An insightful and excellent editorial overview from the Auburn Journal about some of the politics around the Auburn Dam.
Here is an excerpt.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Last modified: Tuesday, June 20, 2006 10:16 PM PDT
Agency must take a stand for or against building Auburn dam
The Placer County Water Agency needs to wade deeper into the Auburn dam question.
With the water supply phase of the American River Pump Station project nearing completion, the agency will soon have the permanent water connection it has been seeking for half a century.
Water will be pumped year-round from the American River to the western areas of the county - a goal that initially lay with a pumping station the agency had installed itself in the 1960s as part of the Middle Fork Project. The agency has water rights to 120,000 acre-feet a year of north and middle fork American River water. If a dam is built, it would have the ability to take 117,000 acre-feet a year.
When Auburn dam construction began, the agency reluctantly had the permanent station taken out on the condition that the dam's builder, the Bureau of Reclamation, guaranteed temporary pumps would be installed yearly as needed. As Placer County has grown, the installation of temporary pumps has been undertaken yearly since the early 1990s.
If a multipurpose dam is to be seriously considered in the future, the water agency needs to provide solid backing now - if that's what it wants. A resolution in support would be an adequate, if not bold, first step. Despite some inner politics, the agency board has supported past efforts to build an Auburn dam. But that was before it had its permanent pumping station in place.
If it wants to opt out and take a stand against building a dam on the basis that it is about to get the plumbing upgrade it has been seeking all along, then it should develop a stance sooner rather than later.
The debate on the Auburn dam has been taking place for five decades. It is said to be the most studied construction project in United States history. One more study will soon be added to the mountainous pile that already exists. Due in the summer, the $1 million report will help determine costs and benefits. With a plethora of information already out there, it may not be enough to sway already entrenched positions.
As a major player with the American River Authority, the water agency needs to don the mantle of authority voters demand, make decisions and stick by them. It has that kind of clout.Waiting for another report could mean more federal funding, which means federal tax dollars, may be wasted on studies that lead nowhere.
