The public discussion about the dam and the Parkway continues in these letters from yesterday's Bee.
Letters to the Bee Editor: Auburn Dam, Parkway, etc.
Published Monday, March 27, 2006
Engineering a beneficial dam
As a civil engineer who designs earthen dams in the area, I would like to add a few points concerning Auburn Dam: A wet Auburn dam not only provides 1-in-500 year protection against floods compared with 200 years for fortified levees, it also provides protection for the existing levee system by controlling the flow in the river.
Inspection and maintenance of an Auburn dam that is about a half-mile long would be much less than that required for hundreds of miles of levees, and the risk of failure would be less.
Storage in Folsom Lake was reduced due to concern about the stability of Mormon Island Dam. Now they propose raising the water level 7 feet.
An Auburn dam would allow double use of water to generate electricity. There would also be 2 million acre-feet of additional water storage, as well as additional recreation facilities that would offset the loss of some river rafting.
It is hard to see why a large majority would not jump on the "construction of Auburn dam" bandwagon.
- Reinard W. Brandley, Loomis
Sacramento County vs. parkway
Re "City's tactic on parkway riles board," March 22: Supervisor Roger Dickenson expressing "displeasure" at Rancho Cordova's move to initiate legislation guaranteeing the city a say in parkway decisions is ironic, if not galling.
We on the Rancho Cordova side of the parkway have to look at the results of his mismanagement on a daily basis - the intrusive "McMansions" built on the river bluffs that he votes to approve in violation of parkway guidelines.
Dickenson's fit over Rancho Cordova's move is more related to protecting his clout (campaign fundraising) among the rich landowners on his side of the river than with anything that Rancho Cordova might want to do on its side.
Illa Collins, on the other hand, has consistently voted to protect the parkway. Her comments, however, about how the "architects of the parkway wanted to preserve a natural resource to share" should be directed at her fellow board members, not at Rancho Cordova.
- Ken Green, Rancho Cordova
