I was extremely disappointed by your coverage of the Community Service Area #3's water system problems recently in the Ledger Dispatch (Aug. 12, "Blowing the roof off - Critical annual inspection reveals Camanche water system 'in disarray'").
If you are going to take a series of facts and draw conclusions that may or may not be correct and don't seem to be supported by the facts, perhaps you should put it on the editorial page instead of printing your probable erroneous conclusions as news. And to accuse an Amador Water Agency manager of covering up problems based on the little factual information you have presented is completely irresponsible and not the actions I would expect from a credible journalist. I have had only limited professional interaction with AWA manager Chris McKeage, but based on the interaction I have had, I find it difficult to believe the reckless accusations presented in your story.
I own property in the CSA #3 area and I am concerned about the water problems. Instead of writing a hit piece directed against the AWA and its management, the Ledger Dispatch should provide a service to the community by reporting on the dilapidated system inherited by the AWA and the challenges faced by the AWA in maintaining the system while planning and prioritizing upgrades within a fixed budget that minimizes rate increases. The system was poorly designed (and using the word designed may be giving the system too much credit) and poorly maintained before the AWA took over responsibility for the system. Any upgrades to the system - and many are desperately needed - will require capital investment that will have to be paid by rate increases. If the AWA were to perform all the upgrades desired by the state Public Health Department, the already high rates would increase dramatically.