Amador Water Agency directors will be going back to the Amador County Board of Supervisors to propose a reduced contribution to the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority (UMRWA). The county and the Agency, the two Amador County entities in the UMRWA Joint Powers Agency, would each contribute $16,375 for a total of $32,750.

At a recent meeting the Supervisors turned down a request presented by AWA President Terry Moore for $36,250 from the county's Water Development Fund for Amador County's share of UMWRA funding.

UMWRA is a regional water management group of stakeholders in the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed. Members include East Bay Municipal Utilities District and representatives from Amador, Calaveras and Alpine counties. UMWRA projects include watershed conservation, education and water supply planning.

At their Board meeting Thursday, AWA directors asked Moore to go back to the county supervisors with proposal for a reduced UMWRA budget, and for splitting Amador County's share of UMWRA funding between AWA and the county.

Also on Thursday's agenda was a presentation on financing the Gravity Supply Line, including a "no project" option. The Gravity Supply Line is proposed for the Central Amador Water Project (CAWP) water system and would replace pumping water from Tiger Creek Afterbay to the Buckhorn Water Treatment Plant with a gravity-fed pipeline.

The existing pump stations at Tiger Creek are over 30 years old and will need to be replaced soon. The upcountry's frequent power outages make the electric pumping system unreliable during storms and wildfires.

A gravity-fed system would save over a quarter of a million dollars a year in energy costs, would improve fire suppression in the CAWP system area and would eliminate the need to replace the current pump stations.

AWA Directors directed staff to apply for a grant and loan package from the USDA and prepare comparisons of likely rate increases needed to pay for costs to construct the Gravity Supply Line versus the costs of upgrading the current system and ongoing electrical costs.

In other news:

Thursday, September 17 is the date set for an Agency Open House in recognition of the AWA's 50th Anniversary. The Open House will be held from 3:30 - 6:30 pm at the AWA offices. Plans include recognition of current and retired AWA employees, an opportunity to meet AWA's current directors and managers, tours of AWA's Tanner Reservoir and Water Treatment Plant, and an educational display of AWA's history and plans for the future of water and wastewater service in Amador County.

The Agency is changing its website address to www.amadorwater.org with the goal of making it easier to remember and to better reflect the Agency's structure. The new address will be in effect beginning Aug. 17. The Agency's old web address will remain active and will forward readers to the new address for at least several months.