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Wednesday, 11 March 2009 |
 Amador County – The Plymouth City Council on Thursday will discuss the Arroyo Ditch in closed session with the Shenandoah Water Company. The city’s “Negotiator,” City Manager Dixon Flynn, will talk with the company regarding “price” and “terms of payment.” City Clerk Gloria Stoddard said there were two companies that submitted information in January when the city requested qualifications regarding the Arroyo Ditch. Stoddard said she could not comment on details of the closed session discussion, but said Shenadoah Water Company was “one of the companies that answered the request for qualifications.” On January 8th, the Plymouth City Council advertised to find qualified operators for the 1853 Arroyo Ditch, after learning people are interested in the long-time water conveyance, owned by the city since the early 1900s. Flynn said city staff heard “some interest expressed in the development of the Arroyo Ditch,” from a “wide range of people.” He encouraged giving the private sector a chance to take on the project, and said the ideal candidates would need expert financial capacity, legal experience with water rights and the technical ability to make the earthen berm ditch operational. He said the city council could also waive any requirements it chooses. He said qualifications should include having the legal ability to “address the questions about our water rights.” Flynn in a staff report said the advertisement would seek “proposals to develop the Arroyo Ditch at ‘no’ or ‘little’ cost to the city.” Flynn said the city looked to “accept proposals that satisfy the city’s goals of developing the Arroyo Ditch as a long-term source of water.” The report told the history of the ditch, developed in 1853 to bring water for mining from the Cosumnes River to Plymouth. The city took ownership in the early 1900s and it was Plymouth’s primary water source until 1987. Flynn said “there is a wide range of opinions on the city’s water rights … a pre-1914 water right and the estimated right ranges from approximately 23,000 acre fee to approximately 500 acre feet.” Plymouth signed a 2006 agreement with the Amador Water Agency to build the Plymouth Pipeline Project and now faces development of about 2,500 homes and 27 commercial buildings over the next 20 years. Story by Jim Reece
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