Amador County – The Amador Water Agency announced Monday that a quorum of the AWA board may attend today’s meeting of the Amador County Board of Supervisors to discuss their opposition to the East Bay Municipal Utility District’s proposal to expand Pardee Reservoir. The public notice effectively allows the AWA board to discuss agency business at the meeting without violation of the Brown Act. Supervisors will discuss and possibly take action relative to the proposed expansion of Pardee Dam, by building up the dam, as part of the East Bay Municipal Utility District 2040 water plan. The meeting starts at 9 a.m. today. Last Thursday, the AWA board took input from the public urging opposition for various reasons, and the board voted unanimously to oppose the Pardee expansion. Board member Debbie Dunn said if the project were “vehemently opposed, what is East Bay MUD’s next step?” Abercrombie said opposition should include points of contention, to which East Bay would “be required to evaluate and provide detailed responses.” Katherine Evatt of the Foothill Conservancy said if enough people oppose the expansion, East Bay MUD “can change that 2040 Plan now (and remove the expansion of Pardee). They need no environmental study to do that.” Dunn said the reason East Bay prefers the Pardee expansion is obvious, because it would produce 52,000 acre-feet of water a year, compared to a desalination project by the Bay, which could spout 10,000 to 12,000 acre-feet a year. Dunn said in the last week and 3 days she had not met anyone who supported expanding Pardee. A board member of the Jackson Valley Irrigation District was the only one who spoke in support of the expansion, at the workshop 2 weeks ago. Evatt said the expansion of Pardee Reservoir would not give any new water to Amador County, and the project would require a 400-foot dam and hundreds of millions of dollars, if not a billion dollars. She said East Bay MUD directors “rejected an off-stream dam in their own district,” but pursue one in Amador. Evatt said “people love that river and they use it. And if you threaten it, they show up.” She recited a list of groups that attended the meeting in the AWA office, and said “these people have money and they will fight it tooth and nail.” To comment, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Monday, 30 March 2009 22:46
Amador Water Agency
Amador County – The Amador Water Agency announced Monday that a quorum of the AWA board may attend today’s meeting of the Amador County Board of Supervisors to discuss their opposition to the East Bay Municipal Utility District’s proposal to expand Pardee Reservoir. The public notice effectively allows the AWA board to discuss agency business at the meeting without violation of the Brown Act. Supervisors will discuss and possibly take action relative to the proposed expansion of Pardee Dam, by building up the dam, as part of the East Bay Municipal Utility District 2040 water plan. The meeting starts at 9 a.m. today. Last Thursday, the AWA board took input from the public urging opposition for various reasons, and the board voted unanimously to oppose the Pardee expansion. Board member Debbie Dunn said if the project were “vehemently opposed, what is East Bay MUD’s next step?” Abercrombie said opposition should include points of contention, to which East Bay would “be required to evaluate and provide detailed responses.” Katherine Evatt of the Foothill Conservancy said if enough people oppose the expansion, East Bay MUD “can change that 2040 Plan now (and remove the expansion of Pardee). They need no environmental study to do that.” Dunn said the reason East Bay prefers the Pardee expansion is obvious, because it would produce 52,000 acre-feet of water a year, compared to a desalination project by the Bay, which could spout 10,000 to 12,000 acre-feet a year. Dunn said in the last week and 3 days she had not met anyone who supported expanding Pardee. A board member of the Jackson Valley Irrigation District was the only one who spoke in support of the expansion, at the workshop 2 weeks ago. Evatt said the expansion of Pardee Reservoir would not give any new water to Amador County, and the project would require a 400-foot dam and hundreds of millions of dollars, if not a billion dollars. She said East Bay MUD directors “rejected an off-stream dam in their own district,” but pursue one in Amador. Evatt said “people love that river and they use it. And if you threaten it, they show up.” She recited a list of groups that attended the meeting in the AWA office, and said “these people have money and they will fight it tooth and nail.” To comment, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
