Amador County – The Amador County General Plan update panel worked on language in water goals and policies last Wednesday, including cleaning up wording for a “gray water” system. They moved toward promoting reuse of water without mandating it. They changed a water policy to say: “Where available, new development should participate in the extension of reclaimed water facilities (either off-site or on-site) for beneficial use.” Planning Commissioner Ray Ryan said as a grape grower, he saw some problems with requiring the gray water participation. He said grape farmers already conserve water and use “best management practices.” He proposed promoting the gray water system, and not mandating it. Commissioner Andy Byrne said he is doing a remodel at his house and “would love to use gray water,” but he does not know how to do so. He said he would like to seek Amador County as a resource for that information. Supervisor Richard Forster said the gray water systems should be encouraged but not mandated, because “one size does not fit all.” Amador County Planner Susan Grijalva agreed, saying they would not take such a system over miles. She said the county and planning department “can deal with specifics in implementation.” Byrne said it would not matter until such a recycling and reuse system was in place. Supervisor Brian Oneto opposed the best management practices, saying the term was too broad. Oneto said he didn’t “want to be responsible for going and telling someone that they are not farming the right way.” Forster said if they were “going to adopt best management practices, it should be adopted by the Board of Supervisors and the Amador Water Agency.” Supervisor John Plasse noted that Amador Environmental Health asked who would be responsible for development and implementation of those practices. They changed the policy to say: “In consultation with the county’s water suppliers, develop reasonable best management practices for water conservation in the county.” They also removed a phrase that would “incorporate the California State Water Plan,” after consultant Jeff Goldman of EDAW said he did “not know that incorporating the entire (state) plan by reference would be adequate.” They also made a blanket move to take out references to the Amador Water Agency, instead choosing to generally refer to water suppliers in water goals and policies. Byrne said that developers of wells worked in association with the public health department, and they added a reference to agencies as well. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.