Amador County – Dozens attended a ceremony Wednesday breaking ground of the Plymouth-Amador Water Agency potable water pipeline, bringing a boom of water to Pokerville. AWA said the “project will provide a reliable treated water supply to the city which has been under a water moratorium for approximately 20 years.” The pipeline will deliver treated water for all of Plymouth's existing customers, plus enough for construction of roughly 500 more homes. AWA said the treated water will augment the city of Plymouth’s “limited allotment of Cosumnes River water delivered by an historic ditch system, and water supplied by the city’s aging wells.” Plymouth will deliver the treated water to its customers through its existing city water distribution system. The Plymouth Pipeline will extend from the Tanner Water Treatment plant in Sutter Creek to the City of Plymouth water storage tank on Fiddletown Road. The 8.5-mile pipeline will include 7.3 miles of new 12-inch pipe and a little over a mile of existing pipe. The project uses some existing Water Agency facilities and provides for improved water service to existing Water Agency customers in and around Sutter Creek, Amador City and Drytown. ln addition to providing Plymouth with drinking water, the project will provide ancillary hookups to the cities of Drytown, Amador City and Sutter Creek. A segment of new water main in Amador City will replace aging pipe dating back to the 1950s. The addition of nearly 20 new fire hydrants will improve fire protection for Amador City and Drytown as well as ranch properties along the pipeline alignment. A project biologist and an archeologist will be on site to monitor environmental protection measures included in the Mitigation and Monitoring Plan. Trees on the construction route have been surveyed and if trees meeting certain criteria are removed, they will be replaced per the Mitigation and Monitoring Plan. A new pedestrian bridge will carry the pipeline where the route crosses Sutter Creek. The 8-foot wide, 80-foot long bridge will connect parking lots along Eureka Street and opposite the creek, the parking lots of the Sutter Creek Auditorium and the Community Center. The new system includes a bypass at the Plymouth water main so that maintenance on Plymouth’s water storage tank can be performed without interrupting city water service. Plymouth was lead agency for the project’s design and environmental review. AWA is lead agency for construction, maintenance and operation up to Plymouth’s existing treatment plant. Construction began in January and is expected to be completed by fall. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.