Ledger-Dispatch

By Staff Report (editor@ledger-dispatch.com= )=20

Amador Water Agency General Manager Jim = Abercrombie reviews project options at the informal workshop. = About 50=20 property owners, customers and interested community members = attended=20 informational workshops on construction of the small diameter raw = water=20 pipeline in the Amador Canal.

Photo by: Courtesy to the Ledger=20 Dispatch
The Amador Water Agency held = two=20 informational workshops last Monday on plans for a small diameter = pipeline to be=20 installed in the Amador Canal.

With the new Amador Transmission = Pipeline=20 completed and carrying most of the county's water, the next step in the = project=20 is to run a small diameter pipeline in the existing canal to continue = providing=20 service to current raw water customers. After the new pipe is installed = in the=20 canal, customers are hooked up, and the system is tested and = operational, the=20 agency will stop water flows in the canal.

About 50 interested = community=20 members, customers and property owners along the middle and upper = sections of=20 the canal attended two informal workshops held in the morning and = evening at the=20 County Administration Center. After a short overview of the project and = customer=20 options, attendees were invited to bring questions about their = particular needs=20 and concerns to water agency staff members stationed at tables around = the room.=20 Approximately 113 properties currently receive untreated water along = this part=20 of the canal.

The small diameter pipeline will be installed in = phases=20 over a two- to three-year period. The first phase of construction, = scheduled to=20 begin this month and be completed in June 2008, is the lower Ridge Road = section=20 of the canal from the Tanner Water Treatment plant to the Harmon Siphon=20 Discharge. The middle and upper sections, from the Harmon Siphon = Discharge up to=20 Lake Tabeaud, will be constructed over the next two to three = years.

"The=20 small diameter pipeline will improve raw water quality over what folks = are now=20 getting from the canal - and significantly reduce debris and maintenance = headaches for customers," said Gene Mancebo, AWA manager of engineering = and=20 planning. "It's also another step in conserving Amador County's water = for all of=20 its citizens."

The small diameter pipeline project may be an = opportunity=20 to bring treated water service to those raw water customers on the canal = that=20 currently must buy bottled drinking water for their homes. In an ongoing = water=20 needs survey by the agency, many people have already indicated an = interest in=20 connecting to a treated water system. If the majority of customers on = the upper=20 and middle sections of the canal prefer treated water service, the AWA = Board of=20 Directors will consider running treated water in the small diameter = pipeline=20 instead of raw water.

Possible financial assistance for = converting to=20 treated water may become available from state and federal grants and low = interest loans. Over the next 12 months, the agency will continue to = determine=20 customer interest in treated water.

A good deal of the discussion = at the=20 workshop centered on property owner concerns over possible effects on = wildlife=20 after the canal has dried up. John McCall of Alnus Ecological, a = participant in=20 a biological study of the Jackson Creek Watershed, reported at an = earlier=20 workshop that a watershed assessment of the area is almost complete, = with the=20 results to be released to the public this spring. The study is designed = to=20 provide a big picture analysis for developing a watershed plan and = direction for=20 conservation measures on the canal and within the watershed.

As = part of=20 the agency's civil settlement with Protect Historic Amador Waterways = over the=20 pipeline construction, the agency has set aside $150,000 for funds for = watershed=20 conservation.

"We encourage landowners along the canal to take = advantage=20 of the settlement funds if they want to make watershed improvements on = their=20 property, including wildlife hydration stations.," Mancebo = said.

Another=20 consideration for property owners along the canal is whether they would = like the=20 water agency to leave the empty canal as is, or to restore it by filling = in the=20 canal with dirt. Restoration would eliminate the potential for mosquito = habitat=20 or potential injury to livestock and make property access and = maintenance=20 easier. An addendum to the transmission pipeline Environmental Impact = Report is=20 being prepared to provide property owners with several proposed options. = AWA=20 directors are tentatively scheduled to review the draft EIR addendum at = a=20 meeting later this spring.

Construction of the small diameter = pipeline is=20 dependent on the water agency's ability to record new easements for its=20 construction and maintenance. AWA staff has been meeting with individual = property owners and customers to review the need for easements for the = new=20 pipeline on the lower section and is expected to meet with property = owners on=20 the middle and upper sections starting later this summer. The water = agency will=20 abandon the canal and historic easement rights once the new pipeline is=20 operational.

Staff = Report