Amador County – Amador Water Agency General Manager Jim Abercrombie resigned Tuesday afternoon, and announced today that he accepted the General Manager position of the El Dorado Irrigation District. AWA Board President Terence Moore said the board yesterday in closed session accepted a mutual separation request from their general manager. Abercrombie said El Dorado Irrigation District finalized his hiring last night, and he authorized a press release to be sent out today by EID announcing his hiring. Abercrombie said he has not yet signed a contract with EID, whose board agreed to hire him and will consider his contract at its August 10th meeting. Abercrombie gave the AWA board a 30-day notice and a letter of resignation effective September 4th. Abercrombie said in his office today that he was excited about his new opportunity at EID, which is about 4 times the size of the AWA. EID will be implementing a computerized maintenance management system, and paperless documenting, which he has done at AWA. He said he will miss AWA, which “has been a great organization to work for. We’ve done some great things for Amador County.” He said he is proud of his 12 years as general manager, and “accomplishments that will serve Amador County for a long time.” Those include a “state-of-the-art water treatment plant at Buckhorn, which is well supported by the community” and replaced a run-down plant. Also, they were able to finish the Amador Transmission Pipeline, which was a 20-year goal of the county. Under Abercrombie, the AWA provided “a reliable water supply to Plymouth,” rebuilt La Mel Heights and Gayla Manor, got people talking about recycled water, and put two projects on the cusp of the current board’s approval, the Gravity Supply Line to Buckhorn, and improvements at Camanche. Moore, in his 11th year on the board, said today he was shocked by the resignation, and told staff “you don’t know what you’ve lost until it’s gone.” Moore said “he’s been one of the finest general managers I’ve worked with. I think they have a lot of challenges at EID and he’s going to be very successful.” Abercrombie has recommended that the board name Engineering & Planning Manager Gene Mancebo as interim general manager, and spend the next 6 to 12 months looking at what they want in the position. He said “Gene is extremely competent and capable” and has been with AWA for more than 20 years. Abercrombie, who lives in Placerville, was selected from 41 applicants by the El Dorado Irrigation District board. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.