Ledger-Dispatch

By Jerry Budrick (jbudrick@ledger-dispatch.com= )=20

The Amador Water Agency plans to allow = gravity to=20 provide water for Amador's upcountry through the Tiger Creek = Regulator, a=20 reservoir and flume in the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. = system.

Photo by: Jerry=20 Budrick
"Shovel-ready" is the latest = buzzword in=20 the incoming administration's vocabulary of hope for job creation in the = near=20 future.

In separate meetings Thursday, the Amador Water Agency = listed and=20 confirmed a number of water-related infrastructure projects it considers = shovel-ready.

Organizations across the country responsible for = the=20 construction and maintenance of roads, bridges and other public works = facilities=20 have been dusting off old plans and coming up with new ones, in hopes of = receiving money to get to work on them. The AWA is one local = organization=20 pursuing funding from the pending infrastructure stimulus = package.

The=20 AWA's list of shovel-ready projects was presented at the agency's = morning=20 meeting by AWA engineering and planning manager Gene Mancebo. In the = evening,=20 nearly all of the agency's proposed projects were found on the list of = 46=20 projects under consideration by the Mokelumne/Amador/Calaveras = Integrated=20 Regional Water Management Plan committee meeting.

AWA and its = partners,=20 in a joint powers authority known as the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed = Authority, have invited participation by private and public = organizations in the=20 MAC/IRWMP. The authority consists of eight members from water agencies = and the=20 governments of Amador, Alpine and Calaveras counties. Joining them on = the MAC=20 plan are representatives from diverse groups, including the Foothill=20 Conservancy, Sierra Pacific Industries and the Amador Flyfishers=20 organization.

Formerly reliable sources of funding are becoming = shakier=20 as California's budget crisis grows. Money that was approved by voters = for=20 various projects around the state has been frozen by order of the = little-known=20 Pooled Money Investment Board. Some $18 billion in public works projects = have=20 been put on hold by the three-member board, made up of the state = treasurer,=20 controller and director of finance.

The present situation has not = swayed=20 water project proponents from thinking into the future. The project list = in the=20 first draft of the IRWMP, drawn up in 2006, will be expanded or = condensed by the=20 committee prior to finalization. Inclusion on this regional list may = prove=20 essential to access funding.

Topping the AWA's list was the = gravity=20 supply line project, aimed at eliminating the need to pump water from = the=20 Mokelumne River's Tiger Creek Afterbay up to the Buckhorn Treatment = Plant.=20 Regarded as a long overdue and acceptably "green" alternative to the = existing=20 power-wasting system, the agency may apply for the entire estimated cost = of=20 nearly $12 million from the stimulus package.

Having installed = the Amador=20 Transmission Pipeline in 2007, the AWA has yet to finalize its plan to = continue=20 to provide water to the users being weaned from the 150-year-old Amador = Canal.=20 Options still exist for this project, which could bring either raw or = treated=20 water, or both, to the residences and ranches along the old canal. Two = of the 10=20 projects relate to the canal, one to install a treated water pipeline, = and the=20 other to install a raw water pipeline. Each is estimated to cost $5.6 = million=20 and the agency envisions applications for funding $4 million = each.

Gayla=20 Manor, a subdivision east of Pine Grove, has been historically impacted = by road=20 system storm runoff and subsurface flows, leading to spills and = overflows. The=20 agency would like $707,000 in grant funding to correct this = situation.

A=20 few miles farther up Highway 88, the Mace Meadow Golf Course has a = perennial=20 problem with its groundwater that can be partially eliminated by re-use = of water=20 used to backwash the filters at the Buckhorn Treatment Plant. = Construction plans=20 are complete, as is California Environmental Quality Act documentation. = The=20 agency intends to apply for an $800,000 grant to complete this=20 project.

Fire is a constant threat to Amador County's high = country, and=20 the agency would like to kill two birds with one stone by installing = large=20 storage tanks to replace much smaller, mostly wooden tanks in the area = served by=20 the Central Amador Water Project. CAWP serves thousands of customers = from Pine=20 Grove to above Buckhorn. With $2 million from the stimulus package, the = agency=20 could upgrade the tanks and protect against fire.

In a = cooperative=20 venture with the Calaveras County Water District and East Bay Municipal=20 Utilities District, the agency has been working on a $10 million project = that=20 would bring surface water from Pardee Reservoir to communities on both = the north=20 and south shores of Lake Camanche. Plans and specifications are=20 complete.

Another major tank installation is proposed for the = existing=20 Lake Camanche Water System, which has what the agency calls "leaky, = undersized,=20 redwood tanks." The cost for two storage tanks of 1.25 million gallons = each is=20 estimated at $4.5 million, with the grant application proposed to be = $3.5=20 million.

The AWA would like to modernize its meter reading, by = installing=20 radio-read technology meters, which would cost approximately $1=20 million.

Last, and largest, of the agency's proposals is = installation of=20 a state-of-the-art water treatment plant at the AWA Tanner Reservoir=20 headquarters. Estimates for this project have ranged between $20 and $40 = million.

Following Mancebo's presentation, Foothill Conservancy = President=20 Katherine Evatt presented her short list of three project suggestions: = an=20 efficient fixtures and appliance plumbing project; a project to provide = solar=20 power to all of the agency's water and wastewater plants; and a=20 drought-resistant landscaping program.

Mancebo and agency = directors Terry=20 Moore, Bill Condrashoff and Debbie Dunn were supportive of Evatt's = additions to=20 the list. No cost estimates were presented.

Jerry = Budrick