The truth is, the folks who've located themselves in "environmentally sensitive" regions have done so mainly for selfish "lifestyle" reasons. I love "whitewater" as much as the next fella, but I don't see these selfsame "Conservationists" screaming for the restoration of Hetch Hetchy.
Hey Oakland! They're after YOUR water supply, too! - Editor
Critics vow to fight proposal for new Pardee dam
Board OKs plan that could flood white-water sites
SAN ANDREAS - Conservation groups are considering legal action after East Bay Municipal Utility District's Board of Directors approved a long-term water supply plan that includes possibly building a new dam to raise the level of Pardee Reservoir by as much as 32 feet.
Raising the dam that much would inundate all of the Middle Bar reach of the Mokelumne River as well as 1,000 feet of the Electra Run east of the Highway 49 bridge, both of which are popular with white-water boaters. The higher dam would also allow the utility district to capture and store more water in wet years, thus increasing water supply for its East Bay customers and possibly allow San Joaquin County water agencies to use water for proposed groundwater recharge efforts.
A number of recreational and environmental groups oppose the plan.
"Destroying rivers should be off the table," said David Nesmith, facilitator for Environmental Water Caucus, an organization that advocates restoration of the San Joaquin Delta and Central Valley rivers.
"The Delta is obviously in crisis. I can't think of a justification for taking one more drop of water away from the Delta."
The EBMUD board vote came around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday after a six-hour session that included protests outside its Oakland headquarters and repeated deadlock votes on compromise proposals that would have either eliminated or reduced the scope of the proposed dam raising. In the end, the board did eliminate one option that called for raising Pardee Reservoir by 46 feet, which would have inundated about 4,000 feet of the Electra Run east of Highway 49.
Other elements of the now-approved plan for supplying the utility's growing customer base through the year 2040 include:
» water conservation
» rationing during droughts.
» construction of desalination plants that would allow the district to treat sea water.
The East Bay MUD planning staff, however, said that to assure an adequate water supply even during droughts, the district should consider all options. And revisions directors made will urge future EBMUD boards to seek consensus with foothill communities before they build a new Pardee dam and commit EBMUD to cooperate with groups such as the Amador County-based Foothill Conservancy on efforts to secure protected wild and scenic river status for portions of the Mokelumne farther upstream.
If Pardee is enlarged, that wouldn't happen until at least 2023.
District spokesman Charles Hardy said the board wants to ensure that foothill communities benefit from and are consulted on any Pardee expansion. And the board designated a wide list of groups including business, government, environmental and conservation entities and other water agencies whose cooperation would be sought, Hardy said.
The exact details of how much Pardee will be raised and when won't be determined until detailed project studies are done years from now, Hardy said.
Conservationists are unlikely to simply wait and see.
"Of course we are not happy with their leaving the dam options on the table," said Katherine Evatt, president of the board of the Foothill Conservancy. "They ignored all the opposition from their own local officials and their own local constituents and everybody in the foothills. We are weighing our own options with how to deal with that."
One option would be a lawsuit charging that the environmental studies done for the 2040 water supply plan were inadequate.
Several environmental organizations might file such a suit, representatives said.
"I believe the fisheries impacts have not been fully considered," said Chris Shutes, the project director who advocates hydroelectric dam licensing for the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.
River advocates were pleased that the board committed to help them win federal wild and scenic river designation.
"On the positive side, I am encouraged that East Bay MUD has gone on record as favoring wild and scenic protection for a substantial portion of the Mokelumne River," Shutes said.
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