The major topic of discussion in Sutter Creek Monday night was on the future of Amador County’s water services. The Sutter Creek City Council heard a presentation by Gene Mancebo, Amador Water Agency Manager of Engineering and Planning, on the AWA‘s “20 Year Strategic Plan”. The plan outlines a number of infrastructure expansions that the AWA is seeking in order to deal with a projected increase in demand for water services. The plan states that the AWA is currently servicing 5,474 connections into the Amador Water System. With the current system, an additional 16,000 household connections could potentially be made. However, the AWA forecasts that the County’s major water resources will be exhausted by the year 2030 due to a large increase in demand caused by the construction of several large subdivisions.

Three of the County’s largest planned developments, the Gold Rush Ranch, Jackson Hills, and Wicklow Way, will create a need for approximately 2,420 new residential hook-ups total. To deal with the perceived increase in demand for water and waste-water services, the AWA is planning several measures. The first is to increase the use of reclaimed water countywide, with the goal that 20% of Amador’s Water Usage will be reclaimed by the year 2020. A second undertaking will be to raise Lower Bear Reservoir 32 feet in order to “insure a firm supply” of county drinking water. In addition, Mancebo stated that the Agency will seek partnerships with Calaveras County, East Bay Mud, and San Joaquin County to implement an ‘Integrated Regional Conjunctive Use Project’ for a more regional, efficient approach to problems of shortages, over-drafted ground water, and saltwater intrusion. The city council had a mixed response to Mancebo’s presentation. The biggest
complaint from council members about the presentation was that Sutter Creek’s contributions to water service regionalization went largely unmentioned. City Manager Rob Duke stated, “I think we should have it on record that Sutter Creek is firm in its steps towards regionalization, and has been since the 1950s.”