A prototype of what AWA board chairman John Swift dubbed a "wildlife hydration station" is planned for placement every 1/2 mile along the 23-mile dewatered Amador Canal.

Photo by: Jerry Budrick

A short time ago, a vehicle lopped off one of the fire hydrants in Sutter Creek and very little water came out. Sutter Creek Fire Protection District Chief Butch Martin, to whom a shortage of water is a very serious matter, was present at the scene.

Above the city, at nearly the same time, director Paul Scott was convincing his colleagues on the Amador Water Agency Board of Directors to form a water/sewer committee to meet with Sutter Creek officials. Such a meeting was held and, at that meeting, Martin brought up the frighteningly low output from the broken hydrant.

AWA staff subsequently investigated. "We found flows in some locations as low as 200 gallons per minute," AWA engineering and planning manager Gene Mancebo told the AWA directors at their meeting last Thursday morning.

"One thousand gallons per minute is minimum in residential," Martin added.

Mancebo explained that computer modeling of the system determined that three improvements could raise the flows in the affected Badger and Nickerson areas to the required 1,000 gpm. Directors quickly approved the project and the transfer of necessary funds, in the amount of $170,000, from reserves.

Work is expected to begin very soon on Badger, Worley and Nickerson. Mancebo told the board that no CEQA action is necessary for this project due to the fact that the project involves less than a mile of pipe.

"It's a project that we really support," said SCFPD administrator Dominic Moreno. "It helps that directors John Swift and Paul Scott are working on projects of this sort."

"I just want to thank Paul (Scott) for working with us so much," an appreciative Chief Martin added.

"You've given us so much," quipped Sutter Creek City Councilman Pat Crosby to the board, "that I won't mention the line from Tanner."

Another expense authorized by the board on Thursday was $60,000 to fund a drift fence survey for the endangered California Tiger Salamander on property near Lake Camanche proposed for use as a tertiary treated effluent disposal area.

"The only way to show that the California Tiger Salamander does not migrate onto the subject property is to build the drift fence," Mancebo told the directors.

Should the salamander be found, what AWA General Manager Jim Abercrombie termed prohibitive mitigation would be required.

Earlier in the meeting, Moreno had spoken during public matters not on the agenda, saying that the AWA might have some interest in pursuing the water rights available through the city of Plymouth's Arroyo ditch. He said that the city had purchased the ditch and its rights on the Cosumnes River for $1 in 1986 or 1987 and now may be the time to seek some benefit from it.

Abercrombie said that there might be some possibilities involving off-stream storage on the Cosumnes or the South San Joaquin water banking group.

Regionalization is important in many respects today, none more so than in competition for grant funding. In 2000, the AWA joined Calaveras County Water District, Calaveras County Public Utility District and the East Bay Municipal Utilities District to form the nucleus of what has become the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority.

UMWRA and the AWA will be hosting a meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. in the Amador County Board of Supervisors chambers to discuss the Mokelumne/Amador/Calaveras Integrated Water Management Plan. The MAC plan is in the process of being updated and stakeholder input is being sought.

Also, AWA directors approved nomination of UMRWA's Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Management Program for the Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt Environmental Award for Excellence in Conservation and Natural Resources Management. The award is given annually by the Association of California Water Agencies to programs in natural resources management that enhance or protect the environment while meeting public needs. Past winners include Irvine Ranch Water District, Santa Clara Valley Water District and UMRWA member EBMUD in 2006.

As dewatering of the 23-mile Amador Canal proceeds, the needs of thirsty animals accustomed to the available water must be filled by the water agency. There will be a small diameter pipe along the canal route and places along the way for the animals to drink.

Unable to find any commercially available device suitable to the need, AWA construction superintendent Barry Birge accepted the assignment and designed a watering device.

The Wildlife Hydration Station will be kept full of water automatically, by means of a ballcock valve of the same type used in standard toilet tanks. The stations will be shallow, with a sloped floor, to prevent drowning and allow wildlife to climb out of danger.