Ledger-Dispatch

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

=

This massive concrete dam, hidden in = the foliage=20 southeast of the Rancheria Creek Bridge, has remained invisible to = millions of motorists on busy Highway 49.

Photo by: Courtesy to the Ledger=20 Dispatch
The Amador County Planning = Commission was=20 presented with a surprising revelation at its Tuesday night meeting - = the=20 existence of a massive 100-year-old concrete dam that has hidden in = plain sight=20 for many years.

Amy Turner, a resident of a nearby property, told = the=20 commissioners about the dam, which she described as the 29-foot tall, = 150-foot=20 wide Rancheria swamp impound dam built for Treasure Mine around 1910. = Turner=20 also passed photos around to the commissioners.

The verdant green = area=20 southeast of the Rancheria Bridge over Highway 49 is simultaneously the = result=20 of and camouflages the dam.

In April 2007, Steven MacDonald and = Jeff=20 Cookson of Wilton purchased the 311 acres of land between Amador City = and=20 Drytown, where the dam is located. This property is bisected by Highway = 49,=20 which is estimated to cover 13 of the 311 acres, and contains = approximately=20 one-half mile of Rancheria Creek. The purchase price was $1,192,000. = Early in=20 2008, the new owners submitted an application to Amador County, = proposing to=20 divide the 298 net acres into seven parcels, each larger than 40 acres, = in=20 conformance with the existing zoning for the property.

The = application=20 worked its way through the process of review by various agencies, = including=20 county departments of environmental health, planning, public works, fire = protection and transportation, and the state department of = transportation,=20 eventually finding its way to Tuesday night's public hearing.

One = stipulation prior to approval came from the Amador County Public Works = Agency,=20 which required an "irrevocable offer of dedication" for the Old Amador = Drytown=20 Road. This requirement caused a number of neighboring property owners to = protest=20 in writing and in person. Commissioners and agency officials assured = them that=20 use of the old road would not cross property lines and that no change in = use to=20 other sections of the old road would occur unless property changed = hands. After=20 that, it was on to the elephant in the foliage. "I'm ready to talk about = the=20 dam," said commissioner Ray Ryan. "The application described this as a = small=20 agricultural pond - this was clearly made for mining purposes," said = commission=20 chair Andy Byrne.

"There's no mention of the dam," Ryan = said.

"I=20 don't know if environmental health missed it or what," said project=20 representative Tim Page, of Doucet and Associates Inc.

Byrne = said, "I=20 wonder how this was dealt with on TAC (Technical Advisory Committee)=20 level."

"I thing TAC's feeling was everyone knew it was there," = said=20 county planner Nate Lishman.

Public Works director Larry Peterson = referred to entries in environmental statements from the applicants and = their=20 representative that say "there are no existing structures on the=20 properties."

"It's pretty clear that the applicant didn't = consider this=20 29-foot high, 150-foot wide thing a structure," Peterson = quipped.

Turner=20 returned to the podium. "I told MacDonald when he was talking about = buying this=20 property: this is a toxic waste site." In a written presentation to the=20 commission, Turner stated that the dam was built to comply with the = federal=20 Caminetti Anti-Debris Legislation of 1892. The tailings and run-off, she = continued, from the Treasure, the Bunker Hill, the Old Amador and the = Fremont=20 Mine were collected there. According to Turner's statement, the Division = of Dam=20 Safety has guidelines that will require that agency to reclaim = jurisdiction of=20 the dam.

"I'd like to thank the lady who brought this to our = attention,"=20 said Commissioner John Gonsalves. "It seems a little underhanded for the = proponent to say there are no structures on the project."

Ryan, = his=20 colleagues and staff said the commission would like to see a structural = report=20 for the dam, a soils report, an analysis of the potential inundation = area and a=20 water quality analysis. They also mentioned the possibility of interest = on the=20 part of state agencies. County planning director Susan Grijalva injected = a=20 possible need for an environmental impact report and Peterson ended the = list=20 with a suggestion that dam safety may want in.

Jerry = Budrick