact report in December 2011 which “found that the Pardee expansion would have significant, unmitigable impacts on recreational uses of the Mokelumne River,” the groups said.

Foothill Conservancy President Katherine Evatt said it is “uncommon for a major water district to change course in this way, and it shows real leadership on your part.”

The proposed Pardee expansion would have flooded the Middle Bar Reach of the Mokelumne River below Highway 49 and part of the Electra Run upstream.

The final East Bay Municipal board vote on the revised water plan is expected on April 24.

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