Jackson – Representatives of the Amador Water Agency and the City of Jackson met Wednesday to discuss wastewater updates and the city’s future water storage needs. The casual outreach meeting focused on a number of topics and was meant as a way to brainstorm ideas. Referring to a recent study on creek flows in Jackson Creek, Jackson City Manager Mike Daly said the “study’s conclusion was that there is no significant detriment to creek habitat if we were to stop discharging effluent in summer months.” He said the next challenge is meeting wastewater discharge permit requirements by October, 2012, that require the city to lessen its volume contribution of wastewater effluent into Lake Amador to lower than 5 percent of what is in the lake. He estimated it would cost $80,000 to complete an alternatives analysis study but he expected to have that completed by the end of this year. Amador Water Agency Director Bill Condrashoff suggested using more wastewater for grazing cattle and crops. Daly said they have also considered discharging into the Mokelumne River, but called that the most “politically sensitive” option. Also discussed was Jackson’s dry weather water flow, which is steadily decreasing and is expected to be about 420,000 gallons a day by November. Daly said that is 60 percent of the City’s capacity. Gene Mancebo, AWA interim General Manager, said his agency “has been told they would receive a regional recycling grant for close to $270,000 through the state.” Condrashoff said it would be useful for Jackson to think of places they can use recycled water. Mancebo said “regional projects tend to get dollars more frequently and are looked at more favorably than individual projects.” This transitioned into the topic of future water storage needs for the city. Jackson currently has a 1.25 million gallon clearwell tank near the La Mel Heights area and another .25 million gallon tank at the south end of the city. The 1.25 million gallon tank is under serious consideration for replacement because of leaks and a capacity barely suitable to assist in serving all of Jackson’s customers. A Jackson rep said he received estimates that it would cost $1 million to replace the tank. Mancebo said that was “awfully affordable in today’s economy.” All these topics will be discussed again during future meetings. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.