Contact: Gene Mancebo, General Manager
Amador Water Agency, 209-223-3018
The Amador Water Agency, with its partners in the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority (UMRWA), on May 18 signed a 10-year agreement with the U.S. Forest Service that will thin forests to reduce wildfire risk, protect water quality and improve water yield. The agreement was signed by Randy Moore, Pacific Southwest Regional Forester for the U.S. Forest Service and Terry Woodrow, vice chair of UMRWA and Alpine County supervisor.
The deal paves the way for millions of dollars in grants to fund forest restoration and watershed management in Amador, Calaveras and Alpine counties. The goal is to protect water quality and enhance water supply by reducing hazardous fuels. “Clean water is one of our most important and valuable forest products,” said Moore. “Through this agreement, we are committing to restoring and protecting these valuable resources for generations to come.” According to Moore, the Forest Service plans to double the amount of forest restoration in California, from 240,000 acres a year being treated now to 500,000 acres a year. The work is expected to bring new jobs to the region as well.
“The biggest threat to the Mokelumne River is catastrophic wild fire, resulting in polluted water,” said AWA Director Rich Farrington, who attended the signing ceremony in West Point. The Mokelumne River is Amador County’s primary water source. Farrington said Sierra Nevada headwater forests are suffering from four years of drought, death from insect attack, overgrowth from a history of fire suppression, and climate change. “This stewardship agreement between the USFS and UMWRA can be a model for making mountain communities safer and improving watershed health throughout California,” said Farrington.
The Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority is comprised of six water agencies and three counties: Amador Water Agency, Calaveras County Water District, Calaveras Public Utility District, East Bay Municipal Utility District, Jackson Valley Irrigation District and Alpine County Water Agency, and the counties of Amador, Calaveras and Alpine.
Also contributing to the agreement were the Amador-Calaveras Consensus Group and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, a branch of the California Natural Resources Agency
PHOTO (signing of the May 18 USFS – UMRWA Partnership Agreement in West Point.) Left to right: Terry Woodrow, Vice Chair of the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority and Alpine County Supervisor, and Randy Moore, Regional Forester, Pacific Southwest Region, US Forest Service.
The Calaveras County Water District Board of Directors voted to remove all water conservation restrictions at today’s Board meeting (Read the resolution here), meaning all CCWD customers are now at a 0% conservation level. This decision came after the State Water Resources Control Board made significant changes to statewide water conservation emergency regulations on May 18, which now allow water agencies to set conservation targets based on local water supplies. CCWD calculated its supplies based on the State Board’s guidelines and determined the District does not currently have a supply shortage and, even if the next three years are dry, will not experience a supply shortage.
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