MURPHYS - An additional 10,000 Mother Lode children will get hands-on experience studying the region's rivers thanks to funding approved by the board of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, a state agency charged with protecting and improving the Sierra Nevada.

The $98,700 boost for the Central Sierra Watershed Education Program was just one of a number of funding measures the board approved during its quarterly meeting Thursday at Kautz Ironstone Winery. And though educating mountain residents on how to care for rivers and avoid contaminating the water that the rest of the state drinks is a popular cause among conservancy board members, one said he fears the funding is not legal.

Robert Schladale, the board's newest member, represents the California Department of Finance. He said that because the funding comes from Proposition 84, a $5.4 billion bond measure California voters approved in 2006, he doubts it is legal to spend the money on something nontangible such as education.

Schladale said that under state law, bonds must provide taxpayers a permanent asset of some sort.

"I didn't see a physical asset on the ground," Schladale said, explaining his no vote on a number of education spending measures the board approved Thursday.

Sierra Nevada Conservancy Executive Director Jim Branham said he and other staffers are confident that the education programs do comply with the requirements of Proposition 84.

The Sierra Nevada Conservancy was formed in 2004 to care for the Sierra and protect the state's water supply. It currently receives virtually all of the more than $10 million it is spending each year from Proposition 84. That means that virtually all conservancy projects are related to water, because that is the focus of the ballot initiative.

Yet the conservancy also seeks to address issues such as the lack of economic development that plays a role in causing environmental and social problems in the region. Calaveras County Supervisor Steve Wilensky and state Sen. Byron Sher, D-Palo Alto, both board members, reported Thursday that they are exploring options for other funding sources for the conservancy, including the possible formation of a private foundation that could do fundraising.

In other business Thursday, the board also approved spending $270,000 to help Amador County create a plan for re-using treated sewage plant effluent to irrigate crops and supply industrial needs.

Conservancy officials said they hope the Amador plan will be a model for the rest of the region, showing local agencies how to get double use out of water, reduce the demand for new supplies, and avoid discharging effluent into rivers that will flow to the Valley and end up in drinking water taps throughout the state.

Contact reporter Dana M. Nichols at (209) 607-1361 or dnichols@recordnet.com.

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