Round two of the campaign to stop a raise of Pardee Dam has begun. In Jackson (Amador County) last night, CSPA presented scoping comments and accompanying photos, asking the East Bay Municipal Utilities District to remove the dam raise from its alternatives for managing its long term dry year water supply needs.
In November, 2009, CSPA, the Foothill Conservancy, and Friends of the River sued EBMUD on its Program EIR for its long term Water Supply Management Program. In April, 2011, Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley found the Program EIR deficient. Overall, the judge found that the impacts of raising Pardee had not been adequately analyzed and that the alternatives in the EIR were all too much the same. The judge also specifically said that EBMUD should have analyzed the opportunity to store dry year water in an expanded Los Vaqueros Reservoir west of the Delta.
In Jackson on July 13, about twenty speakers addressed staff from EBMUD. Among them were representatives of the Foothill Conservancy, which has spearheaded the campaign to stop the Pardee raise, and a representative of American Whitewater. The Vice Mayor of Jackson presented a resolution of the Jackson City Council opposing a dam raise. Most of the remaining speakers were local citizens. Not one of them supported a raise of Pardee Dam.
EBMUD plans to issue a revised EIR in October. CSPA will participate in meetings at EBMUD as we did in 2009, with the hope this year of a achieving better outcome.