Controversy still part of Pardee plan

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By Alex Breitler

Record Staff Writer

October 03, 2009 12:00 AM

After months of heated public meetings and more than 1,000 formal comments, a Bay Area water agency that diverts most of the Mokelumne River has released a plan to bolster its supply over the next three decades.

And the most controversial aspect of that plan, raising the level of Pardee Reservoir by up to 33 feet, is still on the table.

Such a project would flood an upstream stretch of the Mokelumne River that is popular with white-water rafters and wildlife enthusiasts.

East Bay Municipal Utility District officials emphasize that no decision has been made to raise the dam to provide water during dry years for its growing customer base. Any such project is years away and would require more detailed study. It may not happen at all, they say.

"East Bay MUD will not pursue enlarging Pardee on its own. We're going to have to have partners," said Dennis Diemer, the district's general manager, adding that "Mokelumne River folks need to get benefits" from that project.

This reassurance does not appease protestors, including not only Mother Lode residents but some of East Bay MUD's own customers in Oakland, Berkeley and other cities.

"My family has spent so many special days floating on the river and picnicking on the shores," Bear Valley's Jay McGuire wrote in an e-mail to the district. "This is such a beautiful part of the area - it would be wrong to lose that for excess water storage."

The final plan released Friday appears to have changed little from a draft earlier this year.

The plan is to beef up water conservation and recycling and to set water rationing during drought years at 10 percent - a number that critics say should be higher.

Nearly half of the water gained through the overall plan would come from some combination of the following measures: Injecting water into the ground for storage, building a desalination plant near Pittsburg, raising Pardee Dam, and enlarging Lower Bear Reservoir, a mountain lake to the northeast.

While there are many vocal opponents, raising Pardee has the support of the Stockton East Water District, which is trying to stabilize declining groundwater levels on the county's east side. That groundwater is needed by farmers and city dwellers.

Indeed, a regional partnership under development by East Bay MUD, San Joaquin County and Mother Lode water agencies would allow water to be banked underground in San Joaquin during wet years and pumped out when it's dry.

Outnumbering the positive reactions to East Bay MUD's plan, however, are the negative.

El Dorado National Forest officials warned the utility that newly-upgraded campgrounds at Lower Bear Reservoir would be swamped.

And federal biologists warned that flooding the Mokelumne upstream of the reservoir would eliminate habitat for salmon and steelhead should those threatened species ever be reintroduced above the dam.

Some feel that in the end, the public's comments had little impact.

"They started with an idea, they kept with the idea. It didn't matter that they had more comments on (raising) Pardee than all their other projects combined," said Calaveras County Supervisor Steve Wilensky, who represents the Calaveras side of the Mokelumne River.

Wilensky argues for greater stewardship of the upstream watershed and stronger conservation measures downstream.

East Bay MUD's Diemer said the district is already ahead on conservation and will meet Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's call for 20 percent water conservation before the goal of 2020.

"We have been and intend to continue using every drop that we take wisely," he said.

East Bay MUD's Board of Directors will vote on the plan Oct. 13.

Contact reporter Alex Breitler at (209) 546-8295 or abreitler@recordnet.com.