Ledger-Dispatch

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

Amador Water Agency officials want to = build a=20 gravity supply line from the Tiger Creek Regulator, pictured, to = the=20 Buckhorn Water Treatment Plant to save in pumping cost.

Photo by: Jerry=20 Budrick
President-elect Barack Obama's plan = to pump=20 hundreds of billions of dollars into the nation's economy may provide = funding=20 for a major water project in Amador County.

The estimated cost of = a=20 gravity supply line from the Tiger Creek Regulator to the Buckhorn Water = Treatment Plant, which would replace the pumping facilities presently = costing=20 the agency more than $300,000 per year, is just over $12 = million.

"With a=20 stimulus package of over $100 billion coming for infrastructure, we may = apply=20 for the entire amount," said Amador Water Agency attorney Steve Kronick. = "This=20 project has numerous attractive environmental aspects."

The = wisdom of=20 installation of a gravity line has been apparent to the agency from day = one of=20 the Buckhorn plant. Since the early 1990s, rising energy costs for = pumping=20 millions of gallons of water up some 1,200 feet in elevation have made = the need=20 for change increasingly evident.

Funding for the GSL, as the = gravity=20 supply line is known at the water agency, had been expected to come from = the=20 customary mix of grants and loans. That mix has historically consisted = of more=20 loan than grant. The new administration's stimulus proposal has led the = agency=20 to lean more toward full grant funding.

The proposed 33,000 = linear foot=20 (6.25 mile) route for the GSL follows Tiger Creek Road and existing = logging=20 roads, thereby causing minimal environmental impact. From a "green" = point of=20 view, the GSL appears to offer more benefit than detriment, lowering = energy use,=20 eliminating the danger from power outages, improving the quality of = source water=20 entering the treatment plant and making water available to firefighters = through=20 hydrants along the line.

The Central Amador Water Project, which = provides=20 water to homes and businesses from Mace Meadow down through Buckhorn, = Pioneer,=20 Red Corral and Pine Grove, presently relies upon rights to 1,150 acre = feet=20 annually from the Mokelumne River. Though not directly included in this = project,=20 improvements to the CAWP system could play a major part in firming up = the rights=20 to another 1,050 acre feet.

More than 3,500 customers are hooked = up to=20 the CAWP system and the additional water could allow approximately 3,000 = more to=20 come online.

Jerry = Budrick