Amador County – The Amador Water Agency voted 3-1 Tuesday with one non-vote to officially “close the book” on the Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort Water Supply Assessment. A special board meeting was called to address District 1 Director Bill Condrashoff’s questions about the WSA, which was approved 18 months ago by the previous board. Directors Don Cooper, Gary Thomas and Chairman Terence Moore voted to “take no further action with respect to revising or amending the Water Supply Assessment for Golf Rush.” Director Debbie Dunn said she was undecided. Engineering Manager Gene Mancebo gave an oral report of water uses and projections in 5-year increments, with inclusion of Gold Rush, the Wicklow Way Subdivision in Jackson, and planned Amador Water System projects. Mancebo omitted all prospective, or unknown projects, and also “the formerly proposed Jackson Hills Golf Course, because there is no longer a pending application.” Mancebo said after reviewing the state legal guidelines for Water Supply Assessments, he found that the WSAs talked about Planned Future Uses, but state law did not define the term. Instead, the WSA itself defines that use. Mancebo’s said new tables with the omissions showed a current usage of 5,754 acre-feet per year, and projected that in the year 2030, annual usage would be 8,906 acre-feet a year, at a flow requirement of 22.35 cubic feet per second. Condrashoff stood by his analysis that it would really require 42 cfs to meet demands in 20 years, and questioned Mancebo’s use of 400 gallons a day water usage in figuring the residential impacts. Condrashoff said the number should be more like 450 or 500 gallons a day. He said the tables show “virtually no growth between 2025 and 2030, but an 8 percent growth rate in early estimates. Mancebo said he thought the growth would be more spread out, “but after rereading the guidance manual, we think this will be more appropriate.” Condrashoff criticized usage estimates around Ione, and said the WSA should include recycled or reclaimed water. He said: “Is staff recommending we do not supply recycled water to Gold Rush for any amount of time?” AWA General Manager Jim Abercrombie said: “That is a board decision when the time comes” and “there’s no golf course today, there’s no recycled water today.” Condrashoff said raw water to the golf course would amount to 1 cubic feet per second of flow, or about 448.8 gallons a minute. Mancebo said they could add 1 cfs to the total and still be under the county’s water rights maximum of 30 cfs. Mancebo said recycled water was listed in the WSA, but the supplier was left open. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.