In his first monthly meeting as a member of the Amador County Joint Water Committee Monday morning, Bill Condrashoff was able to sway his fellow committee members to make a significant change.

A recurrent item on the committee's agenda has long been "discussion of new development inquiries (of over 300 units)." Condrashoff, the director of the Amador Water Agency's third district, expressed his belief that development projects far smaller than 300 units deserve equal attention from the joint water committee. Fellow committee members Terry Moore, a fellow AWA director, and county supervisors Ted Novelli and John Plasse agreed, lowering the qualifying number to 100 units. There have been no recent inquiries for development projects of either size.

Another Condrashoff suggestion - that the committee take action on its agenda items - was quickly deemed unworkable. "Without a quorum of AWA directors, no action can be taken," explained AWA general manager Jim Abercrombie.

The Plymouth pipeline project is moving forward, AWA planning and engineering manager Gene Mancebo told the committee. Brushing and grubbing should begin in February, he said, and pipeline construction is expected to commence soon, opening the possibility of project completion by the end of the year.

The decision by the Amador County Board of Supervisors not to include a water element in its general plan update was discussed.

"The general plan is a great opportunity for the county and the water agency to work together," said Foothill Conservancy representative Pete Bell, part of the unusually large public presence at the committee meeting. Bell's sentiment was reinforced by Condrashoff, who said, "If you put that element in, it would be an opportunity for better planning."

Bell pointed out that Calaveras County, where the general plan update will include an optional water element, has made a draft of the element available to the public.

Water rights, a topic of increasing concern to many in drought-threatened California, will be the focus of a workshop scheduled for Feb. 4 at 9 a.m. in the AWA board room in Sutter Creek. The committee discussed the fact that the 1958 water rights agreement that guarantees water to Amador County from the Mokelumne River is between the county and East Bay Municipal Utilities District only. Abercrombie suggested that the county "co-assign" its rights to the water agency.

Expansion of water storage capacity at Lower Bear River Reservoir is the focus of an ongoing study funded by the water agency. Abercrombie told the committee that Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has added a new wrinkle to the complexity of the possible project with its proposal to create a pumped storage operation.

Purple pipe dominated the latter part of the meeting, as general agreement was shared that recycling water is the wave of the future. Various suggestions that purple pipe for recycled water be required in every front yard led to a revelation by Abercrombie that regulations require work on recycled water systems to be done by specially licensed plumbers. "I'm not sure that the homeowners in this county would stand for that kind of regulation," he said.