Amador County – Amador County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services kicked off its update on a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan May 9 with discussion of areas of hazard for which they may plan.
Don Myshrall, semi-retired Ione building inspector, said Ione has had a few landslide and debris flows. In the late 1990s, “you could walk across Lake Pardee because of all the debris in there.”
Amador Water Agency’s operation manager Chris McKeage said the Camanche area is served by wells for water and they would be out on a limb on PG&E’s tunnel systems, and a earthquake could be huge there. He said AWA has senior rights on Bear River, and wondered about getting FEMA funds for raising lower Bear River reservoir’s dam to ensure they did not have a water shortage.
Supervisor Vice Chairman Richard Forster said AWA should also plan for possible failure of the Central Amador Water Project service area pipeline system, and include the Gravity Supply Line project in the plan.
Consultant, Jeanine Foster of AMEC Earth & Environmental said “you want everything in here that makes sense as a mitigation type project.” She said it should be a “wish list… You want to get everything in there and look at the problems down the road.”
Amador County Planning Director Susan Grijalva said freezes and power outages were a problem several years ago. An Amador Unified maintenance official said backup generators at schools would help during long-term outages to achieve shelters.
Jeanine Foster said her home state Colorado has blizzard response plans for winter. They can also plan with backup generators and by having good snow removal equipment, insulation for pipes, preparedness and education.
A woman from public health said her department was doing a public health risk assessment in the fourth week of May. Foster said that would be good for the plan update.
They discussed insects and pests, and Foster said some local plans included a “shoot the beaver” program and another aimed at eradicating feral pigs that were spreading e-coli contamination. Myshrall said the state was commonly inspecting for invasive Zebra Mussels at area lakes, which bring in a lot of people to this county.
Richard Forster said Amador County’s wine industry could be endangered by the Glassy Winged Sharpshooter grasshoppers, which have “caused millions of dollars in damage in Napa.”
Foster said she would send a list to the participants when it was compiled. She said participants should send her details of how hazards have affected your community specifically, and historic events.
She said the existing hazard mitigation plan should have most historic hazard events up to five years ago, and if they are adding new hazards, you would want to go back historically 50 years.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
