Amador County – The Amador Water Agency announced that an electrical storm in July destroyed computer controls throughout the upcountry water system, causing at least $5,000 in equipment damage and staff overtime cost.

AWA General Manager Gene Mancebo said Tuesday that AWA staff was forced to manually operate pumps and tanks for up to three days in several locations after power surges damaged the communication systems that tell pumps when and where to send water to upcountry areas.

At about 11 p.m. on Saturday, July 14, lightning damage shut down the Tiger Creek and Silver Lake Pines pump stations that lift water from the Mokelumne River to the Buckhorn Water Treatment plant that provides drinking water to upcountry homes, Mancebo said. At the same time, the Buckhorn Water Treatment Plant shut down when a transducer stopped working due to nearby lightning.

AWA technicians worked until early morning hours to bypass broken equipment and get the water treatment plant back online before upcountry water storage tanks dropped to dangerous levels, Mancebo said. The storm also damaged Controls at a tank on Trent Way that supplies water to the Jackson Rancheria Casino and area homes, on the well that serves the LaMel Heights subdivision, and an electronic water meter at Mace Meadow Fairway Pines lift station.

Dozens of times each year, electrical problems, wild fires and power outages cause potential interruptions of upcountry water service because electricity powers the water pumps.

Mancebo said the Water Agency encouraged local residents to be prepared for possible water outages by keeping a supply of drinking water on hand. Residents are also asked to follow neighborhood signs and announcements that may ask them to conserve water due to an electrical outage or mechanical failure.

The lightning storm also started 16 fires in Amador and El Dorado counties. Cal-Fire Unit Chief Kelly Keenan reported in late July that most of the fires were in Amador County. He said by July 24 that about 79 acres had been burned, and roughly 300 people were working on the fires at the time, in various configurations of engines, dozers and hand crews.

On July 27, Incident Commander Brian Estes said fire fighters had stopped the so called “Lightning Complex,” which included 12 fires in Amador and 8 in El Dorado County.

Story by Jim Reece.