Amador County – The Amador Water Agency board of directors voted unanimously Thursday to sign a letter critical of the Association of California Water Agencies Board of Directors in its decision to support San Joaquin Delta water legislation. The AWA board voted 5-0 to authorize Board President Terence Moore to sign a coalition letter that criticizes the California Water Agencies board for its 18-11 vote November 1st vote to support the Delta legislation backed by Governor Schwarzenegger that includes building a peripheral water pipeline to take northern state water around the Delta southern counties. AWA Human Resources Representative Karen Gish said Moore’s signature makes AWA “a co-signer with other members of ACWA, including the East Bay Municipal Utility District. Gish did not know how many other co-signers would sign the letter, which was addressed to the Association of California Water Agencies board. She said the letter is against the fact that the ACWA board took action outside of its own power and also violated its own policy that ACWA “normally does not take a position on legislation when its members disagree.” The letter noted its signers “represent numerous long-standing members” of ACWA who express “extreme disappointment with the action … to support the Delta legislative package.” The letter notes that during the meeting, “it was not clear what was included in the legislative package that ACWA staff was recommending be approved.” At the meeting, “many ACWA members, including municipal and agricultural agencies in several ACWA regions, continued to have significant concerns about the impacts of the legislation on upstream water supplies and water rights, and many of them opposed the legislation.” The letter said the “Delta legislative package was inconsistent with ACWA’s Board-approved Delta principles,” and “supporting the legislation would violate the Board-approved policy that ACWA does not take a position on legislation on which its members disagree.” The ACWA Board voted 18-11 to support the Delta legislation. The letter said many ACWA member signees “have decided to withhold payment of their 2010 ACWA dues, and many are evaluating whether to renew their ACWA membership.” The letter notes that support affects some member agencies’ abilities to amend the legislation to support their water rights. It says that ACWA “cannot and must not take a position on legislation that benefits some members and harms other members.” The letter asks for insuring interests in all member of ACWA in a way that “does no harm to the legitimate rights of its individual members,” and asks for time at the next ACWA board meeting to discuss the issue in an open forum. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.