Amador County joins Pardee Reservoir expansion opponents

Published on Apr 30, 2009 - 7:00:18 AM

By: Foothill Conservancy

April 30, 2009 - In a unanimous vote Tuesday, April 28, the Amador County Board of Supervisors joined other government agencies, organizations and individuals in opposing the proposed expansion of Pardee Reservoir on the Mokelumne River. The East Bay Municipal Utilities District has included the Pardee expansion project as part of the "preferred portfolio" in its Water Supply Management Plan 2040. EBMUD gets 90 percent of its water supply from the Mokelumne.

"We're proud of our supervisors for standing with local people and for the Mokelumne River," said Foothill Conservancy Executive Director Chris Wright. "They obviously recognize the importance of the river to local residents, visitors and our economy."

As described in the related draft programmatic environmental impact report, the Pardee expansion would raise the existing level of the reservoir by 33 feet and its flood storage level by 46 feet. The project would require construction of a dam at least 400-feet high, downstream of the existing Pardee Dam.

The new dam would flood miles of the Mokelumne River, including areas popular for river recreation. It would also destroy important cultural and historical resources, including the 1912 Middle Bar Bridge, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Removing the bridge would create deadly dead-end roads and cut off a critical wildfire evacuation route for local residents. The reservoir expansion would destroy important fish and wildlife habitat upstream and reduce fresh-water inflow to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

In the draft letter approved Tuesday morning, the Board of Supervisors said, "Based on EBMUD estimates in the PEIR, we believe construction of additional reservoir storage capacity in Pardee Reservoir is unnecessary. We oppose enlargement of Pardee Reservoir as proposed in the 2040 Water Supply Management Plan or construction of a similar reservoir with similar impacts."

At the same time, the supervisors reaffirmed their interest in working with EBMUD on regional water supply and "a partnership for watershed health."

Other foothill opponents to the proposed reservoir expansion include the cities of Jackson, Ione, Plymouth and Sutter Creek; Amador Water Agency; Amador County Recreation Agency; Amador County Historical Society; Foothill Conservancy; and many individuals. More than 350 people attended public hearings held in Sutter Creek and San Andreas in March. Only one person, an irrigation district director, spoke in favor of the expansion.

Other opponents to the proposed expansion include the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, CalTrout, Friends of the River, Sierra Club Bay Chapter, Sierra Club Mother Lode Chapter, Sierra Nevada Alliance, American Whitewater, Loma Prieta Paddlers, and members of American Indian tribes.

The public comment period for the draft PEIR closes on Monday. May 4.

For more information, contact Chris Wright at 209.295.4900 or chris@foothillconservancy.org. More information is online at www.foothillconservancy.org.

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