Amador County –Plymouth City Council last week approved a resolution opposing expansion of Pardee Lake, with the bulk of the meeting going to the subject. The project is one of several identified in the Water Supply Management Plan 2040 under design by the East Bay Municipal Utility District. The plan’s author, Tom Francis presented it to the council and answered questions. Councilwoman Pat Fordyce asked for clarification on what raising a dam and what enlarging a lake would mean. Francis said there was a difference, noting that the 2040 plan included an element that looked at raising, or building up, the height of the dam at Lower Bear Reservoir by 33 feet. But he said East Bay MUD might be better served at Pardee by building a larger dam downstream from the existing dam and increasing the size of the reservoir. Fordyce asked: “Can you even build dams?” Francis said “you physically can, but you will probably hear tonight from some environmentalists that will say we will meet lots of issues” and roadblocks. He said East Bay MUD’s most work in the Foothills has been with the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority, but the agency has found that it needs “to reach out to the environmentalists too.” Francis said the comment period on the 2040 plan closes May 4th. The East Bay MUD board must answer comments in June, then it will look at the plan on July 14th and decide items to remove or keep. He said “ultimately, we are going to go forward with our water supply planning. We are a water agency.” City Manager Dixon Flynn asked what was in the equation for Plymouth, and will “Amador County get more water from this?” Francis said the county would get more water, but only through the Integrated Regional Conjunctive Use Project. Francis said agency studies of a new Pardee dam downstream would include “green energy” of hydro-generation, plus cold water pools beneficial to fish. He said injecting the aquifer, San Joaquin County desired solution to drought, would be done just as groundwater is extracted – through wells. “We won’t just be putting it everywhere,” Francis said. “We will have recharge well storage areas.” Fordyce said she could not believe that would work. The council adjourned the remaining agenda items to 5 p.m. today in City Hall. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Amador County –Plymouth City Council last week approved a resolution opposing expansion of Pardee Lake, with the bulk of the meeting going to the subject. The project is one of several identified in the Water Supply Management Plan 2040 under design by the East Bay Municipal Utility District. The plan’s author, Tom Francis presented it to the council and answered questions. Councilwoman Pat Fordyce asked for clarification on what raising a dam and what enlarging a lake would mean. Francis said there was a difference, noting that the 2040 plan included an element that looked at raising, or building up, the height of the dam at Lower Bear Reservoir by 33 feet. But he said East Bay MUD might be better served at Pardee by building a larger dam downstream from the existing dam and increasing the size of the reservoir. Fordyce asked: “Can you even build dams?” Francis said “you physically can, but you will probably hear tonight from some environmentalists that will say we will meet lots of issues” and roadblocks. He said East Bay MUD’s most work in the Foothills has been with the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority, but the agency has found that it needs “to reach out to the environmentalists too.” Francis said the comment period on the 2040 plan closes May 4th. The East Bay MUD board must answer comments in June, then it will look at the plan on July 14th and decide items to remove or keep. He said “ultimately, we are going to go forward with our water supply planning. We are a water agency.” City Manager Dixon Flynn asked what was in the equation for Plymouth, and will “Amador County get more water from this?” Francis said the county would get more water, but only through the Integrated Regional Conjunctive Use Project. Francis said agency studies of a new Pardee dam downstream would include “green energy” of hydro-generation, plus cold water pools beneficial to fish. He said injecting the aquifer, San Joaquin County desired solution to drought, would be done just as groundwater is extracted – through wells. “We won’t just be putting it everywhere,” Francis said. “We will have recharge well storage areas.” Fordyce said she could not believe that would work. The council adjourned the remaining agenda items to 5 p.m. today in City Hall. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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