Ledger-Dispatch

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

The Amador Water Agency hopes to raise = the Lower=20 Bear River Reservoir Dam by 38 feet to provide more water storage = for the=20 county.

Photo by: Jerry=20 Budrick
The Mokelumne River is the main = artery of=20 the counties of Amador and Calaveras. Over centuries of known human = habitation,=20 it has been many things to many people.

The future of the = Mokelumne=20 River, its tributaries, its beneficiaries and all that comes along with = its=20 management and use, was the topic of a meeting last month night at the = Amador=20 County Supervisors chambers.

Hosting the meeting were Rob Alcott, = of the=20 Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority, along with Leslie Dumas of = RMC Water=20 and Environment and Karen Johnson of Water Resources Planning, = consultants to=20 the authority, and UMRWA members of the steering committee formed by the = authority for the project.

Committee members were Amador Water = Agency=20 General Manager Jim Abercrombie, AWA engineering and planning manager = Gene=20 Mancebo, along with Calaveras County Water District General Manager Dave = Andres=20 and water resources manager Ed Pattison. Also present was Tom Francis of = East=20 Bay Municipal Utilities District, the District's UMRWA representative = for this=20 plan update.

"We want to be in position when grant dollars become = available," Alcott began. "The San Joaquin River Hydrologic Region = allocation,=20 out of the $1 billion total that will be available to implement = Integrated=20 Regional Water Management Plans, is $57 million."

Alcott went on = to=20 explain that a regional water management group must be the lead agency. = "Three=20 entities are required," he said, "and two must be water=20 agencies."

Projects can be in any of the three counties in the = geographic=20 region covered by the MAC Plan, which stands for = Mokelumne/Amador/Calaveras, but=20 includes parts of Calaveras and Alpine counties, as well as all of = Amador=20 County. The region encompasses the watersheds of the Mokelumne River and = part of=20 the Calaveras River.

There are 46 projects listed in the existing = MAC=20 Plan. On the list are some widely publicized projects, such as raising = the=20 heights of the dams at Lower Bear River Reservoir and Pardee Reservoir. = More=20 obscure projects on the list include buttressing Henderson Reservoir in = the=20 Amador Regional Sanitation Authority system and a New York Ranch = Reservoir=20 Conservation and Management plan, with implementation.

For a = complete=20 list of the projects, go to=20 www.amadorwa.com/pdfs/Final%20MAC%20IRWMP%20November06.pdf.

RMC=20 consultant Dumas said, "If you don't have an IRWMP, you can't get state = money=20 for projects." The 2006 plan prepared by RMC is 235 pages long. "If a = project is=20 not on the list, it is not likely to be considered for funding," Alcott=20 added.

EBMUD's Francis said that there might be hundreds of = projects in=20 the final plan and some might be off in the distant future.

The = meeting=20 hosts offered some advice, based upon the experience they gained in = obtaining=20 funding to prepare the plan so far. "Plans that were graded really high = by the=20 State met their requirements," said Dumas, "and projects that got = funding were=20 ones where the proponents said they had the plan done, the environmental = work=20 done and all they needed was money and they were ready to hit the=20 streets."

Mokelumne history runs deep

Native = Americans of=20 the Mi-wok people gave the Mokelumne River its name, by extension of a = village=20 name, Mokel, into the word they used for the people of the village, = Mokelumni,=20 an anomaly of language boggling in its similarity to the Latin alumni. = The=20 linguistic name for the language spoken by the people of the area is=20 Moquelumnan.

Along the road down from Pine Grove to the Rodmans' = Roaring=20 Camp on the Mokelumne River is what Elton Rodman calls conclusive = evidence of=20 the presence of Spanish Conquistadors, around the 16th Century. Rodman = asks,=20 "Where do you think all the gold they sent back to Spain came = from?"

Gold=20 miners flocked to the area during the California Gold Rush, with many = working=20 along the Mokelumne, still the source of gold to a few resourceful=20 souls.

More lucrative use of the river has been made by two major = utilities: Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and East Bay Municipal Utilities = District, holder of rights to nearly all the water that flows down the=20 Mokelumne.

PG&E power plants can generate up to 209 Megawatts = of=20 electricity. EBMUD's two power plants below Pardee Reservoir can = generate=20 another 40 Megawatts.

One Megawatt equals one million watts. One = Megawatt=20 of generation capacity is variously estimated to provide enough power = for 500 to=20 1000 homes. Carrying this calculation to its logical conclusion, the = power=20 generated by the existing power plants on the Mokelumne River could = power up to=20 250,000 homes.

Approximately 1.3 million people in the East Bay = depend on=20 water from the Mokelumne for their domestic, industrial and irrigation = purposes.=20 EBMUD has rights to 364,000 acre feet of water, right behind the Amador = Water=20 Agency's rights to 16,150 acre feet.

Outdoors enthusiasts- = fishermen,=20 kayakers, rafters, hikers and the like have enjoyed the river for many = years and=20 environmentalists have gained concessions from both PG&E and EBMUD = that=20 ensure water flows for maintenance of piscine populations.

The = point is,=20 many powerful and influential interests want a piece of the Mokelumne=20 River.

In 1999, PG&E put its holdings on the Mokelumne River = up for=20 auction, a move that alarmed many people and entities, most notably = EBMUD. The=20 water utility feared that the power generation facilities could be = purchased by=20 a highly profit-oriented company, one motivated to make radical = operational=20 changes that could compromise the quality of the water or the utility's=20 facilities farther downstream.

In response to mounting fears at = EBMUD and=20 many other potentially affected entities, a Joint Powers Authority was = formed=20 with nine members: EBMUD, the counties of Alpine, Amador and Calaveras, = Alpine=20 County Water Agency, Amador Water Agency, Calaveras County Water = District,=20 Calaveras Public Utilities District and Jackson Valley Irrigation = District. The=20 JPA is the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed = Authority.

California's water=20 grows more precious with every passing day, fostering both covetous = plans and=20 protective measures. Two major propositions, 50 and 84, were voted in by = the=20 citizens of California recently.

Proposition 50, enacted in 2002, = approved $3.44 billion in bonds, to be used for various projects = throughout the=20 state. One of the uses is formulation of Integrated Regional Water = Management=20 Plans, which became a focus of UMRWA. Using Prop. 50 grant money, the = JPA has=20 drafted an IRWMP that includes 46 projects in Amador and Calaveras=20 counties.

In 2006, Propositions 84 and 1E were approved by = voters, making=20 more than $1 billion in funding available for many of the projects on = the IRWMP=20 list, though not quite yet.

The wheels of government can grind = very=20 slowly. The rules for applying to tap into the funds are called = standards and=20 guidelines, which are expected to be complete soon.

Jerry = Budrick